[Cheryl101]

I'm waiting for Alex to say his first English words. He is now 13 mos old and just babbles a little - says ma ma ma and da da da, like that.

I am expecting language delays due to the abrupt change from Spanish to English, but I was wondering what other people's experience has been.

[jeannecr]

Every child is different. My son came home at 6 mos., and at 17 mos., his only clear word is "uh-oh", which he has been saying for about 2 months now. He does it very dramatically with his hands! But he babbles, points, etc., and understands what we want him to do, so I know his speaking ability will develop at some point. If you look in child development books, they all say 18-24 mos. is when language really explodes.

[Tavidad]

We brought our son home at 6 months, and now, at 18 months, he has a small vocabulary of about 6-10 words that come and go. But he understands what we say to him, communicates with us, and talks to us all the time. Pretty normal, from what we've heard from other parents of bio kids.

[CEB]

Curtis came home at almost 9 months - currently 15 months and it sounds like he has the same vocabulary as your little guy (ma ma ma and da da da and some other babbling noises). I know its a bit late - but I am not stressing yet. I may get a little stressed at 18 months if things do not change.

[Saya]

Anabel is 16 months - came home at 8 months. All she really says that's recognizable is "uh-oh". She babbles ma-ma-ma and da-da-da but it's not specific to one of us as far as we can tell. Oh, and we think she's saying "up" which can mean either up or down. She also says "dadabjaigamaeeeee" and so forth, but it gets lost in translation. We haven't been as consistent about signs as we should be - I'd say she has around 5 at this point. But she's pretty good at getting her point across anyway!

I have been a little worried, but the more I talk to people the less worried I am. Anabel's receptive language is growing by leaps and bounds, and she is starting to imitate sounds more. Plus there's a little girl down the street from us, also from Guat, just 3 weeks old then Anabel and they're at the same level language wise. That said, we may get her speech therapy anyway just to give her a push.

It sounds like your baby is well within the range.

[redru2004]

Lucas is 13 months old as well, came home at 10 1/2 months old and babbles all day long. He does the dadadada thing more often than the mamamama thing, but he does make a variety of sounds and noises. Our Ped said that by 18 months old he should be saying 3-5 words other than mama and dada pretty clearly. I'm not too worried at this point, he seems to be on target with all the other milestones thus far.

[arthymom]

Hiya!

Dd just came home last month in July at 11 1/2 months.

She is now over 1 year but just shy of 13 months and only says mama papa and dada (though she doesn't say papa anymore since we left Guatemala; she refers to my dh as dada.)

But a lot of that is babled...mamamama and dadada

And that is IT.

Also, I am speaking to her in Spanish and dh and ds only in English to further make her more confused.

In short, if your ds babbles a lot and otherwise seems to be hitting milestones you're likely fine and it's just time, but if you're concerned get your pediatrician on board with an evaluation.

Best,

[carrie2adopt]

My daughter is nearly 14 months old. She's been saying "down" for about 3 months. She babbles, dadada, mamama, and just in the last months she's started saying "light", "GiGi" (what we call my mom), "eyes", "Wiggles", "No" is a new one, and "uh-oh".

I'm more worried about her gross motor skills, she's nearly 14 months and very wobbly on her feet. She cruises, but has no desire to walk without holding on for dear life. I know it's ok yet, but I can't help but wonder when I see other children younger than she is walking in her gymbo class.

[StefB]

My daughter came home at 9.5 months. She turned one on Aug. 1 and is developing a pretty good vocab. My lawyer had told me not to expect much until 18 mos.

She says (with some words being clearer than others and some more consistent than others):
eye, up, down, Oliver, bird, duck, mom/mama, bath, bottle, back (as in "I'm back"), three (after 1,2,...), bye, uh oh, doll, ball, book.

She signs eat, more, all done, and her own personal sign for music (and my favorite) - she points to the stereo cabinet and dances.

[beejay]

My DD came home at 9 months and is now 4 yrs old. She has absolutely no problems with language or motor skills. In fact, she speaks better than some American children her age, she really started speaking clearly at 2 1/2. She didn't start walking till around 14 or 15 months.
My DS came home last Sept at 8 months, he is now 20 months and says about 10 words ' Emma, Dalton, Momma, Dada, Pappy, Grandma, spongebob, angel, NO and uh-0h. And some other words that are unclear but we know what he means. He started walking at an amazing 12 months, just a week after his birthday. So I guess they even out -- my DD started talking before whe was good and walking and my DS started walking before talking.

They are all different. My DD was completely potty trained by 2 1/2, she was doing poo-poo on potty at 18 months but my DS has absolutely no interest! He even goes to get his own diapers if he needs changed HAHA!!!!!!!!! They all reach thier milestones at their own pace, but sooner or later they will get there.

[Jaime Christine]

I guess all kids are different!

Melia came home at 3.5 months and had a language explosion at 26 months old. Now talking in "almost"sentences at 29 months. She did not babble much and started walking at 15 months. Although now- she is unstoppable talking and walking (and jumping!)

Dani came home at 9.5 months old. She is now 13 months old and says, dada, hi, and that is about it. Not worried about it yet. She babbles constantly and tries to immitates us. She started walking one week after turning one year.

[copper1578]

I just brought my son home on the 18th. The foster mother told me he was not talking yet. He is now 11 months old. Since he has been home (only a week) he is saying uh-oh, love you, mama, and today I taught him to say big bird. He also "dances" to music and points at the ceiling fan if it is not on so we will turn it on. He is a pretty smart kid if I do say so myself.

[reds]

Our daughter came home at 9 months. She has always been just one tiny step behind. She didn't sit up until 12 months. Didn't walk until 15 months and at 18 months she had basically no words or babble. My pediatrician had no concerns at all but I could really see her struggle to try and communicate, she screeched all the time. I really pushed my pediatrician and at about 21 months we had her tested through First Steps. They could see she was delayed and we started speech therapy and developemental therapy. What an amazing difference it made. They taught her basic sign language first and she loved to communicate with us. By her 2nd birthday her speech really took off. I almost felt like if I had given her a couple more months she might have started talking more on her own. But I am glad we found some way to communicate with her. The sign language was wonderful and they have a lot of baby books with pictures to help teach both baby and parents. It might be worth a try.

[kerriv]

My daughter is 11 months and came home at 8 months. She has no words yet - just babbles alot. She just started crawling and is trying to pull up. The early intervention specialist said not to expect her to say any words or improve on her vocalization until her walking is well-established. She said when they are learning to move, all their energy is focused there and not much left to imporve in the speech department.

[ana-mom]

Ana came home at 1 year and just this past month has started saying 'mama', 'all done', 'up'. She does call my niece 'Bigid (brigid)', my nephew 'Ba (Ben) and their dog 'Tuck'.

Everything else is pretty much babble.

Her gross and fine motor skills are excellent.