Chatting with Avery

Avery learns more words every day. He's becoming quite the little parrot, too, much to the dismay of his potty-mouthed parents.

I'd like to share with you some of the joys and challenges we're facing as we try to teach him the language I love.

List of words he knows (and says well):
1. Numbers: 1, 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 (he's having a hard time with r's and th's)

2. Names: Avery, Mommy, Daddy, Auntie, Cheetoh, Elmo (I'm not sure what to categorize Elmo as...)

3. Minute - "Just a minute, Avery," must come out of my mouth a lot. He says this one like a champ!

4. Animal names/sounds: Cow/moo, sheep/baa, puppy/woof, monkey/eeh! eeh! (you get the idea), and so on.

5. Foods: Apple, banana (although the first syllable is dropped), water, milk, juice, pizza, cheese (one of his FAVORITES), Cheerios (the r sounds like a w, though), and others I won't take the time to list.

6. Objects: Phone, cup, book, shoe, shirt, pants, shorts, hat, Elmo (again...), chair, tv, flower (still with the 'r'), coat, bed, toy, ball (sounds a little like "bow" though), car, truck, boat, etc.

7. Body parts: Head, nose, ear, teeth, mouth (which he says like "mouse"), foot, toes, eye.

8. Yes and No - very emphatically.

9. Love you, Night-Night, Bye, Buh-bye, Hi

There are obviously many more that I can't think of right now, but you get the idea.

He says kitty, but can't say "meow." It's just "ow," and we think it's pretty giggle-worthy. He calls grandpa "Bopa." I'm not sure where it came from, but I think it's going to stick. My poor mother doesn't even get her own mangled name, though. She's either Mia, Avery's play date pal, or Mommy. We're working on it.


We have filler rock in the flower beds outside the patio door. Avery loves to pick up these rocks, taste one every now and then, and throw them in the neighbor's wading pool (it's for their dog, not a child). What does our child call these fascinating little playthings???? COCKS. Yep, that's right, I said cocks. He gets so incredibly excited when we go outside and he gets to play in them, too. So the minute we step out onto the patio, it's "Cocks! Cocks, Mommy!" Shouting to everyone in a 50 yard vicinity. The neighbors have heard - and at first they look confused. Then they laugh...hysterically. I've explained. But there's no going back once your child starts yelling about cocks to anyone who'll listen.