March 31, 2001 - Saturday
The words are coming in full force now as Harry has started to parrot words. And, he gets so proud of himself when he says, or perhaps when we now recognize, a new word. Yesterday, as I was putting him in the car after getting him from daycare, Harry called out for his Cheerios by name. We have a Zip-lock baggy of the treat there for just such purposes and Harry is used to a little snack in the car. (It was part of the anything to keep him happy approach during our long commutes.) Of course, Harry's version of Cheerio is something more like "Sheero," but I'm not concerned with details. As long as I understood, that's all that mattered to Harry and he got all excited and laughed that I knew he said Cheerios. This morning at breakfast he came out with "di-so" looking at the cartoon dinosaurs on the side of his sippy cup. I said, "that's right, Harry" and he got all proud again. He pointed to the "hat" on the dinosaur's head and to a "ball" that another is holding, although those are old words for Harry .

Another word that we've heard a lot of recently is "brick," although it sounds more like "bick." Yet, there's no question what Harry's talking about since he goes back and forth between the brick columns on either side of our wood stove and points at the bricks. This identification, and particularly the touching of the bricks, holds extra significance because the brick hearth that the wood stove sits on has been the most off-limits place in Harry's life. His mother and I have always been very aggressive about scolding him when it comes to the bricks and so far his interest in the stove has remained almost invisible. But, since he can come at the bricks from the other side, we've been less rigid about him touching the brick columns and, whether it's something of a once forbidden temptation or not, Harry is very proud to show us that he can indeed touch the bricks.

Finally, in the mornings when we first go in to get Harry, he's almost invariably sitting in his crib practicing his words. The first things he says are not "mama" or "dad'n," but rather to lift he stuffed dog and say "doggie," then "binky" (a baby-talk word he learned at his old daycare) as he lifts one blanket and "binky" again as he lifts the other. He reach through the crib and point at the wall paper with "bower" (a.k.a. flower). He's so advanced!


Comments, opinions?