Oh My Word!

This sweet child of mine...when did he become such a big boy? In the last month or two Bennett has started talking up a storm. I've composed dozens of blog posts in my head about the cute new things he is saying but not two days later what had impressed me so much is old news and he's on to something new. I swear he has been adding two or three words to his vocabulary every day.

I know this is a completely normal and expected developmental stage so I shouldn't get so excited about it. But it is really thrilling to me to get insight into how his little brain is working and learning. As he begins to verbalize more I've been amazed again and again at what he notices and understands. It is interesting to realize some things that he's probably been processing for a long time that he's just now able to put into words. And what a joy to be able to communicate more with my boy!


A few of the interesting and/or funny things I want to remember from this stage:

* For some reason he latched on to the number "two". He points out when he has two items or sees two similar objects (cups, balls, etc.) with accuracy. But if we ever ask a question about "how many" his answer is always two.

* One day we were playing on my bed. I was counting to three, he'd jump into a pile of pillows and we'd both exclaim "kaboom!". Then he started just yelling "TWO!" and launching himself into the pillows.

* He has begun indicating that he is tired of something (toy, book, drink, snack) by saying firmly "NO! Too." (or is it "no, two"?) and tossing down the object that has begun to bore him.

* A couple of weeks ago a lot of his new words were adjectives. Suddenly he was describing everything - heavy, tall, loud, cold, messy, big, high. It occurs to me that he hasn't so much latched on to small, quiet, short or little...I guess things that fit those descriptions don't make quite the same impression on a little boy. Yesterday he pointed to a man at the park and said, "tall!". And he was right.

* Upon visiting Jeff's office and being greeted by a number of people he's not very familiar with, Bennett buried his head in my should and declared, "I shy." He now tells me he's shy any time he's feeling a little uncomfortable around new people. So sweet!

* One word I'm so glad he's finally learned is "help". But now he has begun requesting "Daddy help" sometimes when Mommy has said no.

* I love seeing how he attempts to relate stories with the words that he has. Last week he wanted to play with his t-ball set ("ball hit") but it was cold and rainy so I took him outside to show him that everything was wet. When Jeff got home Bennett told him "Ball hit. Ow-shide. Wet. Wain!"

* "Shelf" is how he tells us he wanted to do something by himself.

* Car rides are now running conversations about all the things he sees - some favorites are "dawg", "big tuck", bus, "baboon" (balloon), "boo boo" (bird) and "tane" (crane). He will sometimes get fixated on one thing he sees and once it is out of sight will wonder aloud "air tuck doe?" (where truck go?) over and over. And over. Then he'll answer himself. "Tuck bye bye. Away."

* He LOVES to "shoot" on his little basketball goal upstairs and usually wants company so he'll request "Mommy shoot" or "Daddy shoot". When he misses he'll often say "Ohhh, ty!" which I think comes from our encouragement of "good try". And when he makes a basket he'll exclaim "Shop!" (maybe because we often say "good shot"?).

* Almost nothing in the world will get him more pumped up than the promise of a "bubble bat". He'll laugh and cheer and run upstairs for the bathtub. We have to be careful not to say bath out loud if we are not planning to have him splashing away in under three minutes.

* Words that begin with hard Cs are pronounced with a T. So our friends Cobb and Charly are "Tobb" and "Ta-ee".

* Lately when I go check on him because he's being too quiet he's usually, "Ree-ing. Shelf." I love to watch him sit down and go through book after book, pointing out things he knows, making animal sounds and searching for his favorite pages, sometimes even making silly noises or voices that we use when reading to him.

* He's using sentences more and more. It is common to hear "I wan wide bike now" or "I nee Mommy help" these days.

There are so many of these priceless moments I want to freeze so I can revisit and experience the joy and wonder all over again with this sweet child that is growing up a little every day. I hate that these typed words fail to capture that little drawl that shows up in the word "dawg", the sing-song way he says "cue me" (excuse me), how his eyes light up when he sees a "pane" or "tock-a" (airplane or helicopter).

As my mother-in-law would say, it is time to start putting a rock on his head to keep him from growing.

Anybody have a big rock handy? I could use one right about now.