My, what a big brain you have!

As the Mother o' The Squish, I have never felt anything other than pride and acceptance towards my sweet son's ability to assimilate into this world and learn as he goes. Okay, maybe there have been times of worry, awe, fear, uncertainty, elation, bewilderment, terror, surprise, and sheer blankness... but, mostly, pride and acceptance.

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.

9, 9, 9...

PROS
The Little Dictator LOVES to count.
The Little Dictator LOVES to read.
The Little Dictator LOVES to point and identify.

CONS
The Little Dictator thinks every number is the number "9".

The Little Dictator thinks every word is either "Mama", "Dada", "Bobo" (his favorite stuffed monkey - and yes, there are multiple... three, at last count), "No", "SpongeBob", "Chowder" (both are cartoons), "Bye-Bye", and "Mwah".

The Little Dictator thinks every object that he points to and identifies - no matter how inaccurate it may be - exists solely for his enjoyment... or terror.

EXPLANATION
Like many parents in Toddlerville, we have a book (or several) on counting. This particular book has buttons that *insert toddler's name here* can press to hear the number said out loud, with corresponding pages full of 1 cat, 2 dogs, 3 balls, etc. For wahtever reason, Bruiser has zeroed-in on the number "9", and has now decided that every number that he sees has GOT to be the number "9". Until recently, this was limited to times he actually saw numbers... now he counts things - his deck of cards, especially - using his patented "9, 9, 9!" approach. I do not see a future in mathematics.

Just last night, our little Dookie-Doo was reading the newspaper - the weather section, to be exact. He was sitting on the couch, leaning back, and scanning the page with a thoughtful expression on his face. The next thing we know, it's

"Mama Dada Bobo No SpongeBob Chowder Bye-Bye Mwah."

... over and over and over. Oh, sure, there was plenty of inflection, intonation and enunciation, but I could not stop laughing! (Which, of course, goaded him on to repeat, repeat, repeat.) While my son may know over 40 words, I just wondered what made him choose those particular few. The world may never know.

We took Bubba to the Puyallup Fair this weekend for a little outdoor, greasy-food, ride experiencing fun. While the Man-Mate and I took turns sliding down the Giant Slide with him nestled in front of us, the really wasn't much else to occupy his mind. He was, technically, too young to go on ANY of the rides (I told the Giant Slide ticket collector-man-guy-person that "Yes, in fact, my son IS two years old. He's 25 months, even!"), and there are some rules that you just don't want to push when it comes to your child's safety on a ride. Plus, who knew if he was emotionally ready for the terrors of "The Peaceful River Raft"?? Speaking of terror, we took him in to see the 4H cows and pigs. Guess who isn't fond of bacon's origin? When he wasn't cowering in fear, our little Squish-Face would shake his finger at the offending creatures and tell them "no, No, NO!" from behind his beloved Mama.

I can't wait to tell him all about his toddlerhood quirks...