Alex: Language Explosion

It took Alex a little while to catch on to the whole talking thing. He was more of a doer and a mover. But now that he has started really catching on, he doesn't stop talking. Between the constant "what's this?" and then repeating everything we say, our house is rarely quiet now.

Having a brother helps too. We are trying to move passed the never ending "hey baby" (thank goodness he is talking to his brother and not a girl!)  or "hold baby" and get him to tell his brother what he is doing, which will only help him build his language too. Except for the fact that I just walked into their bedroom to find Alex talking to Liam in the crib saying, over and over again... " 'Iam, wake up." Alex hasn't yet mastered the beginning sound of Liam's name!

Along with his language explosion has come a love of books, which makes his teacher mom quite happy, and thanks to multiple visits to the library, we always have books on hand based on his interests. Which means we read car/train/transportation/baseball/sports books non stop. Thankfully I have been able to avoid bug books thus far, but I am sure that time will come. Once he had definite interests, it was easier to choose books for him and he actually enjoys reading them (not tearing them apart!).

He loved numbers first, but thanks to an alphabet on his wall, letters followed soon after. He recognizes almost all of his letters, there are a couple that confuse him still, but it is so cute to see him rattle letters off on a licence plate or a bag of carrots!

Some of my favorite conversations in the last week are...

Conversation 1:
Alex: Moon, Mommy, Moon
Me: Is the moon a circle or small?
Alex: It's white moon.
(my choice of adjectives were not acceptable!)

Conversation 2:
Alex: (Pointing at freezer) Mosicle (not to be confused with Mo-cycle, the vehicle)
 Me: You mean popsicle. Alex say POP--sicle.
Alex: Pop-mo-sicle

Also hearing him say the rhyme 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed, or singing take me out to the ball game, is the cutest ever, especially when his voice gets higher and higher as he goes on!

This last constant phrase of his is definitely a favorite. Alex has been saying please and thank you for a while, and more recently been saying it consistently by himself. So one day when he didn't want something, I told him to say "No thank you." At first he used it appropriately...

Me: Alex would you like more corn

Alex: No thank you.

Then he got smart.

Will: Please pick up your toys.

Alex: No thank you

Me: Can you get Liam's paci off the floor?

Alex: No thank you...

Sometimes all you can do is laugh...even if you are not supposed too! ;)