You've Come a Long Way, Baby

Everett started talking later than Layne did as a baby.  It wasn't entirely his fault.  The poor guy had a continuous double ear infection from age 7 months to 13 months...prime time for listening and learning to talk.  At 13 months, Everett had tubes inserted in both ears.  Almost instantly, he began walking and talking.  For some time, he wasn't able to pronounce consonant sounds - only vowel sounds.  It didn't take long though and he was calling his Mama, "Nay-na".  Eventually, he did say "Mama" when Dada was on a business trip in New Zealand.

Now, Everett is quite the chatterbox and tries to pronounce just about everything he hears.  Sometimes it doesn't sound just like the real word but Layne can usually translate for Mama and Dada.  Here are some examples of Everett's favorite things to say at the moment.

"Mama, air-AW-yew?"  (Mama, where are you?)  He likes to say this even when Mama is 2 feet away, making direct eye contact.  He thinks it's funny.

"eye-YEW"  (I love you.)  He says this every night before bed to Mama, Dada and Layne.

"pee-pee-yay-yuh"  (Pennsylvania)  This one makes Layne crack up.  Everett's Mimi and PapPap live in Pennsylvania.

"tuh-tuh-tuh-cuck"  (T-t-t-truck)  He's trying to say truck and really emphasizing the "t" but can't get the "tr" sound out.

"arf, arf" (Arf-arf)  He's pretending he's a puppy down on all fours.

"M-ow" (Meow)  He's pretending he's a kitty cat down on all fours.

"Cack"  (Snack)  He wants a snack...and he wants it now.

"Nay-ain"  (Layne)  He's calling for Layne to play with him.

"Uh-see, uh-see"  (I see, I see)  He wants to see whatever you have.