More Animal Noises

You may recall that we have been teaching B-Boy animal noises. (I posted about it earlier here.)

He has already mastered duck, kitty cat, doggie, lion, elephant, snake, cow, sheep, and kangaroo.

He has increased his knowledge of animals. My Dad suggested we teach him Monkey and Gorilla next. Those sounded like fun, so we decided to give them a try.

• "What do Monkeys say?" We taught him to open his mouth in an O shape and breathe in and out making a monkey noise. 

• "What do Gorillas say?" I taught him to beat his chest and say "Ahhhhhh". He really likes that one, and seems to get into it. Although he usually only uses one hand to beat his chest instead of two. (Good suggestion GrandpaGator!)

• "What do Goats say?" Since the farm that we drive by before I turn into work has cows, sheep and goats, I thought this would be a good one to teach him. B-Boy had trouble saying a hard "NAY!" so I taught him "Nah-Nah-Nah" instead. This one is also a favorite, after sheep. For some reason, he still loves saying Baaa-Baaa-Baaa! 

• "What do Owls say?" He finally got this one. He used to just repeat Owl! over and over again, happy that he could say it. Now he will answer "Hoo-Hoo-Hoo!" 

• "What do Bees say?" B-Boy will smile and say "ZZZZZZZ".

• "What does a Mouse say?" I am not sure how he knew this, because before I could teach it to him, he answered "Squeak-Squeak-Squeak!"

• "What do Lizards say?" I know, you are thinking, um- lizards don't say anything! But they do! They stick out their tongues! B-Boy likes that one too- it's a great excuse to stick out his tongue. 

• "What do Pigs say?" This one took several attempts, but now he makes snorting noises!  

And I am saving his other favorite... "What does a Fish say?" for last. There is a large tropical fish tank in the common Atrium at the daycare and everyday he runs up to it and says "I see!". I thought that would be a good one to teach him next. I showed him how to open and close his mouth in an O shape, making noises with his lips. He really enjoys that one!

And in addition to making animal noises on cue, he has made a leap to a new concept. I have two examples to share!

One of our cats is named Mango. She enjoys toying with B-Boy, and we often say her name as a result. One day, Mango walked into the kitchen. I said "Hi Mango!" and then looked at B-Boy, who was happily eating in his high chair. I asked him "B-Boy, what does Mango say?". He replied, "Meow!".

I was really surprised! He knows that kitty cats say Meow. He knows that Mango is a Kitty Cat. He then could make the leap to infer that Mango says Meow! Wow.

And then, he did it again. One day we went into the nursing room at daycare to change him into his swim suit. He had just learned what a Monkey says, and on the door of one of the cabinets is a picture of a Monkey. I said "Look B-Boy, it's a Monkey! What do Monkeys say?" He replied with a funny monkey sound. Fast forward two days later.

Back to the room we went to change into his swim suit. He ran over to the picture of the monkey... pointed at the picture and made the monkey noise! It took me a moment to realize what he was doing, and a few minutes later, I snapped a photo so you could see it.

I did not expect him to connect the picture, the animal word, and the noise, especially two days after he first learned the picture was a monkey. What a great leap forward!

Ooo-Ooo-Ooo!