[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]
This is shaping up to be a good week. No doubt about it, it's spring cleaning time! First, at a church yard sale this weekend, I picked up a few common (Dr. Mario) and not so common (Klax) NES games that I didn't have yet for $0.50 each. I'd also spotted an NES Game Genie box, but didn't give it a good look. A kid came up behind me and asked if he could see it. I handed it to him and kept digging through the games. He said he thought it was actually a Super NES GG and handed it back. He was right! I got it for 50 cents, too! (Thank goodness he didn't decide he wanted it.)
Other finds at weekend yard sales were mostly more Nintendo stuff. (And I'm not a Nintendo collector, dammit!) I did pick up an Atari ST/Amiga/Atari 8-bit trackball.
Monday I found a couple dozen boxed, complete Intellivision games. I picked up Mouse Trap and Beauty and the Beast (which I may already have, I forget), and some box upgrades. Tuesday I remembered to take my not-up-to-date list and got some more as box upgrades.
Tuesday something had told me to go to Value Village, but I didn't have time! So I went today. The first thing I see, sitting right next to the door, is a boxed Sega Master System. I'm not really interested, especially for $38.99, even though I see some boxed games inside. So I wander around the store some more. As I make my way around to the second electronics section, I'm confronted by a big box that says "arcade" on the side. What's this?!? A Bally Profesional Arcade in the box!
I've never seen a single Astrocade item in the wild before. It's marked $24.99. Not knowing how much they go for on eBay, I debate buying it, but quickly decide it's worth it since I've never seen one before. (I also pick up NES Spy Hunter for $2.99 for the heck of it.) I get outside and it's raining. The box is already heavily taped, but I don't want to get it wet as well. So I decide to sit down and see what's inside.
I find 17(!) cartridges, 10 big game manuals, 9 small game manuals (plus three Football playbooks (Why do I have two for the blue team?)), the system manual, a keypad overlay, power supply, and four(!) controllers. No switchbox and no dust cover, but I'm not complaining! None of the cartridges are more than a 3 in rarity by the DPG. Somewhat annoyingly, I have manuals for Star Battle and Artillery Duel, but no carts. All the cartridges/manuals are the "Bally" versions except The Incredible Wizard and Artilery Duel.
Then I went down the street to another thrift and picked up a pair of Starfighter joysticks with a standard 9-pin (2600/C64/etc.) connectors. Never come across this particular type of joystick before.
Now, I just hope everything I've picked up this week works. I haven't had a chance to test any of it yet, and don't forsee being able to do so until next week.
[To date, this is still my only Astrocade find ever. — 18 June 2010]
24 March 2000
CVG 101: When Is a Combat Not a Combat? (originally for Classic Gamer Magazine)
[Classic Gamer Magazine introduction. This article originally appeared in CGM #3 (spring 2000) and is a revision of one I wrote for Suite 101 using the same title.]
Once your classic cartridge collection reaches a certain size, you’ll discover you’re finding few new cartridges at thrift stores. In order to "get their fix," so to speak, many collectors start collecting label variations to keep their number of "finds" up. Label variations simply means different types of labels on the same game. For Colecovision cartridges, this might mean the difference between the labels saying the cart is "for Colecovision" and saying it’s "for Colecovision & ADAM." For Intellivision, it’s probably the difference between the colorful Mattel labels and the black and white Intellivision Inc. labels, which also featured slight name changes to avoid licensing fees (e.g. "Football" instead of "NFL Football"). For the Atari 2600 it’s more complicated.
Because the 2600 (or VCS) was sold for over a decade, Atari went through four major label styles. The original style was all text on a black background. Then they started replacing much of the text with a colorful picture like the one on the box. Next Atari went with a silver background. Finally, at the end of the console’s life, they used a rust background. (Most collectors call it red; some call it brown. I think "rust" is more accurate than either of those.) But in all but a handful of cases (see sidebar), the game names never changed. So when is a Combat cartridge not a Combat cartridge? When it’s a Sears Tele-Games Tank Plus cartridge.
