Today I finally got tired of hearing Jacob call himself Mamo or J-Mamo. He can say nearly any word you can throw at him, so I was pretty sure he could say his name. I think he is just being stubborn about it.
So this morning I figured out an incentive to get him to say his name. Jacob asks me to read to him about 20 times during the day. When he asked me first thing this morning I said, "Ok, but first you have to say Jacob." Of course his reply to this was "J-Mamo!'
I told him that his name was not Mamo, it's Jacob and I wouldn't read to him until he said it right. I felt a little bit mean, but it worked! We worked on it for a minute and when he said "Ja-COB!" I made a really big deal about it and cheered for him. I kept asking him his name throughout the day and whenever he said it right I rewarded him with praise, attention, and more book reading. I think he is finally getting the message.
It is a lot easier for me to understand that he is talking about himself when he says Jacob instead of Mamo or J-Mamo. There were even a couple of times this evening when I heard him practicing or using Jacob without prompting! I am very excited about this new development... after all, we named him Jacob because we LIKE that name!
Jacob is probably feeling proud of himself whatever name he goes by. I do like Jacob and hope he feels like it is special. Keep J-Mamo in the memories as Jacob's special name for himself that showed how you were part of him, too.
ReplyDeleteJoseph was called Jofess by Emily which is clearly a use of the wrong letters in the wrong place, but a good try for a little one.