The Loquacious Toddler

As previously mentioned Kellen’s communication skills are decidedly advancing. He’s the little echo in our house repeating absolutely everything that he hears. He likes to repeat the words that get smiles from the rest of us like chanting “Cubbies, Cubbies, Cubbies!” when I’m watching the game. That was especially fun last night when he had no interest in sleeping and I was trying to get him to snooze on me while I watched the Cubs dismantle their chief opposition in the race for the division title for the third straight day sending the Brewers four games back in the standings…but I digress.

We continue to work on cool things like counting to 10 and our ABCs. We’re getting pretty close on the counting sometimes getting all the way to 10 missing only two or three numbers. There are many more holes in his ABCs but he’s got the cadence down. While he’s coloring he likes to identify the crayon colors and I’m helping him distinguish between blue, red, green, etc (thank you to Crayola for labeling these things for us colorblind folks). He’ll get stuck on a color calling everything blue or green for a time but it’s cool that he remembers the names nonetheless.

Kellen now makes specific menu requests when hungry which is fun until he asks for hot dogs at breakfast time or waffles for dinner. He also requests milk about a dozen times a day and will make the call for cheese at random moments. Most often asking for a snack starts with him smiling at you to break down your defenses and saying “bites” in a song like voice. He is starting to get a bit miffed when his requests are denied and we have the occasional showing of an angry streak when he’s not getting his way. We are working to curb these little outbursts.

He’s also a very enthusiastic waver. It’s hard to explain the underhand, scooped wrist, reverse “Hola” that he gives from across the room but it’s certainly unique. There are many variations to the wave. Especially humorous are the times when he’s sitting on you or next to you and feels the need to salute you at close range. I try not to take offense when his wave is accompanied by a “bye, bye dada.”

UPDATE: I forgot to mention Kellen's head nod which I find very amusing. When he asks for something (as he just asked to color) and I seek confirmation, he gives a very deliberate nod. It looks kind of like that kid who always dosed off during films in school. You know, the slow neck wobble and head sway ends with their forehead heading rapidly south towards the desk but they catch themselves loosing control and try to over correct right as they reach the bottom?

UPDATE 2: ...and I love it when he fist bumps me and yells "Boo-dah!" (boo-yah).