Talk to Me!

You know you've seen her.  That mom.  You know, the one who is talking to her baby, having a full-on conversation about what she's buying while grocery shopping and talking about the big white truck while walking through the parking lot.

Who does that?  I mean, they can't talk back anyway!

I'll tell you who does that-a good parent does that.  

For some parents, talking to their infants is instinctual, while for others it is painful and unnatural.  I, for one, felt extremely uncomfortable talking to the belly.  It just seemed unusual to me...like I didn't know what to say.  But the brilliant thing about talking to an infant is that you don't have to talk about anything in particular, you can talk about anything and everything.

I won't get into a full-on research paper here with MLA citations and sources, but I know what I'm talking about.  After all, I am an early childhood major.  Brain development, learning through play (REAL learning), and developmental milestones in a child as he/she develops cognitively...those things are my forte.  Maybe my love and passion in parenthood connects to my love and passion for the things I understand oh-so-well.

Speaking to a baby as she grows is so critical to her language development.  We take for granted all the little things we know in our day-to-day language, such as opposites (big/little, hot/cold), colors (is that red or is that orange?), and even the nuances of language such as the intonation we use.  By talking to a baby, you are actually preparing her for the rhythms and patterns in conversation. 

It might go something like this, a conversation I overheard yesterday at Publix:

"You see that truck?"

Pause.

"Yes, that's a big truck like Uncle Billy's.  That truck is white, but Uncle Billy's is red."

I wanted to walk up to her and say, "Way to go Mama!  Keep up the good work!"

As your baby grows older, she might even begin to coo in response to the conversation you're having.

"What should we have for dinner?  Should we have grilled chicken and steamed greens?"

"Oooohh gagaaaaaaaaa..."

"I agree, a grilled cheese sounds much better, but I think we should stick to the diet if Mommy is ever going to wear non-maternity clothes again."

"Baaaaaaaaaaamamamama."

"Thank you baby, I know you think Mama is pretty just the way she is."

(Go ahead, laugh.  It was funny).

For me, one of the great highlights of babyhood and language development was using sign language to help A learn to express herself before she became more verbal.  She knew (and used regularly) the following signs: milk, please, more, eat, water, juice, all done/finished.

Then came the string of words ranging from Mama to Boo to "hep me" to "more" to my personal favorite, "no" and so on.  

So the conversation turned into this:

"Who do you love?"

"Mama, Papa, Danielle, Boo, Okkie (Oskie), Nana, Gpa (said just like it looks.  G. Pa.)"

"What do you want, milk or juice?"

"Juice."

"What do you want, juice or milk?"

"Milk." (This is fun game to play..."What do you want?  _____ or _____?"  She'll always pick the last thing you said).

You talk, and they listen.  They babble, and you listen.  But one day, they start talking with you.  And before you know it, they're talking back. (Yeah...)

Tonight, I met up with two girlfriends at a coffee shop, and when we went to leave and give hugs to say goodbye, I put A down.  She was holding her blankie and her owl from Ti Ti.  When we got to the car, I noticed that the owl was missing.  

She said, "Find, find," so we got out of the car and retraced her steps.   When we discovered owl hidden under a table outside, she grabbed it, grinned ear-to-ear, and proclaimed, "I found it!"

The beauty of talking to your baby...how amazing to be able to give them an entire language, a vocabulary, a way to use their voice to express themselves.  Just by talking to them.  And never, ever, ever stopping (except to listen).

PS: I know some of you have also seen that dad, the one who does exactly what I mentioned mom doing above.  For sure, I have witnessed that dad because Ayes has one that talks her ear off.  I don't like it-I love it!