The little guy is still not really talking.  But he is getting more and more interested in all the animals in the world, and what it is they do to communicate.

Over the last week, he suddenly started responding when I ask “What does a xx (animal) say?”  (I have always asked this when reading to him or seeing an animal, and then answered my own question)  It was quiet and meek at first: “woof” for the dog.  And “mmmw” for the cat.  But now he is getting more confident, and he is able to roar properly like a lion, and tonight he even quacked really spectacularly like a duck.

He is also doing the movements of the animals, based on the book I wrote about before, “You can do it.” by Eric Carle.  When we were at the zoo last week, he waved his arms like a monkey when I told him the animal he was seeing was a monkey, and if he had seen a seal he would have clapped, and if it had been an elephant he would have stomped his foot.

All of this awareness on communication must be part of his language center developing for him; learning words, but also learning that actions can be a part of language, too.  His vocabulary from a comprehension perspective is really impressive, and is getting quite complex, so I imagine one day soon enough he will take the initiative and start throwing out a few words on his own instead of saying “bah” and pointing in a general direction.  The guessing game that goes with this phase of his development is definitely not easy, so I welcome this with open arms 😉