Rumble, Rumble

Not long ago, Mr. Fantastic and I were talking about Roo's development, and we noted that he had waited and waited and waited to start walking--and then went immediately to running. Everywhere. This kid never slows down. He has two speeds: running and TOP speed. Nothing else. And then Mr. Fantastic mused, "I think he's going to do the same thing with talking. He's picking up more and more. I think one day he's just going to burst out talking."

I think he's right. And today I feel the rumblings of the coming "language explosion."

Here are the words that Roo used in context AND unprompted at Target this morning:

• "Car"
• "Ball"
• "Shoe"
• "Cow"
• "Mama" (YAY!!!!!!!!!!)
• "Cheese!" (when he saw the cameras :-) )

This is not the full extent of his vocabulary, but for most of those words, this is the first time he has used them on his own, without me saying it first or pointing to something for him to name.

Here is a more complete list of all of his words...

• Hi
• Bye
• Yes
• No
• Up
• Down
• Hello! (Different from "hi"--he says it when he sees or hears a telephone)
• Help
• Eat
• More
• Please
• Play
• Walk
• Go
• Yogurt
• Popcorn
• Oatmeal
• Cookie
• Belly
• Sock
• Shoe
• Book
• Daddy (Actually, it usually sounds like "DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADDYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!")
• Upstairs/downstairs (They both sound pretty much the same.)
• Thank you
• Love you
• Cow
• Doggie
• "Moo"
• "Woof, woof"
• "Meow"
• "Baaa"

AND he can say his name. Add in the first six words I listed, and that makes almost FORTY words and animal noises! FORTY! He also makes consistent noises for "cracker", "train", and "milk", but I'm not counting those because they don't sound ANYTHING like the actual words.

And he sings pretty hilarious renditions of "ABCs", "Jesus Loves Me", and "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed." I'm trying to get a video, but every time I get out the camera he stops singing and turns into a big ol' ham.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: this boy is incredible. Some days I can definitely get bogged down in the delays and the seemingly endless toddler phase, but I really wouldn't trade it. I love the opportunity to really relish each and every milestone. We have fought for every word he can say, and I cherish them all.

And these are just the rumblings. There's an explosion of words waiting to happen, I can feel it. One day in the not too distant future, I'm going to walk in his room after his nap and he'll say, "There you are, Mommy! I'm so glad to see you!" Actually, it'll probably be more like, "Get me out of this crib, woman! I've got stuff to do!"

Either way, I'll take it.