Over the course of the last week, however, we've moved into what can only be described as "Toddler Brain Hyper Speed", with my silly Dookie-Doo at the helm.
It all started last Friday, when Bruiser woke up (from his Mama's incessant tickling and kisses)... and here is the conversation that resulted:
Bruiser: Dada?
Mama: Dada went bye-bye, sweet love.
B: Where Dada go?
M: Um... Dada is at work. He took the bus.
B: No, Dada wow-wow.
M: Nope - Dada rode the bus to work today, so Mama can have the car. What does the bus say, Bubba?
B: Bus... bus... bus beep beep!
M: That's right! The bus says "beep beep"! Good job.
B: Mama?
M: Yes, buddy?
B: Dada no wow-wow, Dada go a bus. Beep beep! Bye, Dada bus!
This may not seem epic and/or post-worthy to some, but to the Mother o' The Squish? I was elated! Stoked! Impressed! And, most startlingly, terrified that I might screw up his newly emerging language skills! I mean, here is this little guy, finally stringing more than two words together, trying to communicate an entire, complex thought to another human being. How amazing is that? I just felt like the tides were turning... and I was right.
As I said, this has been a week of insane brain growth. It's like our Little Dictator has been saving up all of these lessons and observations of the English language, and finally decided to put them to use. Case-in-point, here are some of the new words/word combinations he has started saying:
1. "gicky at" (kitty cat)
2. "m'ow" (meow)
3. "guh ACK" (come back), or usually just "ACK"
4. "ick" (um... ick)
5. "wuv" (love)
6. "I want dis" (I want this)
7. "I a me" (I am me)
8. "Who's dis?" (Who is this?)
9. "Dada a bye-bye a bus a beep beep!" (Dada goes bye-bye on the bus that goes beep-beep!)
10. "Dada a door, guh ACK" (Dada went out the door, come back)
11. "Bye-bye, Mama/Dada!" (Duh.)
12. "I want a MINE" (I want it, it's mine.)
These are only the ones I can remember off the top of my 7 1/2 months pregnant, sleep-deprived, work-stressed head.
He has also started counting things out loud... even if every number is the number '9'. Going down the stairs... ("9... 9... 9..."), repeating back to me how many minutes he has left with a toy before it's someone else's turn... ("Mama, 9")... it's adorable and, although we are sure to use the correct numbers immediately afterwards, I really don't mind if thinks every number is the number 9. Go right ahead, Love Bug. Go right ahead.
Finally, he has started incorporating head nods and smiles when he agrees/understands/wants to say 'yes' to something. Up until this point, Man-Mate and I have been laughingly trying to expand his vocabulary assent of "please" to include "yes", "yeah", or "ok"... or something along those lines. Again, within the last week, Bubba-Gumpy has started this new skill and I love it! He's adorable already, but when he smiles... well, let's just say that I can see signs of a future in Not So Little Dictator-ship. The kid has charisma up the chasba.
