Tia reports that one recent day he came to her, stared intently into her eyes, and said his own name, emphatically. Twice.
At another time (another day?), he came to her doe-eyed, looked into her eyes dreamily, and wistfully said “Mommy.” And then took her face in his hands. And clawed. Into her cheeks. Fiercly.
He used to bite affectionately as a small infant. Now approaching toddler size, and with many more teeth (including molars, but that doesn’t factor into what I’m relating), he still does this. He bites HARD with those little perfect incisors. Unlearning that, and to simply kiss, has been very hard but he’s doing it well.
He’s kinda a little actor. He does two faces on purpose at least, happy and angry; for the latter he squints his face and curls his lips into an angry face, and holds out his arms and clenches his fists and shakes both – well his whole body really. He does this on command. This busted up his aunt when she saw it. For the former he does a cheesy little deliberate squinted face and grin and says “happy.”
Oh man, I really should get videos of those.
This evening he took a red marker and drew stigmata on the top of his hands and inside of his palms (yes, both sides of both), and also mine. Of course he doesn’t know that’s what they are. But it made me think.
I’m somewhat embarrased to mention to people, who ask, that he really knows and says A LOT of words. Unusually very many much. More than 170. Tia wrote a list. She keeps adding to it. Apparently 20 words is a lot for kids his age. So that’s like, more than eight times more. I think it’s signing and reading a lot that does it.
And he’ll understand most of any basic request or communication you make. Where did my infant go? – but he is still WILD. Today Tia was playing tug-of-war with him, with a yarn (I played this a few weeks ago in the backyard with him myself). He has a rollicking belly laugh if you play that he pulled you down. And he just babbles and tumbles and giggles and dances and is WILD. He is just as free and boundless with his enthusiasms as he was with the gods, nothing was filtered out. That’s the only way I can think of it.