"Es-sa!" (translated, "S"!)
In terms of actual words, he still doesn't say a whole lot for his age. You hear the occasional "No, no, no!" and "Yes, yes, yes!" (which are extremely cute in their own way, especially now that he's using them in the appropriate context, you know, if repetitively counts). You also hear a random word here and there, often one much more complex than you would expect for someone who doesn't really, well, talk.
But, here lately, he's been fascinated with letters (obsessed, really). He knows all the upper letters by sight and some of the lower case letters, too. He can also say them in order, on days when he is so inclined, all the way from A to Z.
Here lately, he's been doing something else. He walks around spelling words. Out loud.
It's nothing to hear "sh-S-H-O-E - shu" or "F-R-I-E-N-D-fa-nd" from him. He also says / spells "music" and "canoe" and "boat" and "pie" as well. He doesn't try to say all of them, but does try to say some of them. "Shoe" is far and away his favorite. He spells it all the time. I'm sure people think it's odd, hearing him spell shoe as he walks in to and out from school, as we go though the drive-thru, as we shop at the grocery, as we walk around the block, and just about anywhere we go.
And while we will claim some credit for his new ability (not much, really), because we do encourage the spelling and the trying to speak on a few levels. We almost always repeat them back to him (which he demands, in his oh-so-impatient way). And we do things like making letters on the MagnaDoodle for what feels like hours, and we even get out the magnetic letters (that end up all over the house) for the boys to play with on a pretty much a daily basis.
But the majority of the credit has to go to PBS - and his two favorite shows of all time - SuperWhy and Word World. If you have toddlers, and your not adverse to television, these shows are actually kind of cute. And clearly they have some educational value. My three year old knows his letters. And it's the first thing that's interested him enough to actually try to speak.
Small steps . . .