Riley has exploded with language. The words, they just keep coming. And the counting? Don't even get me started counting the things he counts. I don't know why he always starts with "four" when taking stock, but I remember Holden omitted "one" and "two" when he first started counting, so I'm not going to worry about it. The day begins with a head count of the stuffed animals in his crib (or on the floor - depending on how long I took to get to him). The day ends with inventory of everything in every book. He forces his hand into ours, extends his pointer and wants you to point him at every train, bug, piece of fruit or star he sees so he can make sure everything is accounted for. In his sweet baby voice through pursed lips, he counts: "Uuuuun, oooooo, eeeeee, fooooooo, fiiiiiii, sis, evan, ate, iiiine, eeeen."
Riley says more than even we know. But because his baby talk is still kinda hard to understand, I'm sure he's discussing the origin of life, but we're just not picking up the nuances of his points. A lot of understanding him has to do with being familiar with what interests him and context. For example, if we're driving somewhere, you can be pretty sure that everything he says is transportation related. No bus, truck, trash truck, street sweeper, bicycle, motorcycle, train, airplane, blimp or helicopter goes unnoticed. But you wouldn't know that unless you knew that, in Riley language, trash truck is "ra-ra" and motorcycle is "doo-doo." But whatever you do, don't get "motorcycle" confused with "window" (which, coincidentally, sounds like "doo-doo"). You'll never hear the end of it.
Besides labeling, we're also attempting to have a bit more discussion. We noticed we weren't giving Riley a lot of choices. "They" say in all those parenting books and child-rearing Web sites that it helps children to have choices from an early age, like which shirt to wear or what color plate to eat off of. Because we used to listen to "them" a lot, we did this with Holden. And, as these things tend to, it often backfired. When Holden was barely old enough to lift his head, I'd hold up two onesies and pretend he'd picked, and that was harmless. But then, when he got older, if there was a time we didn't let him choose his clothes or sippy cup, we were in for Meltdown Extraordinaire.
Maybe because we wanted to avoid a repeat of this, or maybe because we're just busier now with two kids, but we just never gave Riley a lot of decisions to make. To promote more communication, we're now giving him some limited choices. But honestly, I do it more because it's so cute to hear him say, "Ummmmm" as he looks at the green and blue toothbrushes, points at one and, with a little nod, affirms his choice: "Buuuu."
One of the things that's always struck me as interesting in language development is the role of phonics. I kinda got it with Holden, but I'm really understanding now with Riley. He barely laces two words together for sentences, but he can "sing" Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, The Wheels on the Bus, The Itsy Bitsy Spider and the alphabet in their entirety. I'm sure it has something to do with the rhythm and rhyming, but it's fascinating. Of course, his favorite is Wheels on the Bus, and whenever he sees a bus, he balls his hands up and starts disco-rolling in front of him. If you don't start singing pronto, he screams.
The jury is still out on whether having a big sibling helps or hinders the language process. While he has someone extra to talk to and emulate, Holden often wants to speak for Riley. Admittedly, he understands a lot more than we do, and the translation is sometimes welcome. But sometimes, he just starts projecting what he thinks Riley wants or would say, if Riley were actually speaking. "Riley wants Cheerios," Holden will tell us as Riley sits, quietly munching a banana. Down goes the banana and out comes a string of, "Eeerio! Eeerio!"
Since Riley does everything Holden does, we are quickly doubly annoyed by the sound of a rocket screeching after blast-off or screams inside parking garages to hear the echo. But there is some good. Holden, who wants to always say something - even when he hasn't anything to say - will call to us and, when we say, "What?" responds, "I love you." Even on the 12th round of this, you can't tell him to stop because, really, what could be sweeter? Now, Riley joins in the game. And you can never get me to voluntarily end the whispered, "Aaah ooohve uuuu" that comes from his big, sweet lips.
Holden discovered waterfalls:
Denis practiced his Mountain Man yoga pose while Cassidy worked on her Adorable pose:
The Fayes:
Josh and Hallie:
Riley was supposed to be napping. It obviously wasn't happening:
Imagine this same scene about 20 years from now. You can almost see the beer in their hands:
All the kids, enjoying Jami treats:
Holden had a lot of fun kicking the soccer ball around camp, and kicking even more dirt up:
The group, on an afternoon "hike:"
This is how we kept cool. That blast of cold could change your life forever:
Riley didn't put up much of a fight about the backpack, and his cheeks bounced along with every one of Kevin's steps:
We found a teeter-totter:
Riley found his nap:
Cassidy thought she saw a bear:
Holden loves his Camelbak:
With this face goes Riley's patented "Eernh?" noise:
The group:
Hallie loves that Brenny Boy:
One last visit to the teeter-totter before we hit the road:
