I don’t think that word means what he thinks it means

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Lately little man has been acquiring quite the vocabulary, so much so that I have to think twice about what comes out of my mouth for fear that he will repeat it. For the longest time the only things he really said were were ‘kitty’, ‘mum’ and ‘spoon’ and I began to get a little concerned about his speech development.

Fortunately, he quite suddenly, and rapidly, expanded his repertoire to all kinds of things like ‘some’, ‘juice’, ‘milk’, ‘mote’ for remote and ‘stars’, which could mean he wants to watch Sprout, or he actually sees a star somewhere. And this kid can spot a star at twenty paces.

One morning I asked him if he wanted a banana. Shaking his head ‘yes’, I handed one to him and he proceeded to look at it, smile and exclaim ‘star!’. I was quick to correct him that, no, it was a banana.

With a look on his face that said ‘father, you are a moron’, he pointed at the sticker on the banana and showed me there was a tiny, nearly imperceptible star at the bottom. Since then I take his word, then do everything I can do to find the star, because there is always one somewhere.

Now that he is barreling full bore towards the age of two, and consequently the terrible twos, he has acquired a new favorite word – No!

While totally expected, the regular chorus of ‘No, no, no, no, no!’ has already started to grate on my nerves. Still, sometimes I don’t think that word means what he thinks it means.

For instance, one of his favorite snacks are raisins and, when he got up from his nap a few days ago (an endangered species around these parts lately), I asked him if he would like some. When he replied ‘no’ I started to put the box of raisins away. Much to my surprise my action was met with a great deal of consternation and I quickly portioned some out for him.

Unsurprisingly, ‘No’ isn’t the only word that he doesn’t appear to comprehend the meaning. Recently, he started saying ‘welcome’, the only thing is he will say it after you have given him something he wants.

We are doing our best to reinforce ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, but for now I guess we should just be happy that he is polite, even if it is in the wrong context.

http://rob.mdmonroes.com/ RobMonroe

INCONCEIVABLE!

Abby did the same thing – they grow out of it but it's really cute! Our annoyance right now is that she cries and inserts “MAWWMY” as if it's a “crycrycryF-Ucrycrycry.” She doesn't want mom, just uses it to get attention. Ugh.
http://jugglingeric.blogspot.com Eric D. Bolton

I sit in awe almost everyday with three of my kids and their vocabularies.

4YO daughter is saying words like 'Emergency' and other multi syllable words.

2yo is starting to put words together in a sentence. My favorite is “Daddy Done Work?” Asking me if I'm finished working. I LOVE IT!!

My 15Month Old has quite the vocabulary. She went for her 15 month check wednesday, the doctor was looking for 5 words and she has ton's more. Her most recent one is also NO.

But not in a way of telling us she doesn't want to do something. Last night I asked her if she wanted milk. She said no. Juice? Yes

She also picked up thank you by herself.

She's going to be my money maker.

Have a great weekend.
http://belladaddy.blogspot.com/ BellaDaddy

UH OH, please, enjoy it now….I wished, no, I was desperate for Bella to develop enough for the ability to engage in conversation…now? OMG, Chatty Cathy…for EVERYTHING…non-stop…more than I ever imagined…and the repetition….and the No''s just keep on coming…LOL

But, we love it, eh? WINK!

Cheers!
http://twitter.com/portlanddad PDX Dad

The increasing vocabulary is fun and alarming for a parent that might be using some dramatic language. That parent would be me
http://www.mochadad.com/ Mocha Dad

My 2-year old loves to say No. He says no even if his real answer is yes.
ciaraj

awww he's learning…i love when they first start talking, but now i'm at the ages where i say, 'can you please shut up?' lol it's good you are watching what you say around him…my oldest daughter, about the age of 2 or 3, said 'eff you mother effer' and in the right context. *sigh* yeah, i'm a good influence lmao
http://www.almightydad.com/ Keith Wilcox

I didn't speak or walk until I was 2 years old (lots of issues). But, I'm told that when I finally did decide to do it I caught up in record time. It's funny how kids learn languages and how each of us processes things differently. Watching a kid experiment with language is a great pleasure of life because you get to see the learning taking place over the course of months. Really cool.
theteachertom

No means No, except, of course, when it means Yes.
http://www.todayscliche.com/ Dave @ www.todayscliche.com

Good stuff…normally our 1-year old screams “NOOOO!” followed by a whack to the head of whoever has ticked him off. We're working at it…honestly…
http://liayf.blogspot.com/ Seattledad

Watching/listening to them learn to talk and put sentences together is one of the most rewarding aspects of parenting.

