Words

 You are going through a mental leap right now, according to the know-it-all app that I have been using to try to divine what wonders are unfolding in that little baby mind of yours. And though some of the leap has taken physical form - all at once last week you started waving! And you continue to edge closer to walking unassisted - must curious is what I suspect is happening with your language.

You already had "mama" and "dada" and for awhile you've had "baba" (baby, I'm pretty sure) and "dodo" (which I am 90% sure means dog, as it is often said in response to the appearance of Milo). You had "up" but I haven't heard it in awhile, and also "uh oh," same. And I've been trying to do basic sign language with you, mostly "more" and "All done," but also "water" and "milk" and "nap." You mostly seem unimpressed with my attempts, preferring to ask for water by saying "UH UH" and gesturing to the cup with your chin. But then yesterday you and your grandmother and I were eating dinner at the picnic table outside. It was a mild summer night, and the nice part of eating outside is that you can make as much mess as you want and nobody minds. You were eating a simply staggering volume of pasta with cheese sauce, and you had it all over your face, and we were making silly laughing faces at each other and you were pulling me in for a wet sloppy kiss and I said "Oh I love you, yes, I love you I love you," and you said "AH uuvoo" and your grandmother gasped, so it wasn't just me, who heard it.

Then last night your dad and you and I were in the shower playing with shower toys and rinsing off the salt water from playing on the beach with some friends after our picnic in the afternoon. You love the handheld shower sprayer, and are the only baby we know who will reliably wash your own face. You were playing with your sprayer and we were talking about bellybuttons. You have a belly button, and mama has a belly button, and daddy has a belly button, and each time we would point and say "belly button," and then you said "ellehutton," and your dad gasped, and we asked each other "did he really just say that?"

It astonishes me, that we all learn to do these things, and eventually you will think nothing of walking across the room, or saying "bellybutton," and yet in the span of time I have kept this blog you have blinked into existence out of nothing. It's the closest thing to magic I have ever experienced.