One day, round about the time we got back from SA, Daniel started repeating everything we said and since then there's been no looking back. As you can imagine he is learning new words at a rate of knots. His pronunciation has also improved a lot and he no longer drops the end of the words. So I guess this means that my little boy has started talking!
He says his own name beautifully (sometimes Danny sometimes Daniel with a emphasis on the l), he also says his brother's name nicely (sometimes Nic-Nic and sometimes Nicholas with a slight lisp at the end) and of course mommee (or mamma or mam) and daddee (or dad). Who would of thought that someone as small as this could pick up our real names too. Every now and then he says Faye (dare I say it's when I don't respond to him immediately) and he walks around the house looking for his dad shouting Maaart (dare I say in the same way I do). He is good at remembering other people's names as well like: Oupa, Ouma, Gogo, Noa, Claire, Pippa, Annabel, George and Stewart (his Little Gym teacher) just to mention a few.
This gorgeous boy of mine does the most adorable 'aaahhhh' when he gives cuddles. He says funny things like 'wow' (not rhyming with cow but rather with crow). I'm not very good at writing things in the way that they say them but there are a few words that he says incorrectly that are quite cute and worth remembering: 'jejamies' (pjamas), 'scuzi' (excuse me), 'storbellies' (strawberries), 'lellow' (yellow) and 'zezagna' (lasagna). He also says some less desirable things, which I am too embarrased to repeat, but it does make me realise that I need to be more aware of what I say in front of him. Danny can be very possessive so there's no wonder that his favourite word at the moment is 'mine' (said with great gusto).
Right on cue he has started speaking in two word sentences. His favourite phrases tend to be demands - he is a bit of a dictator - like 'go away', 'sit down', 'come here', 'show me', 'fix it', 'want it', 'pack away'. He also has a soft and polite side though - my favourite is when he says 'more please' and 'thanks mam' - it's so cute. 'Oh no', 'oh wow' and 'good boy' also feature frequently. The latest thing that he said which surprised me is 'like it' when I put his plate of lasagna down in front of him. Now isn't that is nice thing to say to your mom. He also gives running commentary about the food on his plate while he is eating. And when he is finished he always says 'All gone' and 'bibby off' followed by 'scuzi'.
We are also learning a new sign at Little Gym every week and he loves showing off his growing knowledge, always accompanied by a verbal explanation just in case you're not up to scratch on your sign language. Maybe I should have taken baby signing more seriously!
