Verbalizin'

Drew's been working on his vocabulary of late. He's mastered "Uh-oh" much quicker than he got out "Ma." And I'm still not convinced that he's discerning in his use of "Ma." It seems to be a sound that can mean anything from, "Mom? Are you listening?" to "Anyone who may be around, come here and look at me!" But it does sound different than the "Mar" sound he uses sometimes to call Daddy. (He has only used a "Da" sound a handful of times to actually refer to Daddy.) I guess that means I better start calling Mark "Daddy" around the Drew Monster.

After "uh-oh," Drew's next most often-used word is "More" (which comes out in the following way: "moe, moe, moe" and is heard during snack and meal times). We're trying to get him to say "Please" after his "moe, moe, moe," but mostly he laughs at our efforts and just repeats his demand of more.

After "more," we have a similarly repeated "Ball" that comes out more as "baho, baho, baho" and is shouted at anything remotely round that looks like it can be rolled, thrown, or kicked.

But the latest addition to Drew's vocabulary is "bye" and this is shouted very loudly and with much enthusiasm while waving anytime someone leaves the room or if he leaves someone behind in a room. He perfected this word while I was in Colorado for the DDJ.

Hopefully he'll keep adding to his oratorial repertoire at a fast pace. Two-year-olds are supposed to have a vocabulary of fifty words, if I remember all the books correctly. Otherwise they're gonna start looking for reasons why he's not gabbing away as much as is developmentally appropriate. The first thing to investigate will be his frenulum, the tendon that attaches the tongue to the floor of the mouth. If they think that's retarding his speech, then it's snippy-snippy time, and I'd rather he not experience surgery at the moment.