Nicholas Tells It Like It Is

Nicholas has been learning to say a lot of words in the past few months -- Kelli has a bunch of them listed on their blog but pretty much if you say something and he's in the mood, he'll repeat it, or try to repeat it. Lots of words. He knows they are useful for talking with people and he has now mastered the paragraph, or more like "conversational conversation." I noticed a while back that when he visited, I was pretty much good for finding toys, reading books, and getting food, but (when he was in the house) Lou was the one to talk to. He lined his little face up with Lou's and jabbered away. So far we just hadn't caught it on film without him stopping, but last week at lunchtime I got it. You will notice here that he did notice me and the camera and got distracted for a second, but with Lou talking to him, he went right back to the conversation. Lately he will talk to anyone he knows who will listen; on Saturday he was talking to a few of the ladies at the baby shower we were all at. One of these days he will figure out how to put some of the actual words he's been learning into this paragraph format and then we will all know what he's thinking!



Danelle started calling Lou "Papa Boo" when she was about Nicholas' age, and that name has stuck for her and her family. Nicholas doesn't have a name for us yet. I thought he had it figured out and had decided to be on a first name basis, at least with Lou, last week when he came into the house and walked straight to the top of the stairs, looked down and said "OOOoo!" It made me laugh because I realized he was imitating me -- when Lou is downstairs watching TV or playing on the computer and it's time for lunch, I direct my voice down the stairs (or the sound doesn't make all the corners and he can't hear me) and say "Lou! Time to eat!" So he has noticed the cause and effect: when I call, Lou comes. But the fact is, he doesn't realize that Lou is a name, but rather he considers it a command. Kelli reported the other day that when he finished his snack (in the kitchen, in the high chair), he called out "OOOoo!" She heard him from the other room and helped him down. So for now, "OOOoo!" means "come here, I need you." Whatever works I guess.