Polly want a go-kuh?

Yesterday, Jack asked me for a cracker. It was actually pretty cool. Although “cracker” has been a part of his vocabulary for a few weeks now, but usually he just says it when he’s pointing out the cracker. But this time we were in the living room and there were no crackers in sight. So we went into the kitchen and I got him a cracker. It was lucky for him, though, that he asked me for the cracker, because Jack has a fairly unique pronunciation of the word. It’s sort of “go-kuh,” and I am the only person in the world who understands what he’s saying.

Jack’s vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds these days. Today I discovered that our hard work on what a gorilla says has paid off when he waved his arms around in the general vicinity of his chest and said, “Aaaa!” He also has his own word for water; it’s “Ahhhhhh!” because that’s what you say after you’ve had a refreshing sip of water. He still says “clock,” and we still talk about clocks quite a lot. We point out all the clocks in the house. We comment on the clock when it chimes. We find clocks in other houses and at the doctor’s office and wherever we go. And today, when The Husband took the clock off the wall to change the time, he completely blew Jack’s mind. The clock! The clock! Clockclockclockclockclock!

I just reread the last paragraph to see if I liked the way it turned out, and I would like to take a moment to comment on a strange phenomenon. What is it about babies that makes people say things like, “Are we tired?” or “We have to go to the pediatrician today to get our shots,” or “We finally learned what a gorilla says!” Seriously, what has happened to me? When did I develop the speech patterns of a pushy nurse from a bad sitcom?

Jack says lots of other words too, and because it’s getting late and I only have a few minutes left of working brain cells due to the fact that we seem to be getting a new tooth and we are therefore feeling cranky and clingy and tiring out our mama, I am going to wind this entry up with a list of words Jack currently says. You don’t have to read this part.

clock (cok)
No (noooo)
water (ahhhh!)
duck (da)
What is that, please? (da?)
May I have some of that? (da!) (“da” is tonal)
Balloon (boon) (technically, he’s only said this on one day)

Animal sounds Jack makes
Moo (mmmm)
Meow (owww)
Tweet (weeweeweewee!)
Woof (woo)
Quack (dadada! With hand gestures from “5 Little Ducks” song)
Bunny face
Elephant trumpeting
Gorilla chest thumping