A Man of Few Words

Sam has always been a very physical guy. He's always been more concerned with getting around than master fine motor skills or talking, and this has manifested itself in different ways over the months. Right now it means that he is a pro at climbing all over the furniture, but doesn't have as many words as some of his peers. He's making progress though. Here's a little update on Sam's communication.

Sam's Vocabulary:
1. Hi
2. Uh Oh
3. All Done
4. All Gone (he's uses 3 and 4 interchangeably, but only one at a time. this is an "all gone" week.)
5. Hot (we taught him this in relation to the open oven. he now remembers which foods have been served to him too hot to touch and reminds us when he sees them again. its also becoming his word for anything dangerous)
6. Up
7. Go

Non-Verbal Communication:
1. Waving. Sam finally learned to wave in the last two weeks. Yes, most kids accomplish this months before their first birthday, but we're still proud of his accomplishment.
2. So Big! When you ask him how big he is, he sticks his hands straight up in the air. If one hand is busy, he'll do it with just one arm. Pretty cute.
3. This Much! When you ask him how much he loves Mommy, he sticks his arms straight out to the side. My favorite, for sure.
4. Touchdown! Ok, I got this idea from a friend who taught it to her toddler. He now sticks his hands straight up in the air when I say touchdown :-)

Comprehension:
I've been told over and over again that this is far more important than his word count at this age. I have no fear that the boy's comprehension is just fine. You ask if he needs a no diaper and he violently shakes his head no. You ask if he wants a snack and he runs to the fridge. You ask if he wants lunch and he runs to his high chair. He observes everything that Chris and I do to figure out just how things work. Yesterday he stole my keys and reached them with all his might up to the door knob on our shed (where the outside toys are kept). We never taught him what keys are for. This morning he held an empty cup up towards the "through the door" ice and water dispenser on the fridge.

Creative Play:
This week Sam built his first fort. He intentionally knocked over his stuffed chair and crawled underneath it to play. We didn't teach him how to do that.

This really has nothing to do with communication, but its a fun story: Sam is getting tall. He can reach every surface in our house except the kitchen counter. Yesterday he got into the candy dish and started sucking on the Hershey kisses - through the wrapper. He kind of nawed the wrappers off to get to the chocolate. He cried when I tried to clean up the mess because he wanted more. He could care less about cookies and cake, but apparently chocolate is a different story.

It is so much fun to watch his little brain develop and I'm so proud of everything he has learned. Its fun to imagine what his stream of consciousness must be while he's getting into trouble or figuring things out. I can't wait till he can tell me all about it!