Oh, be careful little mouth what you say

Rebecca has added about twenty new words to her vocabulary in the past couple of weeks, a few spoken well, but most with modified pronunciation, although still understandable in context. We are so excited to hear her talking more; but what is fascinating is that her most frequent words are "Whoa, baby!", which is something that Steve and I never say. Her only exposure to it was from a couple of extended family members for a few days over Christmas. (She liked saying "whoa" at that time, but had never said "baby.") The interesting thing to me is that there was a long delay between the time that she was exposed to it, and the time that she started saying it. Now she says it constantly, for no reason, just while playing or when she's in her crib trying to go to sleep. This is a reminder to me that I need to be careful of what I say, because even if it is not repeated immediately, it will eventually come out. This is the most difficult for me when I drive, because I have a habit of calling some other drivers "stupid," and I don't want Rebecca to use that word.

Other new words and word approximations besides "baby" (she also uses it correctly, not just with "whoa") include moon, star, up, down, happy (usually using it to request the song in which you clap your hands); moo, grrr, bunny, buckle, mouse, nose, messy, yucky (for dirty things found on the floor, not food), yummy; duck, pink, blue, Pooh (as in Winnie the Pooh), go-go-go (from her rhyming Bible story book, where God told Jonah to go, go, go, but Jonah didn't listen; he said no, no, no!). The cutest is that she learned to say "Becca", as well as "Abby" and "Emmy" (two neighbor friends close to her age). Also in the last two weeks, she has learned to name letters T, D, P, B, R, M, O, E, and L (she got a bunch of letter blocks and letter magnets for Christmas), and frequently points them out in books and stores, and on clothing and packages. She can also point to most other letters if asked, but just can't say them all yet. Her speech therapist is pleased, but said that Rebecca still has more trouble than most children combining different sounds, especially when it requires a quick change in mouth position; but she should eventually learn correct pronunciations with continued speech therapy.