Dead giveaway...

Words are something I'm quite keen on. English was always my best school subject; I've been scribbling purposefully since the age of about twelve, and on those awful mangement training things I used to have to go on I was always group scribe. I seem to have passed on the ability to Sally, too. She's now official 'poet-laureate' to the family, in recognition of her ability to pen the most appropriate verses on demand. She's even published (courtesy of Lulu) one of those traditional slim volumes, called 'Pink Poems'.

Charlie's got a way to go then, but after a slow-ish start he's suddenly getting into his stride, words-wise. New words (or neologisms) are minted almost every day, and most are the kind of things you might expect. But there are also some surprises. Anyway, as we're now into double-figures I thought I'd better start recording them. And what more auspicious day for doing so than the birthday of England's national wordsmith? Actually, Shakespeare and Charlie have got one thing in common - if they can't find the right word, they both make one up! So, a St George's Day competition for you all. How many of Charlie's first words can you translate? Here's a list of the most frequently-used words, most of which are nouns and all of which are spelt phonetically -

• iggoo
• amm-mar
• aieee
• dar
• cah
• mamama
• dadah
• oggleog
• nana
• ayaya
• bah-bah
• bah
• buh
• aiee-ya
• did-uh

Too easy, surely? First prize - a signed copy of my next book In a Mum's World... (Crumbs - I'd better get it written...Meanwhile, enjoy the cover.)