When the Atari 2600 debuted, Sears was one of the strongest retail chains in the United States. If you wanted to sell your product at Sears, it had to have a Sears brand on it. Thus, when Atari signed an agreement with Sears to have them sell the 2600, it became the Sears Tele-Games Video Arcade. (Tele-Games was the "brand name" for video games at Sears. It has no relation, as far as I know, to the current Telegames company (www.telegames.com), which happens to sell video games.)
Several of the games received new names as well. It’s uncertain exactly why Sears did this. Perhaps it was to confuse shoppers and have them buy what they thought was new game when it was actually one they already have. To make things more confusing, they named some cartridges after dedicated consoles they had previously released and just added a Roman numeral to the end to differentiate them. The most obvious example is Breakaway IV (a.k.a. Breakout).
Not all games were renamed, of course. Home versions of arcade games Atari had to secure licenses for were not (e.g. Space Invaders, Pac-Man), nor were those based on other licensed properties (e.g. Superman). There were also three games that Atari created, but only sold through Sears (see sidebar).
It is interesting to note that while Sears similarly renamed Mattel’s Intellivision as the Super Video Arcade, they didn’t rename any of Mattel’s games. The boxes and instructions were different, but the cartridges and overlays are generally indistinguishable from Mattel’s normal releases when found loose.
As a collector, you might ask whether the Sears version of games and consoles are rarer and therefore more desirable. In general, all Sears releases are slightly rarer than their Atari or Mattel counterparts. Whether they’re more desirable, however, depends on the collector you’re dealing with. Some collectors who don’t care about most cartridge label variations do collect Sears labels. Others don’t care at all, except for the "Sears exclusive" games.
If you do decide to start collecting label variations and start examining your duplicate games very closely, you might be amazed at just how many differences you’ll find. There are some definite sub-types within the main Atari label variations described earlier. And even within those sub-types, you can find some very minute changes on labels that appear identical at first glance. And that goes for third party companies, too.
John Earney began compiling a list of 2600 label variations, which can be found on his home page at http://www2.best.com/~jearney/. It hasn’t been updated in a few years, however. I guess even John got overwhelmed by all the small changes one can find. So, if you decide to collect label variations, set a limit on what you’ll keep. Otherwise you’ll probably quickly find your collection (rather than your extras) overflowing with Missile Commands, Space Invaders, and maybe even Combat, regardless of the name on the label.
Sidebar
Once your classic cartridge collection reaches a certain size, you’ll discover you’re finding few new cartridges at thrift stores. In order to "get their fix," so to speak, many collectors start collecting label variations to keep their number of "finds" up. Label variations simply means different types of labels on the same game. For Colecovision cartridges, this might mean the difference between the labels saying the cart is "for Colecovision" and saying it’s "for Colecovision & ADAM." For Intellivision, it’s probably the difference between the colorful Mattel labels and the black and white Intellivision Inc. labels, which also featured slight name changes to avoid licensing fees (e.g. "Football" instead of "NFL Football"). For the Atari 2600 it’s more complicated.
Because the 2600 (or VCS) was sold for over a decade, Atari went through four major label styles. The original style was all text on a black background. Then they started replacing much of the text with a colorful picture like the one on the box. Next Atari went with a silver background. Finally, at the end of the console’s life, they used a rust background. (Most collectors call it red; some call it brown. I think "rust" is more accurate than either of those.) But in all but a handful of cases (see sidebar), the game names never changed. So when is a Combat cartridge not a Combat cartridge? When it’s a Sears Tele-Games Tank Plus cartridge.
When the Atari 2600 debuted, Sears was one of the strongest retail chains in the United States. If you wanted to sell your product at Sears, it had to have a Sears brand on it. Thus, when Atari signed an agreement with Sears to have them sell the 2600, it became the Sears Tele-Games Video Arcade. (Tele-Games was the "brand name" for video games at Sears. It has no relation, as far as I know, to the current Telegames company (www.telegames.com), which happens to sell video games.)
