February 06, 2007

Talk Baby Talk

When my brother Don was a toddler, he used to refer to candies as "COOEY-COOEY" and Pepsi as "PSSSSSS-PSSSSSS." Apparently, I'm not the only who remembers this amusing phase in his learning-to-talk life as our older relations mercilessly never fail to remind my poor sibling of this whenever there's a family reunion: "Please pass the Pssssss-pssss!"....


.....and "Don, hand me the bowl of cooey-cooey!"


It's no wonder my brother now opts for Coke and chocolates anytime.

I am not exactly ridicule-free when it comes to kidspeak. I used to exclaim "BOXIBLE!" every time I saw a basketball. To this day, when I bump into old friends of my grandparents and parents, I am greeted with the inevitable: "Hi, Miss Boxible!"


Presently, our own child has begun to babytalk a mile a minute. Admittedly, we cannot fully decipher what he is saying half the time. However, he does have favorite words which he utters over and over again and which we are able to successfully translate into adultspeak.

PEESH


EPHESANT



YAYON*


*May only be said when accompanied with a ferocious growl.

CYCA*


*May be used interchangeably for tricycle, bicycle and unicycle.

DISOR


MOO*


*May also be used when spotting a cow.

TOE-TOE


ORS



But for us parents, the best, most fabulously heartwarming baby words to ever come out of his lips so far are "WUV YOU!" which he accompanies by a big
"MWAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"


Awwwwwwwwwwww.

How about you? What were your unforgettable baby words?

40 comments:

Undercover Mother said...

Little Man is going through this phase right this minute! He says "nuh nuh" for cars because they go "nuh nuh nuh" and "Obud" for our Bassett Hound, Rosebud, and "cheeeeeee" whenever a camera is around, and for yes it's just a "mmm hmmm!"

I love it.

Tracy said...

Awwww how sweet! The sweet baby words made me smile. I used to water wawa. I am sure there are a few others but I just can not seem to remember right now. smiles.

Tom Atkins said...

Isn't it wonderful how our children help us create a whole new language? And how it stays with us as they grow up, a constant reminder of that precious time when they were small. Just the other morning I fixed my 13 year old daughter "opameal" (oatmeal) for breakfast, and the use of that word (just one of many in our family) reminded us both of a time long past that was good and loving.

Thanks for this post!

Tom

Anonymous said...

Sadly, I don't remember saying funny things and my parents never mentioned any in particular except my siblings' names:

Erika = Aika (my brother and I both said it this way)

Christopher = Fur-fur (my sister said this) and Cripper (I said).

Michael C said...

Very cute! Sadly, my baby words were 'hey, pass the BBQ'

My parents say I grew up too fast...

It is fun listening to my 4-year olds try to use big words that they can't pronounce. It is very cute.

Great post and thank for your kind comments at my blog.

Bearette said...

My niece had her own language for a while. She called oatmeal "mobila" and ice cream "ippy keem." it was adorable :)

Ms. Val said...

For my younger son, his baby words were: "GOCKO" for popcorn (he's 9 and still says this because he knows I think it's cute. Also, he would refer to the little shaker of sesame seeds as "THIDS".

As for Kyle, whenever we drove past a McDonald's, he would announce "ADOLDS!!!!!"

Irene said...

Mom of Three: Amusing, isn't it?

Mmmm hmmmm! ;p

Magical Mysti: Always glad to make you smile, my friend! =)

Poet Tom: Oh! I wish my child would eat more opameal and less cookies! :p

Kitkat: I can relate! They say my brother was nicknamed "Don-Don" because that's what I kept calling him when I couldn't pronounce his real name which is Daniel. =)

Michael: "Pass the BBQ" were your first words?

Man, that truly is sad. Almost as sad as trying to pass one's self off as Dave Letterman.

Bwahaha! ;p

Beautiful Bearette: I love ippy keem! :p

Wait til it's your own child doing the cute babytalking. You'll melt right down to your toes! ;p

Ms. Val: When my son sees a McDonald's sign, he just yells EM! =)

Thanks for sharing. Catch you again soon!

houseband00 said...

My D hardly spoke for the first two years of his life which really got us a bit worried for a while.
However, when he finally spoke, it was like a dam burst.

His first word actually was "car," his favorite thing.

Unknown said...

My boy is talking up a storm these days, though he's correcting much of his earlier words. The Boy did call a basketball "basKITTAbow."

He also calls spaghetti-Os spaghetti-cheerios.

That phase is fun.

Suzan Abrams, email: suzanabrams@live.co.uk said...

Ooh...Irene, what a gorgeous post!
You have excellent taste with pictures.
My favourites for these are the fish, the toffees & the moon.
Can I have 10 toffees & 5 fat baby kisses please? :-)
hugs

Irene said...

Handsome Houseband: Our son loves cars, too. But motorcyles remain his ultimate favorite things with wheels. =)

Dorky Dad: Ms. Boxible will be pleased to meet Mr. Baskittabow! ;p

Sweet Susan: Sending you 5,000 fat baby kisses right now! MWAAAAAAAH! :p

Anonymous said...

Aww, your brother is so cute! Hehe!

(:

I cannot remember what was mine though.

Working Gal said...

Hi - saw your comment on my blog, and thought I would check yours out. Your post made me think of my son at about the same age. He learned the color yellow first (not sure why) and used to shout, "BLELLOW!" everytime he saw it. Too cute.

Laura said...

My brother and I are 16 months apart. When we were toddlers, he couldn't pronounce l's or r's so he called me wawa. Of course this was a little confusing because it was also used for water.

