However, by the way of words, not a lot. I was secretly worried. Weekly the "Baby-Center" developmental updates would roll into my email, projecting milestones for the "average toddler." Example: "Today your child is 13 months old! By now your toddler will have a varied vocabulary of 20-30 words and should be able to string together sentences. Don't be suprised if your toddler says to you in the morning, 'Mommy, may I please have some scrambled eggs, and toast, lightly buttered. Juice on the side.' Encourage and enjoy your toddler's new-found vocabulary!"
I break out in a cold sweat with visions of speech therapy and special ed. I call Skeets into the room. Skeetie, speak! ... silence. Bea, can you say 'moon?' ...silence. Beatrice, what's that? (pointing to the light)...silence. For the love of god Beatrice, speak!!! ....
"Dewey."
What did you say honey?
"Dewey!"
Huh?
"Dewey!! Dewey!!! Dewey!!!"
Dewey? What is Dewey, Bea?
"Dewey? Dewey. Dewey. Doo0-dooo-dewey!!!"
OH!!! I get it babe!! Dewey!!! Dewey!! The Dewey Decimal System!! Wow, Skeets you are way smarter than I gave you credit for. Fuck BabyCenter, my kid is already contemplating what literature she'll read by study of the Dewey Decimal System. Right on Bea!
So for quite a while Bea's vocabulary was limited to a constant string of Dewey, said with every possible voice/emotional inflection. With the occasional "uh-oh" thrown in.
Then it began to happen. One day, "ba-boo" popped out while she was looking at a model hot air ballon. (Note, a hot-air balloon, not a simple latex blow up balloon. I'm telling you--pure genious from Pwr Skt.) Now, she uses ba-boo as a regular word in her vocabulary.
But a time passed where I believed she was talking when really, she wasn't. She just wasn't. Na-nee-na-me, really didn't mean "hungry" and "do-pee-do-pee- do" didn't mean diaper or bath. But I thought it did and told anyone who was interested that it did.
After the Dewey Decimal System discovery my fears were abated, until her younger (and very dashing) cousin, Gabe, began lectures and disertations, complete with perfect enunciation: "moon" "dog--woof!" "kitty-grrr" "ball" "light" "biyoon" (balloon) and a myriad of other words. He was Webster, 2nd edition, personified. All of a sudden my speech therapy fears began to creep back in. They were compounded when we went to visit Gabe and at 12 months, he was sitting in his little chair studiously reading "Goodnight Moon." I put a book in front of Bea and she finds 5 more books to stack on top so that she can use them as a step to climb onto the coffee table.
I truly did doubt my parenting, reflecting back on all the times I decided to take her for a walk or go to the store, rather than read her a book. Crap...did I already screw up one major thing? But my mom assured me that Bea has "exceptional receptive language abilities." (My mom is an elementary principal and from SpEd teacher.) Meaning Bea understands nearly everything we tell her. This is very, very true. I can ask damn near anything and she responds by shaking her head yes or no, or completing whatever task I request. Which is great. Bea, honey, get mommy & daddy a bud light out of the fridge. She does it!! Fan-tas-tic. She can also show you where her nose, toes, hair, eyes, ears, teeth, tongue, arm and belly button are located. That is impressive to me; particularly since I never really taught that to her. However, my mom informed me that Skeets just hasn't transferred her "receptive language" into "expressive language." Ok, I can handle that. She IS a little smarty-pants, just quiet, like her Daddy. I like it.
But today, she began transferring receptive into expressive. I was cooking dinner and Par Skeet was sitting on the floor on a fleece blanket thumbing through "Goodnight Gorrilla" saying Dewey. When all of a sudden a hear a soft and beautiful, "mooon." I quietly keep stirring my chili not wanting to distract her...if she knows its something I want her to say, she WILL NOT perform. Then I hear her beautiful, chiming voice again, "mooon." I look down and she is pointing to a little sliver of a moon way in the corner of the page. God damn she is smart. The book wasn't even about a MOON, it was about a gorilla and she found the moon. I then looked down and told her how wonderful she is, gave her a hug and asked her to show me the moon in the book. Without missing a beat, she finds it on another page (actually she found it 4 pages later, so smart!!!) and says in her little voice that sounds like softly ringing bells, "moon." My heart melts, more so at the sound of her voice and the look of complete confidence on her face. She knew all along the moon was in the book, she just felt like saying it today. I could tell it wasn't a big deal to her. She is the picture of perfection and the sound of beauty. She truly, truly is. And every fiber of my being is so proud of my little 23 lb Skeetie.
High on the euphoria of my pride and love and absent mindedly call Oliver into the kitchen. I holler, "Frau!" (that is one of Oliver's nicknames) Then a tiny voice from behind me sings, "Fwow!" I whip around and look at Bea who again sings, "Fwow!" She proceeds to run out to the living room, over to the couch, pet Ollie and say, "Fwow." Holy Mary Mother of God. I run to the phone to call my mom--"Expressive!! Expressive!! She's expressing her receptive!!!" Meanwhile Bea realizes she is getting kudos and much attention by saying "Fwow" so she keeps saying, even loud enough for my parents to hear on the phone. It was wonderful. Two very clear words in one evening. She is just amazing to me. She even said "mooon" and "Fwow" a few more times after her Dad got home.
But to be honest I love to hear Dewey as much as "ba-boo" "mooon" and "Fwow" because I'm positive Dewey means something to Bea, I just am not smart enough to know what yet. She's just not the kind of girl to say random things. She knows what is going on.
As a final note, I remember with absolute clarity the first time Bea spoke to me. It was on the day she was born a couple hours after her birth. Everyone had left the hospital and Bea was swaddled up like a baby burrito. We were laying in bed together watching the 2004 Summer Olympics at 10:00 p.m. I was basking in her baby glow when she looked me right in the eye and mewed. It was to this day the most beautifully-innocent sound that has fallen upon my ears. And yes, it brought me to tears. I will never hear such a beautiful sound as long as I live and I will never forget it. In hindsight, I should've known right then and there to never doubt the endless capabilities of my baby girl.
So tomorrow I will most likely her Fwow and moon. I will most definitely hear Dewey and uh-oh. She may or may not say something new. We may have another stretch w/ no new words and that is just fine. I know that her possibilities are endless and will all reveal themselves in good time.
By the way, I took my email off the "Baby-Center Developmental Updates" mailing list.
And here she is, the one, the only, Beatrice:
This is what she looked like when she first talked to me:
Finally, here is her studious cousin, Gabriel Lawrence:
(an old picture, now he has a huge head full of pink-foam-curler rolls. His nickname is "Moonie-Moonie-Moon Pie." First and foremost b/c he has Bohemian Moon Face, and second because his favorite word is "moooo-n" (with a barely audible, soft, "n"). He is dreamy, just as his nickname implies.
EVERY DAY is a BEA-utiful day since 8/17/04!!!
