Now we're talking!

Well, two words, at least. Actual words with all the vowels and consonants properly placed. So far, we've got "up" and "hot." "Hot" is always said in a breathy, Southern belle voice - I can't figure that out, either. And "up" comes in cycles of five to eight, and Jonathan usually laps himself, so it's more like "up up up up pup pup up." Still, it's great fun. In addition to the two words, Jonathan's learned to shake his head for both "no" and "yes," and in the cutest development to date, will shrug his shoulders when we pose too tough a question. Yesterday, Chris was playing with him in the living room when Jonathan made the "having a poop" face. Chris didn't want to make two trips in rapid succession, so he asked Jonathan "Do you need a new diaper?" Jonathan nodded yes. Then Chris asked "Are you all finished, or is there more coming?" And Jonathan cocked his head to the side, smiled, and gave a little shrug.

We've got new books and new interests, too! Trucks trucks trucks - if Jonathan masters "t" sounds we'll have his third word. I went to Barnes and Noble and bought a range of books in the "Things That Go" section - apparently a few other toddlers have loved trucks before. I never knew there were so many different types! I can now distinguish between a grader, a concrete crusher, and a treaded front loader. Jonathan has (finally!) ditched the potty book at bedtime. Now he reaches for "The Monster at the End of This Book" and points to Grover on each page with great glee. We are working on decreasing the whining - pointing - unh unh unh in favor of nicer manners. When prompted, Jonathan will sign "please" very nicely, and smile. For the Grover book, he'll toss in a clapping hands and sign "thank you" when I pick it up.