Steven said...

Wait...that's baby talk?

I thought it was just normal?

SO that's why everyone has been laughing at me. ;)

Steve~

Jennifer said...

My all-time favorite of Niccolo's phrases have to be "Wow peesh!" (with matching gasp) and "Soweee!" although I have not yet heard "Haneee!" See, Irene, my early conversations with him about depth perception apparently did not do all that much damage... Ahahahahaha =)

krystyna said...

Hi Irene!
Wonderful. Cute baby.
Talk Baby talk.
I enjoyed this post.
Many, many blessings!

krystyna said...

My words were in Polish language.
kaka - duck
kiki- cat
lala- doll

Kris said...

Personally I love the laughter and language of little children. It reminds you always of innocence and freedom.

Irene said...

Kyels: I still think my brother blames me for permanently affixing his nickname Don-Don in the minds of our older relatives. =)

Woking Gal: My son also loves pointing to the color yellow. He calls it YEYYOW! :p

Thanks for visiting me! You're always welcome here. =)

Laura: So when you were swimming as kids, he must have said wawa is in the wawa. Too cute! ;p

Steve: Bwahaha! You are cwazee! :p

Jennigirl: In fact, that early conversation about depth perception you had with Niccolo might have helped endear you to him more. How else to explain his constant excitement and glee at stepping into your condo each time he makes a delivery with Super Nanny? (",)

Krystyna: Glad you enjoyed, my dear friend. Thanks for contributing to my Polish vocabulary! ;p

Kris: You bet. Little children bring such profound joy and amazement to life. =)

Katie said...

Awww!

I used to call "goldfish" "Go-shish." My sister always called "magazines," "maZagines"

Ahh kidspeak...so cute!

Vivek Muniappan said...

thanks for visiting my blog..nice blog here..i don really remember wat words i used when i was young cos my mom used to tell me that i rarelt utttered words and they they tot i was mute..luckily i wasnt..now im as noisy as a hell and my mom wishes i was like "mute" last time..lolz..

but anyhow i got around 12 nieces and nephews..(yeah i became an uncle when i was in primary school-large family and indians are known for their excellent reproductions). so i practically has to listen to some "new" words from them..

"mammam" ~ eat
"chuppu" ~ soup
and many more in tamil words..

Terra Shield said...

hehehe... nice post!

I used the word 'jamacks' instead of pyjamas :D

Irene said...

Katiebelle: Go-shish is too cute! ;p

Vivek: Welcome to my blog! Glad to know you outgrew your quietness and became "noisy as hell."

I, on the other hand, still remain a silent person to this day.

Bwahahaha! Even I had to laugh at that. ;p

Hope to see you again soon!

Terra Shield: Awwww... jamacks! Adorable! =)

Menchie said...

Joshua used to say "pwet" for plate.

Then Faith said "gago" one day and I was about to furiously ask who taught it to her when I realized she meant "mango".

Irene said...

PWET and GAGO! Mench, your kids are really something else, aren't they? You just gotta love them! ;p

Theresa said...

Irene, when my twins were young, they made up their own language and I couldn't understand them. They even made up their own games and the rules always changed and it was frustrating if they wanted me to play.

When I was a toddler I referred to raisins (my favorite food) as zsama-zsams. It doesn't make sense but I'm told that me and my sister who is 10 months younger than me had a made up language too.

The funny thing is, and I've never told anyone this, whenever I go to grab raisins out of the cabinet, I always call them zsama-zsams in my head!

Irene said...

Theresa! I promise you that from now on, I won't be able to help but think of you and zsama-zsams every time I see raisins! ;p

Peg said...

Hello Irene!! :D My kids have made up all kinds of words, although, I must say when my Great One began truly enunciating, I was wistful, missing the sweet little ways that he messed up words.

choochoo said...

I can't really remember any of my baby words right now, but I do remember thinking that a fart was when a small mosquito flew out of your butt.

Drizel said...

AHHH....so cute!
I was a rock star on the car back seat. The song Hawt attak....and my mom says I had some mean moves.
My sisters baby call me Zel...she is only 1 yr and 4 months..so so kewl. Love the pics.

Irene said...

Pretty Peg: Oh, I just know I'm going to miss all this sweet baby talking when it stops. That's precisely why I'm savoring every moment while it lasts. =)

Choochoo: Oh goodness! Now I'm going to think of you each time I fart.

Bwahahaha!

Etain Lavena: Rock on, Zel!!! :p

Pamela said...

yuv your post, too
Very cleverly done.

We had funny names, I wish I'd written them down

Christina_the_wench said...

OMG that kid is too cute.

A town close to where I grew up is called Leipsic (pronounced lip sick)...I use to call it 'lipstick'.

Irene said...

Pamela: Glad you enjoyed. Have a wonderful weekend ahead! =)

Christina my favorite Wench: Aha! So from now on, you're Lipstick Girl to me! :p

Rmada: BWAHAHAHA! Now, that's funny! I'll never quite look at our bigas the same way again. ;p

Mimi Lenox said...

What a darling post. You have the sweetest family. So full of love and happiness. YAH for love and happiness.

EmBee said...

Love this post... Reminds me of when my two were little... or 'yiddle'... My absolute favorite was when my daughter would say "Look Mom, a Callapidder (catapillar)."

Irene said...

Margie: Awwwww. Callapider! Adorable! ;p

Great to see you here again. Happy Valentine's Day!

Anonymous said...

It is possible to speak infinitely on this question.