Several of the games received new names as well. It’s uncertain exactly why Sears did this. Perhaps it was to confuse shoppers and have them buy what they thought was new game when it was actually one they already have. To make things more confusing, they named some cartridges after dedicated consoles they had previously released and just added a Roman numeral to the end to differentiate them. The most obvious example is Breakaway IV (a.k.a. Breakout).
Not all games were renamed, of course. Home versions of arcade games Atari had to secure licenses for were not (e.g. Space Invaders, Pac-Man), nor were those based on other licensed properties (e.g. Superman). There were also three games that Atari created, but only sold through Sears (see sidebar).
It is interesting to note that while Sears similarly renamed Mattel’s Intellivision as the Super Video Arcade, they didn’t rename any of Mattel’s games. The boxes and instructions were different, but the cartridges and overlays are generally indistinguishable from Mattel’s normal releases when found loose.
As a collector, you might ask whether the Sears version of games and consoles are rarer and therefore more desirable. In general, all Sears releases are slightly rarer than their Atari or Mattel counterparts. Whether they’re more desirable, however, depends on the collector you’re dealing with. Some collectors who don’t care about most cartridge label variations do collect Sears labels. Others don’t care at all, except for the "Sears exclusive" games.
If you do decide to start collecting label variations and start examining your duplicate games very closely, you might be amazed at just how many differences you’ll find. There are some definite sub-types within the main Atari label variations described earlier. And even within those sub-types, you can find some very minute changes on labels that appear identical at first glance. And that goes for third party companies, too.
John Earney began compiling a list of 2600 label variations, which can be found on his home page at http://www2.best.com/~jearney/. It hasn’t been updated in a few years, however. I guess even John got overwhelmed by all the small changes one can find. So, if you decide to collect label variations, set a limit on what you’ll keep. Otherwise you’ll probably quickly find your collection (rather than your extras) overflowing with Missile Commands, Space Invaders, and maybe even Combat, regardless of the name on the label.
Sidebar
| Sears Name | Atari Name | |
|---|---|---|
| Arcade Golf | Miniature Golf | |
| Arcade Pinball | Video Pinball | |
| Baseball | Home Run | |
| Breakaway IV | Breakout | |
| Cannon Man | Human Cannonball | |
| Capture | Flag Capture | |
| Chase | Surround | |
| Checkers | Video Checkers | |
| Circus | Circus Atari | |
| Code Breaker | Codebreaker | |
| Dare Diver | Sky Diver | |
| Dodger Cars | Dodge 'Em | |
| Gunslinger | Outlaw | |
| Math | Fun With Numbers | |
| Maze | Slot Racers | |
| Maze Mania | Maze Craze | |
| Memory Match | Hunt & Score | |
| Outer Space | Star Ship | |
| Poker Plus | Casino | |
| Pong Sports | Video Olympics | |
| Race | Indy 500 | |
| Slots | Slot Machine | |
| Soccer | Championshp Soccer or Pele's Soccer | |
| Space Combat | Space War | |
| Speedway II | Street Racer | |
| Spelling | Hangman | |
| Steeplechase | [Sears exclusive] | |
| Stellar Track | [Sears exclusive] | |
| Submarine Commander | [Sears exclusive] | |
| Tank Plus | Combat | |
| Target Fun | Air-Sea Battle | |
| Name | a.k.a. | |
| Atari Video Cube | Rubik's Cube | |
| Basic Math | Fun with Numbers | |
| Championship Soccer | Pele's Soccer | |
| (A Game of) Concentration | Hunt & Score | |
| Fun with Numbers | Basic Math | |
| Hunt & Score | (A Game of) Concentration | |
| Pele's Soccer | Championship Soccer | |
| Rubik's Cube | Atari Video Cube | |
Postscript (June 2013)
As it says at the top, a big chunk of this article is identical to one I wrote for Suite 101 a few years prior. The reason for this is quite simple; I blew my deadline. On February 23, I thought to check old e-mails and discovered the deadline had been February 10. Luckily for me, Cav was way behind, so I got about 10 days to write something. The old article was stuck in my head for some reason and my contract specifically left me free to use articles in print media.
