Not that I'm counting

One of my OCD parenting habits has been to keep a written log of words said by my children. It started at around 15 months for Ayla (in fact, it is still a shortcut on my desktop - time to clean up the computer!). I would add a few words every month to add to the repertoire. However, I stopped after 21 months because the list could have just said... "everything". Ayla was repeating all words back to us and putting her thoughts together with cute little sentences.

I'm not going to be a terrible mother and compare... but it's a completely different story with Jackson. He is not a fan of acquiring and speaking words. I thought we were along the same lines of development when he said "Ayla" very early. We were taking a road trip alone with him while Ayla rode in another car. I can't remember the exact age, but it surprised us both when he kept yelling, "Ay-la" from his car seat.

Fast forward to a few weeks before his 2nd birthday and he's only consistently saying a few words. He understands absolutely everything we tell him to do, so there's no need to have his hearing tested. This is often a suspicion when children take a long time to start talking. He doesn't even use the word "No!", which is of course a favorite among toddlers. He likes to give a slightly whiny "Ehh" when he doesn't want to do something instead.

He signs for "more" and says his version of "please" (which sounds like a long Eeeee). I can get him to say "up" if he wants to be picked up and is whining about it. Other than that, Jackson just nods and smiles when I ask him to repeat new words. He knows what he is doing - so why say it out loud?

Words we know he can say:

- Dada
- Puppy
- Hi
- Bye
- Wow
- Ayla
- Mama
- Kitty
- Up
- Ow
- Beep
- Cheese
- Uh oh (oddly enough, this is said to signify good and bad things)
- Nana (banana)
- Aww (as in, that's so cute)
- Baby
- Eww(opening up the trash and saying "Ewww" is a hobby)
- Empty

Actually, written out the list is looking good! I'm sure there are a number of factors to consider. Gender, birth order, personality, etc. We certainly don't have any real concerns about it. We're just trying to figure out what all the baby mumbling is about.