Word count

Cooper's understanding of what we say, and willingness to do what we ask of him, is astounding. He can follow simple tasks very easily (can you give this book to Daddy?) as well as do basic baby tricks like point to about 10 different body parts on request. He knows most of the interesting objects in his books, which means he can identify (point to, when asked) a wide variety of animals, gardening tools, vegetables, and objects that reside in children's bedrooms. He also has picked up on what "you need a fresh diaper" means, and will obediently walk over to the changing table and wait to be lifted up for a diaper change. Sometimes he runs in the opposite direction instead, which I know is his way of saying "but mom, I'm having fun! don't disrupt me!" Either way, his understanding of what we say is great!

His spoken vocabulary is a little bit meager, but he's building it every day. His best words are doggie, dada, chicken, balloon, bird, down, water, hot, "woof" (for the noise a dog makes), and boat. You'll clearly notice from this list that he likes O's and D's, which I think is because he's good at saying them. He also can say a wide variety of things if he really, really wants to- like button, mama, more, head, hat, and dot. The only sign from all the sign language that we've worked on that he truly uses is "more," but he also invented his own sign that seems to signify either "I don't know" or "where did it go?" depending on context. He had invented his own sign for nursing, which he no longer uses now that he's weaned, but it sure was handy before that!

Interestingly, his sign for "more" started as only pertaining to food, i.e. more crackers, but now he's figured out the more global uses of "more" and has also requested more tickling, more blocks to stack, and more markers to play with. So he's figured out the deeper meaning of more, which is neat.

Matt has successfully taught him some very amusing things, like how to do a fist bump, and to stick his tongue waaaay out on command. Matt likes to teach him these things on the sly, and then impress me once Cooper has it down pat. The two of them are thick as thieves, I tell ya.