Words and Sweetness

Peabody's vocabulary, both signed and spoken, is beginning to take off lately. I am (and he is, clearly, judging by the smiles and proud facial expressions he displays after he uses a new word or sign) so proud of my little boy. One of my FAVORITE parts of this stage in my kids' lives is watching them learn to communicate. It's always so enriching to our relationship and so maturing for the child, too. He seems so much happier and less stressed any time he has a communication success with one of us! It's miraculous to see it unfold, is what it is.

Right now, Peabody uses many signs to tell me what he's thinking - he knows EAT, DRINK, COLD, HOT, LOVE, GOODBYE, DIAPER (which I'm hoping he'll start using to tell me when he needs to be changed), I'M SORRY (I only showed his this one ONE TIME, and he used it correctly the very next day!), GET DOWN, PICK ME UP, FISH, BIRD, DOG and several others that escape me.

He is also adding new spoken words almost daily. As of today, he can say the following:

car (gah)
ball (bah)
Mama
Dada
Papa
Nana
eat (eeee)
cheese (eeee)
please (eeeee)
water (biddoo) - this is more of a tongue trick than a word. He mimics the sound of water trickling)
banana (badoodoo) - same here, really.
cocoa - caca
cracker - gaca
eeyew - Ew. (Yuck) - this is what he says when he has a dirty diaper or sees anything yucky.
nom nom nom - YUM! He also sometimes uses this for "eat."
weet - light
yaya - outside (also his word of choice for shoes and socks, which makes sense!)
nigh-nigh - Goodnight, but also his word for nursing. He's very logical!
eee-ooo - CheezIts
OOOOOOOH - Cheerios
woof-woof - dog

Peabody loves cars. A lot. They are, by far, his favorite thing. He loves (right now) to be ya-ya, running around exploring things, but even more, to be ya-ya and allowed to climb up in the gah to explore it, pretend to drive it, beep the horn, make varoom noises, turn all the lights on and off, etc. We are amazed at his love for cars at this age. He spies them on magazine covers as we shop, points out sports cars as we drive around town (they get LOTS of LOUD varooming noises!), and will sometimes just stand at a window or on the driveway and watch them go by on the road, saying, "GAH! GAH! GAH!"

It's very, very cute.

Yesterday Alex had dance class in the late afternoon so I fed Peabody his dinner of grilled chicken and broccoli at the dinner table. After we'd been sitting there together for a few minutes and he'd eaten a few bites, he lifted his plate off the table and tried to give it to me. He was smiling, so I wondered what he was up to! I said, "Are you all done?" and he shook his head "no" and said, "YAYA!" as he continued holding his plate up to me. "You want to eat your dinner outside?" I asked him. "YAYA!" he smiled back.

So I carried his plate out onto the patio and put it down for him at the kids' small picnic table. He sat right down and grinned at it, and gobbled it all down, happy as a little clam. I don't know which made him so happy, eating outside or just having been able to communicate his desires and have them met. All I know is it was a wonderful moment for the two of us. My eyes welled up at his happiness, and at the promise that moment holds for more and better and sweeter exchanges between us, right around the corner! I can't wait to learn more about him and I know this is when that knowledge finally comes along in great, long strides.

Peabody's been very affectionate lately, as well. He loves to give me long, passionate (I know, Oedipus!) kisses and is always running up to me throughout the day to hug my legs tightly (or give me a real hug when I get down on his level for one). He hugs Bean quite a bit, too, especially when she's crying or has been gone away for a little while. When we would go pick her up from preschool (school is out for summer now), he would run straight to her and hug her the moment he saw her. Today she was being mopey on the sofa, so he went to her and tried to kiss her. When she wouldn't let him kiss her, he brought a car to her and made it drive along her legs, as he looked into her face to see if she'd cheer up. He's very sweet to his sister, mostly, except when she plays with his cars without his having offered them to her!

He loves to brush his teeth, and to pretend to wash his hair. He wants to do and have anything Bean has, no matter what, except he hasn't shown any interest in getting on the potty (which is fine, I'm not planning on starting all that for another year, probably). He loves reading books and his favorites are Curious George Rides, My First Book of Trucks, Good Night Moon, Baby Words and Baby Colors, the Pigeon books, and an Elmo Valentine book, but he will gladly sit and listen and look at most any book I read to him and ask for another when it's over. This is a relatively new thing (maybe 6 months?) and it's run concurrent to his interest in learning words to speak or sign.

Naps are still a huge battle with Peabody. He is just not willing to miss out on anything during the day, which means he has an early bed time. He can get through a day fairly well without a nap, but some days he does take one in the car if we're out running around or on the floor in the office if I'll lie down and nurse him for awhile to get him to sleep. Occasionally he'll just fall asleep while I'm holding him and then I can put him down on the sofa and cover him up. He rarely naps longer than an hour under any circumstances, though. I'm okay with it, as I suppose I have to be.

But at night? Oh this boy LOVES to go NIGH NIGH! Right now, Bean and Peabody have dinner (tea) together at 5:30. Then they both go upstairs and take their clothes off and run around for awhile while I get their bath ready, gather the pajamas and straighten up their rooms. Then they take a bath with lots of toys and splashing, and while they are in the tub, their Daddy usually comes home. We bathe them and then get them out and dressed in pajamas, and then we all sit on the floor in Peabody's room to read books and snuggle. Peabody usually ends our time together by telling Bean and Daddy NIGH NIGH and climbing into my lap. This is his sign that he's ready to put on his sleep sack and have milkies. So Bean and Daddy say goodnight and give him hugs and kisses, then they leave and I get Peabody cozy in my lap and nurse him. As he nurses, I tell him that I love him and that we had a great day and that now it's time for him to get his Puppy and lie down in his bed and go NIGH NIGH. I put him into his crib on his tummy and cover him with a blanket while he reaches for Puppy and pulls him close. I bend down and blow a kiss through the bars of his bed and he giggles (every time!). Then I tell him I love him and to have a gooooooood sleepy, and I walk to his door. Just as I open the door, he lifts up his head and says, "NIIIIGH NIIIGH" to me, and I say it back and close the door. It's just SO SWEET that he loves going to bed so much and has established his own little way of settling down for sleep.

I SOOOOOO love my little boy. He is sometimes such a handful, but he makes up for all of his mischief with such sweetness.


Pretending to go NIGH NIGH in Bean's bed, 10 o'clock in the morning, May 15, 2010.