From Signs to Sentences
It is crazy watching Ian learn — I think he’s focusing a little less on motor skills (which he has in droves already) and is turning his attention toward communication.
Hat, cat, bike, back, book, ball, clock, cat, duck, kitty, door, up, please, cheese, dirt, mama, dada, eyes, socks, (more like “zocks”) nose… I know that’s not everything. He’s said so much, and obviously much of this he’s said before, but you need to hear how very clearly he’s speaking most of these, and there’s a frame of reference. He’s not parroting. He’s correctly naming by pointing, gesturing, or signing.
And add to that list a few sentences now:
“Cat go awayee” (Cat go away) Spoken as a kind of narrative, I guess, he was trying to explain what just happened, that the cat had run from him to hide upstairs. I believe that was on the 13th.
On the 15th, Ian dropped a puff into his high-chair and couldn’t find it. “Ware diyi go?” he asked. (Where did it go?) This one was impressive.
Also of note, about a week ago we asked Ian where he hurt and he pointed to his ears. (I believe that’s passed now based on his recovery, but I truly hope he can keep up communicating about this. Nothing sucks worse than not knowing how to help the poor kid.
Over the last several days, Ian surprised Melissa and I both by pointing at the letter “A” on blocks or in books and saying, again very clearly, “A.” No other letters. Just A.
UPDATE – Ok so tonight, the 19th, we took him out to eat (where he and another little boy a bit older than he made friends) and then over to a bookstore. On the way to the restaurant, we ended up driving west into the setting sun, and from the backseat an irritated Ian exclaimed “Eyes!” Probably his way of saying “hey that’s a little hard on the eyes.” At the restaurant they serve squeeze tubes of yogurt to as part of a kid’s meal, with a picture of a cow on it. Ian points and says “moooo.”
At the bookstore they had a multitude of stuffed animals and other toys. To a stuffed steam engine he said “toot toot!” To a bear he says “Bahr!” To a little girl he said “guhl.” And to Clifford, whom everybody knows is the infamous big red dog? He said something that sounded a whole lot like “Red dog.” (Probably more like “reg gog.”)
Here’s a shot from my iPhone from the bookstore trip, just added in for kicks. See this image larger.
