We all know that parents have a naturally funny way of talking to babies, using silly, high-pitched voices and non-sense syllables. This type of baby talk has recently been proven as beneficial in helping babies learn to recognize, comprehend and eventually speak their home language. But have you ever listened to the way a parent talks to a toddler who has begun speaking?
While I’ve always tried to talk to my girls using proper grammatical structure (though I don’t regularly correct theirs…I’m a fan of teaching by example), I realized the other day how much I use their language. I’ve adopted the way they say words and inserted them into my grammatically correct sentences. It’s kind of a funny phenomenon because I know they know the real words (they learned them somehow, right?) yet I naturally use the words they do. We now sort of have our own family language!
Some of my favorite words we’ve used over the years are:
Squirler=Squirrel
Wubby=Lovey
Wad-y=Water
Lo-pa=Load up
Damp Cass=Dance Class
Babe-ing suit or Swimming Soup=Swimming Suit
Huggle=Hug/Cuddle/Snuggle
Musie=Music
Mik=Milk
Bankie or Ni-Ni=Blanket
Putey=Computer
Sum Gassies=Sun Glasses