I found several copies of John Earney's label variations list around, but the most recent (from 2001) is available at Atari Age.
This article is also available at Good Deal Games and has been for many years. Cav worked out some deal with site owner Michael Thomasson, and Michael specifically requested this article. The request came several months after I wrote it, so the potential conflict with Suite 101 didn't occur to me until now. But by then the article had been gone from Suite 101 for a long time, so I'd say no harm done.
29 December 1999
End of the Year Brag
[Originally posted to rec.games.video.classic.]
Inspired by the story here of the thrifts overflowing with last minute tax write-offs, I visited a few in my area today. While none seemed to be overflowing, I was pleasantly surprised to find some stuff. It's been a long time since I've found so much new stuff at once! (And it's been a couple weeks since I've done a proper thrift shop run.)
At the first stop I picked up a hard cover copy of the 1986 edition of the Guiness Book of World Records for $1. This is the last edition to contain video game world records. (And they'd only started in 1984.) Off-topic, I also picked up DragonLance Chronicles vol. 4: Dragons of Summer Flame. I enjoyed the original DL books back in high school, and this is by the same authors. I'm sure it'll be worth the 50 cents I paid. 8)
The second stop was the highlight of the trip. First I see two stacks of boxed Intellivision games behind the cash register. But there's not an employee in sight! @!#?@! I managed to restrain myself and check the rest of the store. First thing I find is two set of Pac-Man twin sheets for $3.99 each. The total is two fitted sheets, two flat sheets, and three pillow cases. This works out fine since I found a set of just the fitted and flat sheet in this same store some months ago. Once my son's out of his crib, he'll have plenty of Pac-Man sheets. 8)
In the board games, I found a Pac-Man puzzle. It's not a jigsaw puzzle, but more of a logic puzzle. Take the 12 pieces and fit them in the four Pac-Man shaped slots in the tray. Then move them to the three circular (Pac-Man with his mouth closed, it says) slots. The box is in so-so shape, but all the pieces are there. I wonder if I can still write to the address given for the solution? 8) Oh, yeah, the box says "colors may vary," and they weren't kidding. The box has yellow Pac-Man with a blue tray. I got blue Pac-Men with a yellow tray.
Okay, now I'm back up front and ask one of the two salesladies (Where were they when I came in?) to show me the old games. Most of the games had overlays and instructions, but I'm short on money. At 99 cents each, I pick out the ten I don't think I have. I forgot my list, as always, and don't want to pull it out right in front of the cashier any way. I told her I'd have to dig out my Intellivision. What I mean is that my room is one big heap o' stuff right now, but of course she thinks I put it away in the attic or something. Who am I to correct her? Here's what I got:
The next two stops yield nothing. In fact, one seems to be trying to empty some parts of the store in some sort of clean up effort. They did have two Champion Joysticks for the SNES, but at $10 each I'll pass. (They're large, arcade quality joysticks.) Besides, I already have one.
I'm late getting back to work, but there's really nothing for me to do this week anyway, so I make one more stop. For 25 cents, I get the original, black cover version of How to Win at Nintendo by Jeff Rovin. I've probably got half a dozen red cover versions, but this is the first black one I've found. It's a shame thrifting isn't always like this any more.
[I'm not sure what the first stop was, but it was probably the Goodwill on University Dr. I think the second was Value Village on N. Memorial Parkway. The next two were probably the Breaking Free Rescue Mission Thrift Store, also on N. Memorial Parkway, and the Salvation Army around the corner on Oakwood Ave. I have no idea what the last stop would have been. Unless it was the short-lived store I've forgotten the name of on Oakwood on the other side of Memorial Parkway.
Today (2018), only the Value Village and Salvation Army stores are still there. Goodwill moved to Whitesburg Dr. and if Breaking Free is still around, I don't know where.
Today I'm kicking myself for not getting those SNES joysticks. They sell for a lot more than $10 today. And apparently they were made locally.]
Inspired by the story here of the thrifts overflowing with last minute tax write-offs, I visited a few in my area today. While none seemed to be overflowing, I was pleasantly surprised to find some stuff. It's been a long time since I've found so much new stuff at once! (And it's been a couple weeks since I've done a proper thrift shop run.)
