HE IS TALKING!

It has happened. There is great cause for celebration in our home: Tucker is talking!!

In the last five days, a light has turned on his little mind. He got it. He is talking. He is saying words I have not practiced with him, things I have only modeled in our daily conversation. He is talking in full sentences. He doesn't need to repeat after me; he is choosing his own words, and he is putting them together to communicate his thoughts.

(I realize it seems like there should be more exclamation points in that paragraph, but if I included as many as I want to, it would seem like I am shouting at you. I assure you: in my heart, there are more exclamation points than I can count, and my spirit is indeed shouting - for joy!)

Allow me to tell you some of the many things I have heard from my sweet little boy, over the last five days.

*****
As we walked through a park, a cyclist came along. Tucker shouted, "Oh, hi, bike!"

*****

"Tuck, which fruit bar do you want for breakfast, red or green?"

"Yed."

"Red?"

"No, no yed. Bye, yed." He was waving goodbye to the fruit bar he did not want. That's some pretty good deductive reasoning, right there. (Green is a harder word for him, but I wanted to hear it.)

"Not red? Then what color?"

He thought and thought. "Eeeen."
You got it, kiddo.

*****

He was looking for his favorite book at my parents' house: The Pokey Little Puppy. He said again and again, "Woof! Woof! Woof!" And finally, "Woof, where are you??"

*****

After he got dressed this morning, he barreled down the hall and then turned to me and said, "I ran." :o)

*****

This morning, I wanted to practice some colors with him. As I pointed to the numbers on his breakfast placemat, I said, "What color is that?"

"One."

"Yes, it is the number one. And it's purple."

"Purple!"

I pointed to the two. "What color is this?"

"Two."

I decided to abandon the colors and see how far we could get with numbers instead.
Are you ready for this??

Without prompting, he said each number as I pointed to it:

"One, two, fee, ore, fice, ick, enn, ate, nine, TEN!"

He shouted the number at the end of the list he has heard for months; apparently, he has been counting along in his head all this time.

It was a grand finale, covered with hugs and kisses, and even my own teary eyes.

*****

Before I left for work on Wednesday afternoon, I kissed each of my boys and said goodbye. Tucker said, "Bye, Mommy. I-yuh-you."

That's I love you. He told me he loves me.

That precious sound is permanently etched into my audible memory... I will never forget it.

*****

One of my personal favorites:

My son is talking. God has been listening to the cries of my heart; he has given my son words!