Little EC continues almost daily to add to her repertoire of verbal communication skills. Some days, I notice this because she recognizes words that I say in a way I hadn’t noticed before; other days it’s plainly obvious when she blurts out some word that she’s never used before. Some recent examples:

• “Home”: she understands the concept of going home when we’re out somewhere else. During the day, that’s usually accompanied by “Mama”, whom she think’s she’ll see when she gets home. Yesterday, she was tired of the playground, and wandered over to the stroller by herself, saying “home, home, home”.
• “Ouch”: I hurt my hand recently, and when she pointed to the bandage (and poked it hard) I said “Ouch”. She repeated “ouch”, and from then on anything that might somehow be related is “ouch”. When she taps her head on the wall because she wasn’t watching where she was going, she looks at me, points at it, and says “ouch”. I confirm her suspicions that the wall is, indeed, “ouch”.
• “Car”: I hear that one a lot as we walk down the sidewalk, as you might suspect.
• “Whee”: not technically a word, but her indication that she’s either having fun (sliding down a slide in our play room), or she thinks she should be having fun (trying to slide down the slight incline in our brick driveway). In the latter case, the “whee” is somewhat half-hearted.
• “Ball”: This is among her favorites. The other day we were at a park, and a number of families had soccer balls. Whenever she saw one, she’d run after it shouting “ball, ball, ball!”
• “Apple” and “[Ba]nana”: This girl likes to eat. I’ve already noted that she will say “cheese”. Now she just says it very loudly whenever I open the refrigerator for any reason at all.
• “Yes”: I’m not sure what she thinks this means, but she’s been walking around all day today saying it.
• “Toes”, “Ears”, “Eyes”, “Nose”: she doesn’t say them herself yet, but she knows just where to find them when asked.
• “Pooh”: Her favorite friend. His name can be heard shouted from across the house.

And my favorite: “Babies”. For awhile she has recognized herself as “Baby”, and point to herself while saying it. But “babies” (plural) is different. Ever since she has become mobile enough to get into things she shouldn’t have (trash can, smartphone, Christmas tree…), I’ve been keeping her from them by gently pointing her away and saying “Not for babies”. She recently made the connection: if she can’t have something that’s not for babies, then she can have things that are for babies. So if she wants something, she’ll point to it, or grab it if it’s in reach, and declare “Babies!”. Sometimes, like when the object is a steamed carrot, I’ll agree with her. Other times, like when it’s a kitchen knife, I’ll disagree. But she and I understand each other: we now have to negotiate and come to an agreement on every item…for babies, or not for babies?