What Does the Cow Say?

 

What Does the Cow Say?

One of the first things a baby will do after they start to form words, is to learn the sounds that farm animals make.  It is a milestone right along with peek-a-boo, crawling or learning to walk.  By 18 months old, a toddler is usually able to answer the familiar questions like: “What does the horse say?” or “What does the dog say?”.  Not only do they learn animal sounds, but they learn parts of their bodies.  “Where are your ears?” or “Point to your nose” are often asked of a child at this age.   My littlest grandchild has reached that stage.  She performs all of her tricks when she is in front of an audience of family members.  She knows where her eyes, ears, nose, tongue, hair, belly, knees, and toes are and some others too.  When asked about her eyes, she blinks really fast.  When asked about her nose, she sniffs her little button nose.  She sticks her tongue out and shows off her teeth.  I also love her response to “How big are you?” when she reaches her arms high above her head to show how big she is.  She loves animals and makes a very cute elephant sound.  She also imitates a dog, a sheep, a horse, a lion, a cat, a duck and a cow when prompted.  Each one of these sounds she correctly produces except one.  It is the one that most children learn first and that is “what does the cow say?”  Every child learns “moo-moo” probably encouraged by Old MacDonald’s farm song.  From this song a child learns the cow, pig, horse, duck, sheep and chicken sounds.  My little granddaughter can crow like a rooster, but when asked what the cow says…she says “pizza”, every time!  Her parents are not sure where she got that, but after much failed correction, they are resigned to the fact that a cow says “pizza”.  Maybe it’s because it produces hard-to-hold laughter from her audience?

Tammy Harvey

12/16/2025