Say what?!?

E, do you hear the airplane?
(he looks in the sky for the airplane, points to it (with an open hand), and then says "ah")

Hears the garbage truck coming down the street, toddles to the door, presses his face up against the glass, pounds on the door, and says "kuck, kuck, kuck".

Sees a neighbor pulling into their drive, waves, and says 'ca, ca'.

E, what does a fire truck say? "neh nay, neh nay".

Waves good-bye to Daddy. And after Daddy's car has disappeared around the corner.. "Dada Dad-dy".

We sing "Go Cubs, Go..." to him. We stop singing all of a sudden, wait, and then hear a little boy humming along for a few extra seconds.

He loves his Raffi cd. If you are close enough to him you can sometimes hear him humming along. All while grooving and shaking his head to the music.

E, where's the dishwasher? (Goes to the dishwasher and touches/bangs on) it.) Where's the refrigerator? (Goes to the refrigerator and touches it.) And, where's the freezer? (Ok, well sometimes he points to it ;) ) Where is the coffee maker? (Oh, he knows where that is!)

E, turn on/off the light! (Turns it on or off). *I need all the extra hands I can get*

E, blow me/or Daddy a kiss. (Literally blows kisses).

Most of the time he just babbles away. Sometimes the extent of it catches me off guard, and I find it so intriguing that this little guy has something so important to tell me/us. I'm working on 'responses'. Usually, it is an 'uh, huh, that's right', but I try so hard to associate it with a meaningful reference; for instance, "yes, I know you love your papaya and broccoli, but you still have to drink you milk. What does a cow say? That's right, 'moo, moo'". Yes, that's the normal daily dialogue in our household these days.


I don't want to forget this moment. He's trying so hard to speak/communicate, and will try to move his mouth and make sounds. All my linguistic, phonology and early-education classes couldn't prepare me for this special time. It's as though every thing is just starting to connect- concepts, vocabulary, cause/effect, labeling, music, pictorial recognition, commands. I can't wait for him to tell me what he is thinking in his little(ok, big) head.