At the first stop I picked up a hard cover copy of the 1986 edition of the Guiness Book of World Records for $1. This is the last edition to contain video game world records. (And they'd only started in 1984.) Off-topic, I also picked up DragonLance Chronicles vol. 4: Dragons of Summer Flame. I enjoyed the original DL books back in high school, and this is by the same authors. I'm sure it'll be worth the 50 cents I paid. 8)
The second stop was the highlight of the trip. First I see two stacks of boxed Intellivision games behind the cash register. But there's not an employee in sight! @!#?@! I managed to restrain myself and check the rest of the store. First thing I find is two set of Pac-Man twin sheets for $3.99 each. The total is two fitted sheets, two flat sheets, and three pillow cases. This works out fine since I found a set of just the fitted and flat sheet in this same store some months ago. Once my son's out of his crib, he'll have plenty of Pac-Man sheets. 8)
 |
| Darn right, "colors may vary"! |
Okay, now I'm back up front and ask one of the two salesladies (Where were they when I came in?) to show me the old games. Most of the games had overlays and instructions, but I'm short on money. At 99 cents each, I pick out the ten I don't think I have. I forgot my list, as always, and don't want to pull it out right in front of the cashier any way. I told her I'd have to dig out my Intellivision. What I mean is that my room is one big heap o' stuff right now, but of course she thinks I put it away in the attic or something. Who am I to correct her? Here's what I got:
- B-17 Bomber
- BurgerTime
- NFL Football
- Tron Maze-A-Tron
- Space Spartans
- Vectron
- Happy Trails (Activision)
- Carnival (Coleco)
- Beauty & the Beast (Imagic)
- White Water! (Imagic)
The next two stops yield nothing. In fact, one seems to be trying to empty some parts of the store in some sort of clean up effort. They did have two Champion Joysticks for the SNES, but at $10 each I'll pass. (They're large, arcade quality joysticks.) Besides, I already have one.
I'm late getting back to work, but there's really nothing for me to do this week anyway, so I make one more stop. For 25 cents, I get the original, black cover version of How to Win at Nintendo by Jeff Rovin. I've probably got half a dozen red cover versions, but this is the first black one I've found. It's a shame thrifting isn't always like this any more.
[I'm not sure what the first stop was, but it was probably the Goodwill on University Dr. I think the second was Value Village on N. Memorial Parkway. The next two were probably the Breaking Free Rescue Mission Thrift Store, also on N. Memorial Parkway, and the Salvation Army around the corner on Oakwood Ave. I have no idea what the last stop would have been. Unless it was the short-lived store I've forgotten the name of on Oakwood on the other side of Memorial Parkway.
Today (2018), only the Value Village and Salvation Army stores are still there. Goodwill moved to Whitesburg Dr. and if Breaking Free is still around, I don't know where.
Today I'm kicking myself for not getting those SNES joysticks. They sell for a lot more than $10 today. And apparently they were made locally.]
18 December 1999
CVG 101: Cleaning Your Cartridges (originally for Classic Gamer Magazine)
[Classic Gamer Magazine introduction. This article originally appeared in CGM volume 1, #2 (winter 1999–2000). This is the article as I submitted it and may not exactly match what was published.]
Just like everything else, cartridges get dirty over time. How dirty depends mainly on the environment they’re kept in, but you probably only care whether they work or not.Well, first let me suggest that you clean all the carts you find, because some of the dirt on the contacts is going to stay in your console’s cartridge slot. Using only clean cartridges will help prolong your system’s life. (Think of it as "safe sex" for your video game system(s).)
Before I proceed, I must say that neither I nor Classic Gamer Magazine take any responsibility for any damage you might do to your cartridges following any of the advice below. Although the techniques described work for most people, I can’t guarantee that something totally weird won’t happen when you try them, so please don’t blame me.
