More speaking

Julian says so much stuff now that I take his speech for granted. He can name every single part of his body, from his eyebrows to elbows to his toes. He can confidently identify colours such as blue, green, red, yellow and pink. He can count to five. He has started to put together sentences, such as "Chicken schnitzel - cook it", which he said to David when he woke up the other morning. Or, "Neil Young song - sing it." (David has taught him an adult appreciation of music. He listens to John Lee Hooker and can identify a guitar riff by Santana. When I was tell my mother about this the other day, Julian interrupted to say, "Carlos." "Huh?" I asked. "Carlos Santana," he replied. He also knows some words of Tom Waits' songs.)

I'm not trying to go on about Julian's brilliance, because of the point of this tale is to illustrate that I think that most kids know this much, even though their speech might not indicate it. The other day we were at music class, and a little boy was trying to walk on a bridge thing behind Julian. Since Julian was slow, I said, "Zac, why don't you go around the other side and walk from there." His grandmother looked at me like I was crazy, like "He won't understand that!" but before she could say anything, Zac did exactly what I had asked. Kids know stuff.

Still, despite Julian's amazing way with words, he is still slow in some areas - he's still not walking as his preferred mode of transport, although he can take up to ten steps at a time - and people love to point this out. "Oh, don't worry," they say in a way that indicates they clearly would be worried. I'm not.

Anyway, it's not with language that Julian and I have our best, most communicative interactions. We still have the biggest belly laughs through a non-verbal shared joke, and the most heartwarming times with my son is when he puts his arms around me for a "hug." I wouldn't change a single thing about him. (Okay, maybe his tendency to bite my shoulder once in awhile.)

Zoo!

  Julian's first trip to the zoo took place today, Anzac Day, and he could not have been more excited. The zebras and giraffes took first place in his heart, but he did a very good gorilla impersonation, too. It was a great day! 

Forgetting milestones

Someone asked me when Julian first started speaking, and I honestly don't know. I know that after "mama," "dadda," and "Agum" (which meant "dog"), his first real word was "garden" - I just have no idea when he uttered it. The same thing is happening with his walking. I don't really think he's walking, because even though he takes ten steps at a time, his main mode of transport is still crawling. One day, he's going to pick himself up off his bum and make his way to the other side of the room without falling, and I won't really know exactly when it happened.

  Passover, and Julian did a rousing rendition of "Dayenu." He is also a fan of matzah. 

Twins!

  

Pros of having a dog: your child learns to share and be gentle.
Cons of having a dog: After watching dog do the same, child picks up a sock in his mouth and shakes it wildly. Child also has taken to biting, people and objects, in a non-aggressive manner, and you know he is under the influence of a little furry creature because he asks for a "bone" afterwards. There is nothing in the toddler books about this.