Words

Yesterday it was Matt's turn to stay with Penny through her swimming lesson while I took Alex home for dinner.

I was making my sandwich and Alex was rushing around the kitchen pointing at things and babbling urgently, when he stopped, pointed up at the counter, and said, "Yee yos!"

I looked over at him, and followed the imperious line of his arm, and saw the box of Cheerios. "YEE YOS!" he said again, more urgently.

"Cheerios, yes!" I agreed. This is progress: a week ago, they were just "yos." Apparently, he's discovered the first syllable. "Do you want some Cheerios for dinner?"

Alex nodded vigorously. (When Alex nods, he doesn't do it with his head; it does it with his whole torso. It's quite funny. Sometimes, I ask him questions just to watch him nod.) So I got out a plastic bowl and poured a few Cheerios in it. As soon as I picked up the bowl, Alex marched over to his high-chair and started tugging at it.

I helped him up and set the Cheerios in front of him, and his cup of milk, then went back into the kitchen to get my own dinner (a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a bowl of cherries, and a handful of baby carrots). I pitted and sliced a few extra cherries for Alex and brought them to him on a paper napkin.

"Yee-yos!" he announced happily, fishing one out of the bowl and showing it to me.

"Cheerios!" I agreed.

He picked up a piece of cherry. "Babo."

"Cherry," I corrected.

Alex picked up his milk. "Ma!"

"Yes, that's your milk."

"Dabo!" He slapped his hand on the table.

"Table, yes! Very good!"

He pointed at my sandwich. "Babo!"

"Sandwich. This is Mommy's sandwich."

"Eh! Eh!" He held out an imploring hand. I pulled off a little crust and handed it to him, and he stuffed it in his mouth and held out his hand again.

"So... You really like peanut butter and jelly, eh?"

"Babo! Mine! Babo!" (For all the trouble he has with other words, his "mine" is pretty darned clear and distinct.)

The little weenie ate almost the entire crust off my sandwich. Plus half a carrot.

But it was fun, eating with him. He spent the whole meal pointing to things and trying to say them, and I would say the word to help him out, and he would say it again... He obviously wants to talk. It's exciting.

Later, as I was taking the dishes to the kitchen and starting to get stuff out to make today's meals, he pointed urgently into the fridge. "Tsees!"

"Yep, that's cheese." He looked at me expectantly. "You can't seriously be hungry, still."

"Tsees!"

"Really? You want some cheese?"

nod nod nod nod nod nod nod "Tsees!"

Boy, I'll be glad when he's off this steroid run. I got out a slice of cheese and unwrapped it. I was going to just give it to him and let him eat it standing, but he carried it straight over to his chair. Guess we've hammered that lesson home.

(Alex is a kid who takes comfort in his routines. Far from fighting bedtime, last night I read him exactly one book after he'd been changed into his pyjamas, and he slid down off my lap and announced, "Ni-ni!" and marched toward the stairs to go up to bed.)

It was a nice little interlude, really. I don't spend a lot of time with Alex when Penny and Matt aren't around. It was fun and kind of thrilling to watch him make progress.