Care to Talk?

Adik has been trying sooooo hard to talk. His babble goes on and on and it sounds almost like a real monologue except that the words just don’t mean anything. But his intonation is exactly what it would be in a ‘real’ conversation.

Several words do stand out, though. When he hears the gate opening and Daddy’s car pulling in, he goes, “Da-deee! Da-deee!”

The most often used phrase is “Dah! Dah!” (as in ‘sudah’) whenever he is done with something. If he’s full and can’t eat anymore, he repeats that and if you still try and feed him, he’ll pull your hand to the seat belt of his highchair, indicating that you please unbuckle him and let him down.

Similarly, if we’re watching TV and the credits start to roll at the end of the show, he goes, “Dah! Dah!”

“You’re right, Adik, it’s the end of the show. Fi-neeeeesh!” I gesture to him that the show is over and the Little Einsteins have gone home to have their dinner and rest. When I switch the TV off, he will either a) lie on the floor, stiffen up and scream, i.e. throw a tantrum, because he wants to watch some more TV, or b) point to the DVD remote control (not the TV remote control, clever little fella) saying “Deh! Deh!” which I think means, “There, it’s right there! That’s the one you want to use!” It pretty much depends on his mood I guess.

Other words he can say consistently include “Ta-toh” for Atok, “Ek-ga” for Cikgai (my mother), “Ba-ba” for Abang and – drum roll, please – “Mam-mee” for Mummy! Hooray! He has managed to say the magic “M” word. Occasionally it sounds more like “Muamm-mee” but it’s ok, I’ll take what I can get.

Last week, I took him to the playground and there were lots of older children playing there. He started babbling away, pointing to things, pulling me by my finger to the bottom of the slide indicating his need for some help to climb up the slide.

Then he saw some girls climbing up the slide and said, “Ka-ka. Ka-ka.” I guess that’s pretty close to “kakak”. He said the same thing once when we were at Tesco and the PA system came on with a lady’s voice making an announcement. He stopped what he was doing and listened very closely.

I asked him, “Who’s that, Adik?”

“Ka-ka. Ka-ka!”

The next few months – and years – should be interesting. He’s going to be one of those children who start talking late, but once they start, they can’t stop!