Got Dote?

The Bub really, really wants to talk. He's been talking up a storm lately and is actually beginning to have detectable vocabulary. We can say anything to him and he'll repeat it back to us. Well, at least the first syllable. Or the first part of the first syllable. Whatever! I'm a new parent and I'll take pride in every accomplishment.

He and Nerdy came home the other night and when I answered the door he handed me a little rock he had picked up along the way home. When he gave it to me, he announced, "Rah!" Very good with the "r" sound, too. He also can say "Bar rah." Which is barrel, of course. It seems a strange early word, but Grandma knows why. Other B words include "Bah" for ball, "Bah-oh" for bottle, and "Bomba" for blueberry.

Sometimes the talking is not done with actual words, but by simulated conversation. We were on Skype with Nana and Zayde the other day, and he started talking loudly whenever we were speaking. Just like "Blah, blah, blabbedy blah!" as though he was contributing to the discussion. Then yesterday on speakerphone with Aunt Margot, he starts, "Blabbedy blah. Blah blah! blah blah blabbedy." He'll join conversations between Nerdy and I too, but this usually devolves into us shouting to be heard over his loudly-voiced opinions on the matter.

This is not to be confused with his reading aloud. At the sight of letters, numbers, or maps, he reads, "BLAGEM. BLAGEM. BLAGEM. BLAGEM." For some reason, it's always BLAGEM and never any other sound.

There's also the new word/obsession with "Dote." There's dote everywhere if you're looking for it and especially if your eyes are only one and a half feet from the ground. That's right: dirt. Dote in the apartment, dote in the lobby, dote on the sidewalk, dote in the grass, dote instead of grass, dote on my jacket, dote on the stroller, dote on the car, etc. etc. Sasha's world is a very dotey place.