avocado8

Complex

Overheard from downstairs just this moment: "I found my black Jeep, Aura!"

I mention this because it sounded SO CUTE to my ears, and also because I've been noticing lately how much more accurately the Beaner is describing things—even before the doctor mentioned last Friday, with some surprise, that she could understand everything he was saying, and before we had our interview at the Montessori school at which we were asked whether the Beaner spoke in simple or complex sentences.

He's using articles, adjectives, and other modifiers more frequently now. He doesn't just say, "what happened to penis?" anymore (and I am including the actual word here instead of substituting p____, as I normally do, because nothing CRACKS ME UP quite so much as thinking of the Beaner asking this question in his usual "what happened to...?" tone of half-excitement, half-alarm, and I wanted to share my amusement with you); he says, "what happened to my penis?"... and, somewhat sadly, the addition of the word "my" makes it sound like a normal question anyone would ask. Not nearly as funny, but I try to remind myself that it's an indication of development on the language front.

Of course he also asks about and identifies other items as well, often being very explicit about which thing he means in the process. "What happened to my blue cup?" It's in the dishwasher, I think. "What happened to my blue DORA cup?," he'll clarify. Oh, that's over here. "I like Jeeps. I like Jeeps and Saabs. Where's our Saab, the big one?" (This last point of clarification is necessary because he has several toy Saabs, and I'll go looking for those unless I understand that he means the Saab that we drive around in.) Appropos of nothing, he'll sometimes tell us what he's doing or where he is. "{The Beaner}'s in the car. In the back seat of the big Saab. That Mommy and Daddy up there. Daddy's driving. Mommy not driving."

My favorite language moments, however, are the ones in which he's being polite. The ones where he recognizes the difference between "I want" and "I need", and especially between "I like" and "I *would* like". "I'd like some tapioca, please" has never sounded so sweet.