First off, if you’re like, “Why is that kid never wearing pants,” it’s because he’s never wearing pants. (That’s not entirely true, but when we’re home, my own predilection for comfortable loungewear translates to my son not donning pants at all. Maybe I just love to admire his chubby little legs. Or, maybe I just hate pants.)
This has been an incredibly exhausting week because my poor wee one has been through the ringer with two difficult sicknesses, but he’s on the mend now, thankfully — and I’m hoping a few good night’s sleep will have me back in my usual tired-but-coping form. Of course, he’s more than a little un-sleep-trained now after I let him sleep in the bed with me (gasp) for almost all his naps AND that stretch of nighttime slumber after he would inevitably wake at 3am, in need of mas Motrin. Throw Daylight Savings into that mix and it’s a hot, hot sleep mess at our house.
I’m digressing. My mom visited this weekend which was way fortuitous timing since Ethan went to SXSW and having an extra hand and emotional 2 by 4 during this insane week has been super helpful (and we didn’t feel like he needed to cancel his trip, since I had reinforcements at home). She’s a speech therapist, and so she’s obviously really tuned into speech, and I’m probably a negligent mom or something but the fact is, I hadn’t even noticed how many words Wee One has picked up lately. Either that, or else his speech has just exploded in the last week or two. He now says a whole smattering of words like “night night” and “diaper” and “truck,” and my personal favorite “pee pee” (that’s the name of a body part, not a fluid).
I’m totally and completely amazed, because I haven’t TAUGHT him these words. I haven’t been all tiger mom flash card-y. I haven’t told him there are boats outside our window in the bay, but he’s somehow managed to associate them with his toy bathtime boats. I haven’t explained that fire trucks make siren noises, but when he hears them outside, he says “truck.” (Sure, it sounds more like “dru(*&(&ck”, but he’s one, give him a break).
Of course, that’s the point: kids really ARE sponges, and they really DO just pick stuff up, which is why they’re also picking up the swear words and the garbage and noise we think they’re too little to understand but-we’re-just-fooling-ourselves. I guess I’m wowed by how much these little creatures learn JUST BY FREAKING BEING, and my kid is starting to comprehend and use language even though I don’t constantly throw a bunch of developmental toys his way and instead let him play with the recycling. He’s like my own little science experiment, a petri dish growing and learning and changing right in front of my eyes, and I just hope I don’t mess it up, but I think the point is that I won’t, I can’t — he’s learning no matter what I do.
What is your child learning and saying, and does it ever surprise you? Leave a comment below! And if you want to see more chubby-legged pantless pictures, visit Mommyproof’s FB page to get my posts in your newsfeed. xox
