Lost in Translation? – An Insider's Guide to Caleb's Babble

Blog Editor’s Note:

For those of you who have watched the most recent video clip (posted a week ago) where Caleb was talking, don’t feel bad if you didn’t understand a single word he was saying. His parents are continually trying to make sense of what he says and even they haven’t gone very far.

However, there has been progress. Words that are quite intelligible include: ball, bear, bird, boat, book, bread, car, clock, dog, duck, hand, head, mama (for mummy), more, papa (for daddy), pear, socks, up, and walk.

Of those words that are comprehensible probably only to Caleb’s parents, the following list provides the translation.

Ba-ble – Bubble
Ba-bai – Bye-bye
Bi-bi – Baby (even older toddlers!)
Bit – Rabbit
Bot – Robot
Ish – Fish
Moon-na – Moon
Na-na – Banana
Neng-neng – Milk
Pau-pau – Please pick me up
Pearl – Apple
Pee – Nappy
Up-a-ba – Up above
Wou-wou – Dog

Clearly, Caleb and his mama and papa have a lot more work to do!