The new year appears to have brought with it a new spud, a vibrant, funny, sleeping-through-the-night sort of a little boy who is definitively no longer a baby (something I must add which I accurately predicted in February) and who is striking out into uncharted waters with a very confident stroke.
This week it has finally been the use of language which has given his poor Mum something to post about, as he has followed up his use of the word 'nana' for 'banana' by not only employing it regularly but by adding to it the words 'ba ba' for 'bye bye', 'Daddy' for, er, 'Daddy', sod it and 'Mumum' for, I hope, me. Not that I'm in the slightest bit disheartened to come so far down the list of his words it's just that I have to admit that I may be wishing a little too hard for him to actually MEAN me as he has also apparently used 'Mumum' to call his childminder and so 'Mumum' might just mean 'Hey Woman! Come Here!'
He has also said 'Nah nah' for 'Night night' (to his Dad, needless to say), 'ah' for 'Yes' and 'Nuh' followed by a scream for, well, pretty much everything else. 'Would you like some water?' 'Nuh eeeeee!'. 'Would you like some Juice?' 'Ah'. 'Bedtime!' 'Nuh. Eeeeee!'. 'Time to go! 'Nuh EEEEeeeee!'. 'Time to change your nappy' 'Nuh EEEEeeeee!' and you get the rest. All animals are described using the word 'Aow' which is short for 'Miaow'.
This doesn't mean that he's not still being a bucketful of cute as he has learned a few new skills which he is deploying with a self-satisfied smirk at all opportunities (see example, top). Most recently he has mastered the art of pointing and so everything is pointed at, things he wants, things he doesn't want and things which are simply in the way of him experiencing the Joy of Pointing - as in, 'What is it spud? That? You'd like that apple?' 'Nuh EEEeeeee' as he jumps up and down pointing just to the right of the telephone.
His other new favourite thing is 'sitting', particularly if he can back slowly up and lower himself carefully down into a sit. As he is only 2 foot 10, the only things small enough for him to sit down on are things like the bottom step of the stairs or the cat, meaning that he is having to be inventive about sitting and sometimes, this just means bending his legs and leaning against the sofa a little - rather like our old dog who, when asked to 'sit' when in the car, would just shove his butt up against the back of the seat and continue to stand in the way of the rear-view mirror.
Sadly for all, photographs of him sitting on Sammy are not available at time of press, however let's just say that Sammy has taken to lying down on places considerably higher-up than the spud's butt-reach.
32 comments:
ha ha! i loved the 'hey woman, come here' it's probably true though - dads do seem to get preferential treatmeat! betty has taken 3 unaided steps for her dad but refuses point blank to do it in front of me. i loved the sitting on either the step or the cat - i reckon the spud and the cat will be life long, very special friends!
And I liked the 'skillful bucketful of cute.' Reminded me of a sibling of yours who shall remain nameless. But Hoto lost the moniker after many drinks one night when he showed me what HE referred to as a bucketful of cute. It was, to borrow his words, 'sickmaking'.
Never mind -- he may not be talking to you -- or even about you -- yet -- but he is the spitting image OF you!
Happy New Year
Helen
Hi Elsie! Yes, Dad's do get special treatment... blast it! I hope Sammy and the Spud will be lifelong friends so long as Spud doesn't worry the poor old boy into an early grave... Great to see you!
Shades - ah yes, well you will go drinking with my brother, you can only blame yourself. And, I seem to recall a certain cassette tape sent to me in around 1987 featuring the two of you dabbling around in that particular bucket...
Helen - Happy New Year to you too! Funny that he looks more like me in pics than in real life - in life he's so much more like his Dad! Will pop by in a bit.
Oh, the cuteness! Their little voices are just so darn cute, huh? Dylan's new trick is to say "Da-da" constantly. I say, "Ma-ma-ma", he smirks and says louder, "DA-DA-DA!" The weekends are "Daddy weekends", in which he will search the house, looking for daddy, walking past me without so much as a glance.
Is the spud still ravenous, or has his eating calmed down a bit?
I'm not sure many other people could make these stories so funny!
It just sounds lovely! And I think your cat might be pretty thankful if he ever met my grandparents' dog. They have eight grandchildren, and I think this current dog has endured giving 'pony rides' to at least six of them. Poor thing.
Oh, and I was completely floored when my cousin called me "mama", but was promptly informed that he called absolutely every female that. I asked whether it was the same with males: he called his dad "dada" and all other males "do". Nice to know that his dad was so important!
