Conversations with Huston

This past month, Huston's vocabulary and verbal skills have finally taken off. He is repeating tons of words that we say and using sounds that he couldn't make before (most notably the hard "g" and "c" sounds). Considering I was concerned enough about his development at one point to have him evaluated, this is a huge blessing. Now that he's decided he's actually interested in talking, we can't get him to stop! The funniest thing about his recent interest in talking, is how he has certain "conversations" that he likes to repeat. We could be doing anything at all, and he'll bring up these stories whenever they pop in his head. Here are some of his favorites:

- The story of how he goes on the escalator with grandma at the mall goes like this: "eeeeee-gla-gla-tor" (which means escalator), followed by "na-naaaa" (which means grandma), followed by him holding his two hands together which indicates that he holds grandma's hand while he goes on the escalator.

- The story of how the delivery man brought two boxes to our house which daddy made into chairs for the living room goes like this: "dee-doh" (the sound of the doorbell), followed by "box," followed by "da-dee."

- The story of the big grandfather clock we saw at a friend's house goes like this: "clock" (well, actually he says it without the "l" sound, but I didn't want to type that), followed by "house" (meaning we saw it at someone else's house), followed by "ya ya" (which means later, because he wants to go see it again later).

- He's as fascinated with doors as he's always been and really likes the metal gate at the pool. Now he thinks that all metal fences or railings are called gates (or "dates," as he says), and a walk around the neighborhood or a drive around town while we're running errands causes him to incessantly repeat "date" and "tee" (which means key - because, of course, you need a key to open a gate).

Huston has also been pointing to my belly recently and saying "bah-beeee," although I'm not sure that he actually understands that there's a baby growing in my belly. I've been talking to him about how we're going to bring the baby home one day soon, so now he'll say "bah-beeee, home, dee-doh" (like the baby will ring the doorbell when she comes home). It's pretty cute.

He cracks me up with these conversations, because he refuses to continue with his story until you acknowledge what he's telling you. When we go on walks and he says a gate, he'll keep repeating "date, date, date" until I say "oh, you see a gate," and then he'll repeat "tee, tee, tee" until I say "yes, you need a key to open a gate." It's not enough to say "uh-huh" or just repeat the word. He wants you to complete his thought and make sure you're paying attention before he'll continue.

Another thing I love concerning his verbal developments of late, is his discovery of how to use the possessive, and how it slightly alters his pronunciation. He likes to point to our drinks and identify which one is "mom-ayes" and "dad-ayes." It's so darling.

I love our little conversations, Huston.