"I Don't Know" or does he?

It seems like Jayden’s short list of words and expressions has exploded in such a short time. I don’t even know if I can recap the list, but it’s very exciting to be able to communicate with him. We spent some time at my girlfriend’s house the other day and there was a game of pool volleyball going on. The ball went out of bounds and into the grass and they called out to Jayden and asked him to get the ball and off he went. In order to get to the ball, he had to get past a hammock and there was no way he could do that without falling into the pool so my girlfriend told him to wait a minute and he did. Then she moved the hammock and told him to come around this way and very carefully, and he did. She turned to me and commented on how nice it was that he understood so much of what we were saying. Amen!

We continue to speak to him in Spanish and English. As recommended, I mostly speak to him in English and Esteban speaks to him mostly in Spanish. Jayden seems to understand Esteban’s basic commands just as much. Now, he is actually stopping to watch the TV during playtime so I am starting to make sure that he catches episodes of Barney or Sesame Street. He likes to repeat numbers and his favorite seems to be six. We also like to put on Diego, Dora, Handy Manny or Maya & Miguel because they use both Spanish and English just like we do at home. On the weekends, there’s not much programming on for his age so I always make sure to order Baby Einstein DVDs from Netflix. He really enjoys them. Because he usually listens to instead of watches TV while he’s playing, I play the DVDs during meal or snack time because he’s strapped to the highchair and really pays attention.

But not only is his comprehension getting much better, he’s starting to use words as opposed to the expressions he’s been using. It used to be where he would say things like oh no or oh wow. Then he started to use two word expressions like thank you and bless you. Now, he started repeating words that I usually use with Rio like eat and sit. Unfortunately, when he says sit it sounds like s*it. J When Rio goes out to do his business, Jayden chases after him calling his name, just like we do. Except instead of Rio, he says ee-oo. The other day I was talking with him and I asked him a question, never really expecting a response because mostly he just uses gibberish. And much to my surprise, he said I don’t know. I just sat there, dumbfounded. Did he really just say that? Then I heard it several other times. He was saying I don’t know and I know. He even mimics mommy and daddy when they are having a “passionate” conversation by yapping away in a raised voice until he gets our attention. Little joker!

It’s so funny how much he learns just by watching. He understands when I say help mommy that I need him to do something. He always comes running. He takes the fabric softener sheets from the laundry basket to the trash. He takes his diapers to the pail and patiently waits while I change Maya to throw her diaper out too. If Maya cries or sneezes, he knows to run for her pacifier and a blanket. He puts his sippy cups in the sink when he’s done with them and he puts my water glass on the counter next to the fridge because he knows I will go there to refill it. At night, he knows what buttons to press to start and stop his CD player. He also knows how to make the CD repeat itself. He flushes the toilet when we go and sometimes when we don’t. He even hands me the toilet paper, one square at a time. The other day, he locked the sliding glass door behind me when I went out with Rio. Luckily Daddy was home!

Sometimes, Jayden regresses, but usually he just bounces right back. I called him a few nights ago to come to me. He was about 3 feet away. He got down on his hands and knees and crawled to me. Hmmm. Other times, he wants to have milk, like the baby does. I nurse. (The answer is no.) Now, that I’m back to work and Jayden sees Esteban bottle-feeding Maya, he wants that too. A couple of times, I have found him sucking on a finger or putting Maya’s pacifier in his mouth. Mostly, I just think he’s curious. And definitely, he’s growing (in more ways than one)!