Day XI

Jack will soon be talking. I can feel it.

Obviously, he says “Dada.” Husband thinks this is is a great victory but I try to tell him developmentally babies master the “d” sound before the “m” sound. He tells me that's just my sad way of getting over it.

Truthfully, Jackson does say “Mama” -- when he’s tired, whiney and upset. Thanks Buddy.

“Dada” he sings and whispers under his breath while he is playing in his own little world. “Dada” he shouts repeatedly when he hears the front door open while speed crawling to see who is there.

He’s saying “Uh-oh” now. It’s pretty cute. He’s not 100 percent sold on the phrase although he uses it appropriately. It comes out more like "Uh-uh-uh-oh." If something falls, he’ll whisper “uh-oh" and then look at us. We cheer and congratulate him. Last night he started throwing items on the floor just so he could say it, growing more and more confident with its use after each toss and getting more and more excited with our reaction.

He is very good at listenging and comprehending what you are saying. He understands (though often chooses to ignore) "No!" He knows all his names -- formal and nicknames. He knows the word "gentle." This derived from him banging the coffee table with anything he can get his hands on. He'll happily bang away but if I tell him, "Be gentle, Jack." He look at me smile and then tap the item.

On Saturday Grandpa was playing with him and Jack handed him his shoes. Grandpa said, "Jack, those are your shoes. Do you know where they go?" And the genius pointed to his feet!

It is so amazing to watch him develop.

Jack is also very good at copying whatever you say to him.He'll play that game for hours.

Since birth, Husband and I have sung to him a variety of tunes.

To soothe him I call upon the Gramma classic, “You are my sunshine.” (I once made my Gramma repeat that song all the way from their house in upstate-Pennsylvania to Cleveland on a trip to visit Aunt and Cousin. Gramma was a very good singer with a soothing voice.)

Sometimes, I sing the Alphabet Song... (you can't start too early right?)

While playing, we pull out the favorite Papa song, “Chiquita Banana”.

But his most favorite song was a little ditty I came up with about day two. It’s very complicated….

It goes like this:
“Who’s the cutest baby in the world?”
“Jackie! Jackie!”

To this day, he loves it. When he’s upset and not listening, I sing that tune and I get a little smile – even if he doesn’t want to admit it.

Usually, when we get to the “Jackie! Jackie!” part we raise his arms. Sometimes we sing it slow and you can see the anticipation grow on his face. Sometimes we sing it softly. Sometimes loud and crazy. Regardless, we get to the “Jackie! Jackie!” part and he’s sold.

Last night, he raised his hands up on his own, giggling all the way. I was impressed. I sang it slower to test him. He was ready.
"Who's the cutest baby in the world?"
Little arms waiting… waiting…
“Jackie! Jackie!” (Two little arms right on cue.)