Then one night, you may go into his room at 4:00AM and he will tell you that a 'funny looking man is dancing around in my room' and it will sort of freak you out.

Just sayin…it could happen.
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

I'm glad someone got that
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

Nice. Tonight my son was singing along to the theme song for Kipper on Sprout. He is a total sponge. Hope you had a good weekend.
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

You're not instilling confidence in me that this is just a phase

Yeah, it's fun to watch them grow and learn.
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

Me too, I'm just glad football season is over
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

I also like when he says yes, but means no.
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

I should have added the word “trying” to watch what I'm saying, there are plenty of unsavory things that still fly out of my mouth. But at least football season is over, so he has a fighting chance.
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

That's funny because I walked at 7 months and then slowed down

I totally agree, he has about 60% of the alphabet down and now we play the letter game everywhere we go, his current favorite is “X”.
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

Yes also mean Yes, except when he means No. I guess I should teach him “Maybe”
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

He sometimes flails his arms at you when he says 'No' too, so we are working on fixing that.
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

I don't doubt that, is that where he saw the purple dinosaurs?

The other night my son just started laughing his head off at like 3am. There was no crying, no nothing. Just a series of giggles emanating from the monitor. It made me wonder when he's planning his takeover.
http://LifeofaNewDad otter321

No is now one of Braden's favorite words. He loves to tell me know to all my requests while vigorously shaking his head.
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

It's a lot of fun, isn't it? My little man sings a chorus of “no, no, no, no” while flailing both of his arms at you.
http://functionalfather.com/ Functional Father

Based on a previous posting of yours, I think our kids are roughly the same age – my daughter just turned 2 in January and I feel like I'm reading a transcript of someone listening in our house. “No!” is also her favorite word, and strangely, we have had the same interaction over raisins.

Just tonight we were reading one of the large-picture books for toddlers, pointing at things and naming them. I pointed at a picture of a puzzle and she said “Cow!” I looked twice, as the puzzle in the picture was an animal puzzle with a cow as one piece. She proceeded to name the little pieces in the puzzle. Amazing that they can scrutinize at this age.

One last comment on “No.” I live in the northeast, which has been hit with a decent amount of snow lately. I've been using the snow to combat her constant “Nos”. Every time she says “No!”, I say, “Yes, honey, it's snow outside, isn't that pretty?” Not sure she gets the humor in that (in fact, I know she doesn't), but it helps me get by.
melisalw

Amen.

I remember when my kid used to yell “DOGGY!” and I was like, “no, I don't see a dog…” But yes, indeed there always was one SOMEWHERE. Nothing like a toddler making you feel like an idiot.

Except a teenager.
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

Oh I can't wait for those years. I'm planning my fatherly 'fortress of solitude' for when those days come.
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

Nice! I like the deflection to snow. My son will be two in April, so our kids are close. It is amazing how perceptive they are at this age. I really have to do a double take before correcting him anymore. He likes to point out letters to the words on whatever shirt I'm wearing and I always have to look twice before agreeing with him. He is usually right.
http://gopopgo.wordpress.com/ Pop

Hi PJ! Found your blog via DC Urban Dad and especially love the title!

Great post and love the nod to the Princess Bride. Teaching our daughter, who just turned 2, was and continues to be a challenge. When she used to give us something, she would say, “Thank you,” and when she wants something, she now says, “Here you go,” since that's what we say to her when we give her something.
http://www.pjmullen.com/ PJ Mullen

Hey, thanks for stopping by. DC Urban Dad is a good dude.

No doubt, it is funny how they pick up certain things and run with them. I actually got him to say “please” tonight and was quite pleased with myself.