Spectacular Times

Example: Trudy is in the bath tub. She is there because, after her dinner she asked if she could have one. when she wants one she says Bat! So she is in the tub and palying around. She suddenly stops and says, "poop". I ask her if she has to go poop. She thinks for a moment, her eyes searching with her mind. She shakes her head and says "no" I ask her if she is sure. She nods her head and goes back to playing. When she is done with her bath she says, "Tee" This means she wants to brush her teeth. Unless I giver her the little tooth brush she will bitch up a storm. As I dry her hair she will brush her teeth.

20 months ago this life was a new born human that could only cry. I understood, from an abstract point of view, that humans aquire language and critical thinking very quickly. Yet the act of participating in my childs aquisition of such skills is so amazing that there really isn't a word to describe it. And it is almost an overnight transition. In the span of a single month she has aquired the ability to make scentences. Her scentences are not quite like ours.

Here is an example of a Tudy scentence: I noosh, doggy, noosh, hat... doggy!

Translation: I saw a dog with a hat on Wow! (This was in responce to seeing Cooper with his plastic saftey hood on)

How do I know this? Becuase as a parent it seems that I end up learning the baby langauge. I learn it at a much slower rate than Trudy learns adult language. The other thing that is that Trudy understands that a word has different meanings depending on the inflection of it's use.

Example:

A simple Daddy, with the Da spoken slower and at a low frequency and the ddy at a quick higher tone means Trudy has a question or wants me to pay attention to her but she is not pissed off.

A Daddy, with the Da spoken long, Daaaaaa, followed by a short ddy means she wants me NOW!

A short Dad! Loud and short means. GET OFF YOUR FAT ASS AND COME HERE!

She also remembers exactly where all sorts of things are kept. And will show you where they are even if you are not addressing her to help you find them.

Example:
I and talking to Donna and asking her where the sippy cup is. Trudy, playing on the floor, suddenly whirls about and goes to the living room. In a moment she is back withthe sippy cup. I never even looked at her when I spoke and she has retrieved the missing article. I am thouroughly convinced that babies are able to comprehend and understand what adults are saying way before they can talk.

The next amazing thing is that she understands how to be devious. If she wants to look over something that she knows she can't have she waits until Donna and I arn't looking then swipes it. She disapears into corners of rooms and quitely looks over the thing she took. The only way I know that she's up to nogood is that she is too quiet. BEWARE OF SILENT BABES!

Overall life is just incredible and my time is so taxed that there are days that I seriously need to plan when I can get to go to the bathroom. Oh and going to the bathroom alone? Well if Donna is home then no problem. But if she is at the store then Trudy has to come in with me. You can't leave a toddler alone, not for five seconds. Even if Donna is home Trudy usually bangs on the bathroom door demanding enterance into my sanctum sanctorum. At some point, about five years of age, she begin to slow her rate of mental aquisition. This is good because if left unchecked, at her rate, she'd be spitting out Grand Unified Theory by the time she's six. It is too bad that all of us adults can't learn at the exponetial rate of toddlers.

The oddest thing is that by the time I understand where Tudy is in her development she is already way passed that point. We are always playing cath up.
As far as dealing with the outside world goes: Well I suppose I'll have more free time in a three or four years. My computer languishes in non-powered deadness in the basment, my backyard is neglected, I have a million projects aroudn the house that I continuosly put off, I havn't let the city since the 4th of July last summer.

Absolutely no dull moments at our house.