I took this snap this morning. D is obsessed with books. He likes to “read” his favorite pages aloud–that is, the last word of the sentence. He will also make sounds like he’s “reading.”

When he used to get up very early (oh how everything changes! our boy now sleeps and sleeps! I have been hesitant to mention this publicly in fear I would jinx it), at 4:00am, 4:30am, 5:00am, I would hang out with him in his room and we would always read books. Sometimes when I was really tired I would lay on the floor and ask him to read to me. Even back then he would imitate the rhythmic sounds of reading.

He loves words. He loves songs. Every night at bathtime he tells me which song I should sing to accompany our evening rituals (bath, bottle–yes, still–and massage, then teeth). We have a small repertoire: The Wheels on the Bus (“bus, mama”), Baby (yes the same one), and I Love You by Carlos Nino and Jesse Peterson (aka Turn on the Sunshine).

Some words make him laugh and he says them over and over. A recent favorite is “undies.”

He also has discovered of late that his voice can be loud. Very loud. I think he is doing this because it’s fun (gets a reaction) but also because we talk a lot about trucks and machines and many of them are loud. D likes to cover his ears in anticipation of the blender or a train rumbling by. “Ears, ears!” he says, meaning: cover your ears, mama, it’s gonna be louuuuud.

Next we will work on whispering!

We like words, too. Jeff is a wordsmith as you all know. We are also fond of nicknames at our house; we have so many for our precious D. Before I forget them (they come and go) I’d better write them down…

Baby (yep, he thinks the song is about him)
Da’shiki
Da’shiki Wallace Williams
His Da’shikiness
Babylegs McFadden
(any adverb or noun) McGhee
Turkey
Puter (German for young turkey)
Dee double-dub
Senor Firehose