Finding Her Voice

I have always been very intrigued at the concept of language development, both verbal and written. I think it is simply amazing and such a testament to our Creator to watch babies begin the journey of learning to speak, with little or no active efforts required for instruction.

Caris has been a babbler from early on and quickly developed the production of several distinct phonemes. We have heard, quite clearly, 'mamama' 'bababa' 'gagaga' 'dadadada' etc. for some time now. Incidently, the 'mamama' sound is usually made when upset or hungry. Interesting. She also couples different sounds together, for example 'ba ra bo', which was interpreted to mean 'brown bow' as she voiced said sounds while we were dressing her and putting on her brown bow :) Pretty consistently, she will mimic sounds when you talk with her. Her favorite is repeating 'hihihihi' after you say hi to her (she will do this into the phone as well, I get a kick out of it)

And when Caris gets to talking, she can put on quite a show for a while. Talking, laughing, squealing, in varied decibels and levels of excitement. She was evidently in that mood yesterday as her teachers informed me that 'Caris had a lot to say today' as I picked her from school. But don't let that fool you; she definitely has very distinct moods throughout the day and embraces each mood fully. She has her active talking mood as described, but she also has a very serious, focused mood at which time you will not hear a single peep from our little conversationalist.

A few weeks ago, I felt like her 'talking' sounded a little different to me. I mentioned that thought to Garrett with the addition that I couldn't quite describe what was different. He, after having a nightly conversation with lil' C, summed up exactly what was going on.

Caris is beginning to have a voice.

It's a subtle difference, I know. But it is indeed a difference, and I find it highly fascinating. Her sweet little sounds have taken on the personality of their developer. Caris' voice is tiny and sweet, but purposeful and full of direction.

Next stop, sounds with correct intent. Can't wait to hear those first words.