Crazy Talk!

"MOP!" Doesn't seem very exciting does it?  But it can produce belly laughs out of our youngest son! It's his official 4th word. Yes, he says "mama", "milk", "more", and "yea", but really is he just exercising his lips?  Babbling? Or actually  speaking...we can't really tell because those words aren't 100% complete yet. But MOP - there's no denying it - MOP is MOP! Dave and I are longing for Liam to begin speaking. He (and we) are becoming increasingly frustrated with not knowing what Liam wants/needs. A sighted child still not speaking at 25 months could walk to an item they desired, or at the very least, look and point to it. For Liam everything is a guessing game. Let me break down a typical meltdown for you:

Liam: Waaaaaaa - WAAAAAA (Liam crying)

Mom: Liam, use your words, what do you want?

Liam: Mi (which could be anything from milk, to more, to bed, to bath - everything is 'mi')

Mom: Liam, do you want (then we roll through the endless list of possibilities until we get to an item he wants) your piano, your turtle toy, your music, your rocking horse, a snack, your milk (thankfully the list really isn't THAT long since Liam really doesn't have a lot of toys to clutter his space - a few toys that he can learn and explore to the max are just fine for him - and really - it's more beneficial for him to have fewer things that we can really explain and help him understand)

So after we exhaust the list...most times (praise god) he will give us some indication - usually with a nod and a 'yea' that we've listed something he wants...we present him with 'his wish' and all is well with the world again - at least for a moment.

At times, we hear Liam 'singing'...once at daycare Monika swore he was humming a Barney tune! I believe it - he and Barney have a close personal relationship - they dine together every morning for breakfast! Liam, Barney and the rocking horse - morning must-haves!

Other times Liam will just rant away "bala aksdlf kadjf jakdl", it's as though he's practicing sentence structure. His busiest time honing this skill is at night in his crib. He entertains an audience of many each evening - Ellie, Doggie, and Tyrone from the Backyardigans to name a few - BFFs! They all share the sleeping space in Liam's crib.

I can't wait until the day that Liam articulates something  to me - actually calls out to me and asks me for something - maybe tells me how much he loves us all! But for now it's all just 'Crazy Talk' - and we'll take it! (but not for much longer I hope!)

Liam enjoying
his new MP3 player,
Summer 2011
at Nan's in Brighton.