Soo cute! How's the eating now - levelled out, or still going strong?
And is Sammy still standing?
Charlie's already stepping - racing - into toddler-land, and it seems to be happening too fast to handle!
Jen - sounds like our house exactly! I'm constantly repeating 'say Mummy... Muuummmy... No, MUMMY!'. Glad to hear it's not just us! Great to see you!
Raz - eight kids one dog?! Poor dog! Yeah, I think I have to face that I'm not the only 'Mumum' in the world for the spud at the moment... in language, anyway! Great to see you!
Suki - no, he's still eating for England! He's getting fat too, normally means he's about to grow again... ack! Great to see you!
Well, Nuh-eee is Hindi for "No", so he's a linguist already :)
And a nephew of mine used to use "Mumm" indiscriminately for both parents. As his patient Dad explained, it was a concept, not a name.
I want to hear Sammy's opinion of the whole thing!
Anamika! Very cool, I'll let everyone know that he's tri-lingual - thanks for that! We always thought he was speaking perfectly fluently just in a language we don't understand!
Sammy's opinion, for the record is 'WoaaaoWaaaow... riaow... prroop'
Great to see you!
That is such a wonderful age. Enjoy every minute of it and remember it when they actually do say "Hey Woman, come here." Oh, and they still say Nu when they're teen-agers, as in Uh Nu.
Wake up! Oh me oh my, I hope that age doesn't come for a while... I am enjoying this time so much, I keep reminding myself that pretty soon he isn't going to want to cosy up to his Mum on the sofa and read a book or come running for a cuddle... I can wait a long time for that to end! Great to see you!
y'know, if you had taught him sign language he would have signed "mama" a whole lot sooner than "daddy". Dada is easier to say than mama but mama is easier to sign than daddy. So for all my girls, they signed mama first, but spoke daddy much later. Chalk one up for sign language! :o)
Love the pix of the cat. Smart one that, to snooze up higher from the Spud. Oh yeah, the Spud is cute too! ;o)
Best of luck to Sammy! I think that we still have 2 cats...the food is gone everyday and we won't talk about the litter boxes but when my daughter became mobile and in particular, mobile in reverse the cats hid. That was about a year ago. I would suggest a child chair but I think that it must just be more fun to run into the cat.
A what a clever boy! And what a beautiful cat!
I swear I thought my son was the only one who felt he needed to try to sit on the cat or cats in my case. He also sat on his Christmas gifts. I also dread the time my little one will not want to cuddle with me, but pushes me away. I love this time and the extra cuddles.
Jenny - we did start out with baby signing but we didn't keep it up in the end - a shame but then for the most part we understand him fairly well I hope. I'm coming to terms with the whole 'Daddy' thing and just happy that he's starting to talk!
Shannon - very funny... so far Sammy hasn't hidden but I'm not surprised to hear your cats have disappeared! I'm sure they'll love it once Ben and kiera know to pay them the right attention!
DJ, aw thanks hon, good to see you!
Jonny's Mom - yes, I'm dreading the day I'm not allowed to cuddle the spud anymore... for now though he's happy to sit on the couch and snuggle up and I'll be happy with that! Good to see you!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!! (that's a happy squee, don't run! ;)
He is so damn CUTE!! And he looks so BIG and like a real boy and not a baby! WOW.
Sorry, are you ok? I mean he'll always be your baby, but it's just that he looks. . well I'll just shut up and leave it be.
But he's SO cute. It's so cute how much he loves your cat :) It makes me feel better about someday bringing a baby into my house with cats.
Gawd your description of him sitting is just too funny and sweet. Maybe you can find one of those tiny kiddie chairs and he can sit with you guys and feel like a real big guy :)
And Sparx, he SOOO knows that you're his Mama, it's so ingrained and inbedded in his soul that he doesn't even NEED a proper word for you.
I'm thinking the Spud has a future as a pet sitter. Good thing your cat is smart enough to sleep elsewhere now. Mine still haven't figured that trick out.
Splat goes the cat!
Fantastic post, I can picture the Spud sat on the cat, hilarious.
You do write a great Blog
Hor!! You are SOOO jonesing for a baby!!! OOOhhhh yes you are!!! And thanks for the words... I hope that's true... Great to see you!
Helen - I nearly lost my tea through my nose - 'pet sitter'!! Why didn't I think of that??? Really funny. Thanks for popping over!!
Frog! Thanks so much, that's so kind. Great to see you - and right back at you, by the way!
Oh my god, he's so CUTE! Spud darlin', marry me!
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