Okay, the first rule of cart cleaning is don’t blow into them! Although I don’t know of any studies that prove it, the conventional wisdom is that all you’re doing is blowing moisture right on to the contacts, which will only make them corrode faster. Although it may seem that you’re blowing the dust out of them and making a cartridge that didn’t work a second ago work now, it was probably just the fact that you reseated the contacts by taking it out and putting it back in. If you must blow into them, try using a can of compressed air from your local electronics store. This is exactly what those cans were created for.
There is a better, more thorough way, although it’s not as fast. First, go to your local pharmacy and buy some cotton swabs and a small bottle of isopropyl alcohol. The higher the percentage of alcohol, the better. The rest of the solution is water, you see. Alcohol evaporates quickly, but as you know, water doesn’t. Water causes corrosion, so the less, the better.
As you probably guessed by now, simply take a cotton swab and dip it in the alcohol. Then rub it up and down along the contacts. You will probably be surprised by how black the swab becomes. Now whatever you do, don’t dip it back in the alcohol because then you’ll just contaminate it. You can, however, rotate the swab to a clean area as you rub. You’ll end up with three or four "sides" to your swab. While I’m at it, I also clean the inside of the cartridge around the contacts so the dust there doesn’t settle back on them. Finally, make sure you wait until the alcohol has evaporated and the contacts are dry before plugging it in!
Oh, but you can’t get to the contacts because there’s just more black plastic on that end? Okay, then that’s probably an Atari-made Atari 2600 cart. If you look closely, you’ll see two tabs sticking out at each end next to a "hole." Take something like a nail file or knife and carefully poke it into one of those holes. You should see the "door" on the long slot in the middle slide up. Now simply push back on the entire black cover and the contacts should be exposed.
At this point, most cartridges will work if they didn’t already. Occasionally you have a stubborn one with harsher corrosion that won’t clean off with this technique. Now you have to bring in the big gun: a pencil eraser. Simply rub the eraser up and down on the contacts. This goes with the "grain" of the contacts from their many insertions into and removals from consoles. Don’t over rub, as the eraser can actually remove the conductive coating of the contact. Once you do that, your cartridge will no longer work no matter how much you clean it.
You might have problems getting the eraser to the contacts. William Cassidy once suggested cutting a slice of eraser and gluing it to a Popsicle stick. If that doesn’t work, you can try taking the casing off the cartridge to better get at the contacts. Many systems’ cartridges are held together with a screw under the label. This can lead to a dilemma if the label is in excellent shape. Do you want a beautiful looking cartridge or one that works?
There are a few options. You can use a utility knife to cut a small X over the screw, carefully peel the label back, and then fold it back down when done. You might also try removing the label (or peeling it back enough to get to the screw) and then re-applying it. If you do this, try heating the label with a hair dryer. This usually loosens the glue so that you can keep the label in good condition if you’re careful.
As time goes on, more and more cartridges will go "bad," when actually they’re just dirty. Keeping your cartridges, and thus your system, clean will increase their lifetime. And hopefully you’ll get a lifetime’s worth of play out of them as well.
Postscript (June 2013)
The date for this article is taken from the day Cav said he was going to start mailing out copies of the issue to subscribers. The issue's theme was video games and movies, but cleaning cartridges was the topic stuck in my head, so I went with that. CVG 101 was the kind of column that didn't necessarily have to follow each issue's theme. Also, if you have copies of CGM, you'll note that first issue had a header proclaiming the article part of "Lee's Classic Corner." I asked Cav to ditch that after the first issue and he did.10 November 1999
Walter's Vocabulary
This post provides a snapshot of Walter's vocabulary at 18 months.
These are words that Walter says (or has said) regularly. There are
more things he has seemed to say, but since he did not say them
regularly, I'll assume it was a fluke. Some of these words have
fallen into disuse at the current time.
Walter understands many more words than he says. For example, he knows what "stand" and "sit" mean. He also has learned a few more body parts than he says, but he's working on it.
Walter understands many more words than he says. For example, he knows what "stand" and "sit" mean. He also has learned a few more body parts than he says, but he's working on it.
- ball
- One of Walter's first words after Mommy and Daddy.
