From baby babble to sounding out words

Akilah and Zak continue to make sense of the world. At 17 months our worlds are finally beginning to intersect verbally. Over the last four months they began pointing to things and attempting to say words like clock, dog and baba (Father in Arabic). 

Now we say it and they try to repeat. We still get a fair amount of baby babble and twin speak, but they’re vigorously working at expanding their vocabulary. It’s amazing to watch, even when they’re being defiant.

In addition to expanding their vocabulary they’re also asserting themselves and getting a kick out of pushing our buttons and being defiant.

What’s the most popular word in our house with them? If you guessed “No,” you’d be right. They want to be in and out of everything, grabbing our smart phones or the remote control. Whatever they can get their hands on.

These days my mom is constantly saying no to them them. Akilah and Zak mimic their grammy. When they do it sounds like a baby remix of Destiny Child’s “No, no no.”

No Akilah, stop throwing your food on the floor.

No Zak, stop taking toys away from Akilah.

No Akilah and Zak, be gentle.

I’m sure you get the idea.

This latest stage has me engaged and really enjoying the time I spend with them. Karim and I are actively laying down their educational foundation. They’re learning from us and more importantly we’re learning from them.