They really do. I’ve given up counting Simon’s words because each day he pops up with several new ones, words like “owl” and “moon” or “pizza” and “orange”. He doesn’t say these words as though they are grand discoveries the way he said “light” or “bus” the first time. These new utterances are accompanied by a certain nonchalance-a posture that indicates Simon has known them for ages and simply hasn’t bothered to say them before. Which may well be the case!
He’s also taken to narrating his day, much like I did when he was a baby and I wanted to expose him to language. At least once a day, something he says or the way he says it makes me laugh out loud. Herewith, a few favorite moments from the last month or so:
- “Bye, Moon”: What Simon has begun calling the book “Goodnight Moon”
- “Shleep Book”: Simon’s name for “Ready for Bed”
- “Bye, Poop”: This when emptying the contents of a diaper into the toilet. Part of the earlier discussed potty awareness campaign. At this point, Simon says “bye poop” whenever he passes a bathroom.
- “Bup, bup, bup”: Said at the dinner table with increasing speed and desperation. Followed by an actual burp, then a helpful summary. “Bup!”
- “Bubbie cup”: Upon seeing my Heine Brother’s travel mug, which I don’t use very often but looks exactly like the one my mom brings to the house every week. Now safely towed away because “Bubbie cup” is soon followed by “Bubbie car”, looking out the front window, and general, plaintive cries for Bubbie.
- “Hewo!”: Said to a battery that looked (to him) like a cell phone. Also said into my real cell phone, our kitchen phone (thank goodness he can now manage to get the phone back on the cradle; I’m afraid our line was probably dead for the better part of two days) and my calculator. If it’s the color of electronics and smaller than a bread-box, it’s a phone.
- “Boodle”: Said to Tristan, after deciding that his proper name is hard to pronounce but that his nickname is very easy. Lately, he’s been giving it the old-preschool try, the result sounding something like “Ti-tin.”
- “Good-BYE, Mommy”: This one is not sweet. When Simon is sweetly saying goodbye to me, he says “Bye bye, Mommy.” The full goodbye is reserved for when Simon is angry at me and wants me to leave the room. I laugh it off and obey when he wants me to clear out so he can be alone with my mom. But when he’s just being cussed, I stake out my ground and tell him that if he wants to be away from Mommy, he can do the leaving himself. Typically, he falls into a heap of sobs after I tell him this.
- “Hup, Peas”: Simon’s newfound ability to ask for help. After a month or so of grilling, he’s discovered that the “help” word, especially when followed by “please” is a thousand times more effective than just grunting and pointing.
- “On”: Problematically, “on” can mean “on” as well as “off.” I’m all for double-duty words, I mean, Shalom works just fine for hello and goodbye and no one is ever confused, but this one has negative practical implications.
- “Pooh! Pooh! Eyoh. Owl. Oh no. Pooh stuck. Pooh seep. Bee! Bee! Dee-dee bawoon. Cake! Cake!”: This is the running commentary that accompanies our Winnie the Pooh DVD (the original Disney featurettes). Simon adores it, and can (and does) watch most of it every day. By now, I can tell what scene is on by listening to Simon from another room.