- (belly) button
- This was amongst Walter's early body part vocabulary. Unfortunately we're now having a hard time teaching him what a shirt button is. (You say button, he thinks "belly button.")
- block(s)
- Another of Walter's early words, but after "ball."
- book
- When we first tried reading to Walter, he wouldn't sit still long enough. Now he loves to have books read to him. His current favorites are The Foot Book by Dr. Seuss and Tigger's Big Bounce.
- bubble(s)
- Walter loves to blow bubbles, but "bubble" can also mean "grape."
- bye-bye
- Walter started waving bye-bye early on, and then quit. Once he started doing it again, it took a little while for him to also say the word. Now he's a professional.
- cookie
- Walter refers to any snack food (cookies, fruit chews, crackers, chips) as a cookie. He will sometimes say "cracker" when corrected.
- Daddy
- I couldn't tell you exactly when Walter started saying this. He just slowly went from "duh-duh-duh" to "dad-ee." One of his first words, along with "Mommy." Early on, he had stages where he'd only say one or the other. Currently, Walter seems to have a problem understanding Lee is Daddy and Dorothy is Mommy. He tends to reverse them most of the time.
- doggy
- One of Walter's most recent words.
- ear
- This was the third body part we worked on. He picked it up fairly quickly.
- eye
- The fourth body part we did. Now we just have to teach to be gentle when indicating it.
- French fry
- We've unfortunately fallen into the trap of fast food. Walter loves French fries. We have to limit what we give him so he'll eat his other food most of the time. He's even said "French fry" once as we drove past McDonald's now, so we're definitely in trouble (and trying to cut back).
- hi
- Walter tends to greet me with this when I come home. He'll also answer "hi" when you say it to him.
- juice
- Any liquid that goes in his cups (juice, milk, water) is juice, although we're working on "milk." Walter uses this word a lot, basically meaning he's thirsty. Sometimes it's hard for me to tell "juice" from "shoes."
- kitty (cat)
- Walter learned this fairly early, despite the fact our cats always run away from him.
- Mommy
- One of Walter's first two words. (See Daddy.)
- no
- For a while, this was Walter's all-purpose answer, no matter if he meant yes or no. But if you tried to give him something he didn't want, he definitely meant it because he'd say "no" and push it away. He's gotten better about it, but "no" still doesn't always mean no.
- nose
- One of the first two body parts we worked on, and one of Walter's favorites. (See toes.)
- potty
- Another of Walter's more recent words. He knows what it means. Now if we could just get him to say it when he needs to "go potty."
- shoe(s)
- When Walter starts saying "shoes," it sometimes means he wants to go outside. Although usually he'll go get his jacket first and then we'll tell him he needs his shoes. Then he starts saying "shoes."
- sock(s)
- Walter usually says "shoes" when he sees someone putting on socks, but will start saying "socks" after he's corrected.
- teeth
- One of Walter's more recently learnd body parts. I think it's surplanted mouth, so I guess we'll have to work on tongue, lips, etc.
- tissue(s)
- One of Walter's grandmothers managed to start teaching Walter to blow his nose at an amazingly early age. He later learned to say "tissue." Usually he starts saying it whenever someone else gets a tissue, indicating he wants one too (whether his nose really needs blowing or not).
- toe(s)
- One of the first two body parts we worked on, along with "nose." He learned the difference amazingly quickly.
- uh-oh
- Another of Walter's early words, although I don't remember precisely when he started saying it. He most likely picked it up from Teletubbies. At first, he'd just say it for no apparent reason. Then he started saying it any time he saw Teletubbie merchandise. As of this writing, he tends to use when he spills or drops something.
- whee
- I started saying this to let Walter know sliding down a slide is supposed to be fun. Now he often says it just as he starts down one. (And he does think they're fun.)
- yay
- When Walter does something right or good, we try to encourage him by saying "yay" and clapping. He picked up on it and will now clap for himself while saying "yay!" He's also started doing it when other people applaud, including people on TV.
- yeah
- Walter sometimes says this in response to a question, but I don't think he really understands its meaning.
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