Our fifteen-month old daughter seems to have learned to speak this morning. Obviously not well enough for a spot on Quote Unquote, but there's a definite change in how she's communicating.
Instead of the regular babble of dadada and mamama there are definite recognisable words now - even if they are not spoken entirely correctly. So we get "ba" for ball, "bu" for book, "dat" for that, "Dayee" for Daisy and today for the first time we get a resounding clear "no" with a shaking of the head.
Which means we can now as our daughter questions and she can answer them. These reveal how much she can actually understand even if she can't say.
So for example after lunch I was about to wipe daughter's face. My wife added that I should make sure I get that crusty snot under daughter's nose. And before I'd made a move our little girl put her hand over the crusty snot, wagged her head and said a very clear "no".
It marks a huge changing point in our family and one I've been looking forward to for so long. Back when I was a single dad I kept telling myself that no matter how alone I felt one day the twins would talk and be company for me. And while our family situation is very different from that time my work days at home with the twins are likely to become more of a two way thing.