Cooper's favorite word (which is "good") is now being joined by other words that he seems to have figured out. "Mama" is starting to get said when he's on my lap, or otherwise playing with me, so I think he's actually figured out what that word means. He's also saying "water" when he is drinking water. He'll take a big sip, look at us, say "water," and then take another sip. It's pretty cool. His pronunciation of water is sometimes flawless, and other times quite creative. Cooper also has started showing that he likes something by making a kind of happy yummy sound. He'll be eating something really tasty (like barley lentil soup, inexplicably one of his very favorites) and start just saying "num-num-num-mmmmm-num." It is very cute.
For some reason, "doggie" is no longer being said around here. All of the doggie variants, like Dabney and Go-dee, have also disappeared. It is puzzling.
Of all the things he says, the most common one is totally baffling. He says, "Eh-deh" all the time, with the most meaningful and earnest look. He really, really means it. We just don't know what on earth he means. It is pretty different from his other utterances, and he's almost always making eye contact when he says it, so I really feel like he's trying to tell us something.
Nicole, the babysitter, can often be heard in this quasi-monologue.
Cooper: Eh-deh
Nicole: Who's Ed? Is he your friend?
Cooper: Eh-deh! Eh-deh. Eh-deh?
Nicole: Okay. Is your green car named Ed?
Cooper: Eh-deh!
Nicole: No? Hmm... well does Cooper want a stringbean?
Cooper: Ooo-dah! ("good")
Friday, February 27, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Things are "good"
Cooper's second word that he uses according to its meaning (unlike Mama and Dada, which still seem quite unassigned to me and Matt) is "good." We are learning a lot about what Cooper appreciates by what he designates as "good."
Bread cubes soaked in prune juice are good. Blueberries are good. Peas are good. My cell phone is good. Petting the doggie is good. Pretending to eat ice cream is good. Basically, anything he considers enjoyable, but of course he sometimes surprises me with what that exactly encompasses. Like my glasses- stealing my glasses off my face is good. Playing with a block in the early morning sunshine is good. Watching the chickens is good.
Might I add, we don't know how long he's been saying this, because it took us a long while to understand him. He doesn't say good like "goo-dah" or anything. He says "oo-deh." Only after you hear him say it a hundred times, usually when he is smiling, all of a sudden it dawns on you that he's saying "good."
Now that we've decoded this, it is very fun. I give him a nice squishy blueberry and say, "Cooper, is that good?" And he smiles at me, eats it, and says "oo-deh!" proudly.
"Cooper, do you like peas?" "ooo-deh!"
Swipes my glasses off my face as I am putting him in the car seat. Sticks them in his mouth, proudly/mischeiviously looks at me, and says... Oooo-deh!
What interests me is that he can say the G sound pretty well, but he does not use it to say good. I don't know why that is. I sort of wish I was a linguistics specialist right now, as his decisions on when to use sounds fascinate me. When he is really, really upset, sometimes he'll cry ma-ma-ma over and over again. But he never calls me Mama in any context that'd you'd expect. Is that a conscious decision? Or does he just not take my name in vain?
Bread cubes soaked in prune juice are good. Blueberries are good. Peas are good. My cell phone is good. Petting the doggie is good. Pretending to eat ice cream is good. Basically, anything he considers enjoyable, but of course he sometimes surprises me with what that exactly encompasses. Like my glasses- stealing my glasses off my face is good. Playing with a block in the early morning sunshine is good. Watching the chickens is good.
Might I add, we don't know how long he's been saying this, because it took us a long while to understand him. He doesn't say good like "goo-dah" or anything. He says "oo-deh." Only after you hear him say it a hundred times, usually when he is smiling, all of a sudden it dawns on you that he's saying "good."
Now that we've decoded this, it is very fun. I give him a nice squishy blueberry and say, "Cooper, is that good?" And he smiles at me, eats it, and says "oo-deh!" proudly.
"Cooper, do you like peas?" "ooo-deh!"
Swipes my glasses off my face as I am putting him in the car seat. Sticks them in his mouth, proudly/mischeiviously looks at me, and says... Oooo-deh!
What interests me is that he can say the G sound pretty well, but he does not use it to say good. I don't know why that is. I sort of wish I was a linguistics specialist right now, as his decisions on when to use sounds fascinate me. When he is really, really upset, sometimes he'll cry ma-ma-ma over and over again. But he never calls me Mama in any context that'd you'd expect. Is that a conscious decision? Or does he just not take my name in vain?
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Happy 11th Month!
Happy 11 months old, Cooper!
He's gotten really good at walking, and lately likes to amuse himself mostly by wandering around the house while holding random objects. He just walked by, giggling, while dragging a muffin tin in one hand, and holding a square wooden block in the other. Very funny.
Words are still coming and going, so while I know he can say Doggie, he is currently choosing not to. He also says Mama and Dada every once in a while, and does seem to say them to us, but it is so fleeting and infrequent that I'm still not willing to say he knows those words "for real."
His spoon use gets better by the day. Now he seems to keep it correct side up a fair amount of the time, which greatly improves the amount of material that he can shove into his mouth. Nice work, buddy.
He's gotten really good at walking, and lately likes to amuse himself mostly by wandering around the house while holding random objects. He just walked by, giggling, while dragging a muffin tin in one hand, and holding a square wooden block in the other. Very funny.
Words are still coming and going, so while I know he can say Doggie, he is currently choosing not to. He also says Mama and Dada every once in a while, and does seem to say them to us, but it is so fleeting and infrequent that I'm still not willing to say he knows those words "for real."
His spoon use gets better by the day. Now he seems to keep it correct side up a fair amount of the time, which greatly improves the amount of material that he can shove into his mouth. Nice work, buddy.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Welcome Hanna(h?)!
Today my friend had her little girl, Hanna(h?) Elizabeth, last name starts with "S". After 40 weeks of gearing up for natural childbirth, my friend discovered yesterday that her baby had something else in store- breech! Amazingly, my friend ended going into full on labor last night. The short notice scheduled C section happpened as my friend was having contractions 5 minutes apart, and so as it turns out today was gonna be the day for this little girl to be born regardless.
Welcome Hanna/Hannah! 6 lbs, 13oz. I got to see her this afternoon, and BOY is that tiny! I had forgotten, and also Cooper was a lot bigger. So cute!
Welcome Hanna/Hannah! 6 lbs, 13oz. I got to see her this afternoon, and BOY is that tiny! I had forgotten, and also Cooper was a lot bigger. So cute!
Friday, February 6, 2009
I am not ready
I am not ready for Cooper to be 11 months old. Because once he is 11 months old, he has less than a month before he is one year old. And I am not ready to have a one year old.
This has me worried. I feel unprepared. However, it is gonna happen on Tuesday no matter what I do.
I guess I need to suck it up and admit my little guy is really growing up. As if the walking, talking, using a spoon, playing games, and generally acting like a young boy didn't clue me in.
This has me worried. I feel unprepared. However, it is gonna happen on Tuesday no matter what I do.
I guess I need to suck it up and admit my little guy is really growing up. As if the walking, talking, using a spoon, playing games, and generally acting like a young boy didn't clue me in.
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