Walking and Talking

Milestones are a funny thing.  Most are anxiously awaited and when they arrive they are met with great joy and fanfare. Right now I am waiting for two milestones. Walking and talking.

Brenton cruises like a maniac.  Give him something to hold onto and he will walk and walk and walk.  Take it away and plop right on his bottom.  It is adorable and infuriating.

He crawls quickly, so I am not entirely convinced he recognizes that crawling is an inferior form of transportation. But yet if his father or I walk away too quickly and leave him a few steps behind he whimpers and even cries on occasion. Then I allow him to pull himself up on my hands and walk while he clings to each finger.  He will walk holding just one finger on one hand as well.  I am waiting for him to forget and let go and just keep walking.

I think he is cautious when it comes to taking those first unassisted steps.  Not like his mother, who apparently took off running from those early steps at 9 months old.  Perhaps he is more like his father in his deliberate ways.

He babbles like his mother.  Making noises just to hear himself.  I enjoy talking back to him.  Sometimes in words and other time mimicking his sounds. The best part of the babbling are the shrieks of delight mixed with the occasional raspberry.

He says mama all the time, but never to me directly.  He calls many things mama.  The chair is mama, the wall is mama, when he is trying to get someones attention he says mama and occasionally he just repeats it mamamamamamamamamamamamamamamama. Again adorable and infuriating.

He will not say words when asked to say them. He does this only on his own terms much like his walking or lack thereof. I am hoping his next deliberate word is mama so inevitably it will be ball or something else. Each time he says mama to something else I say, "What do you need Brenton?"  I also point to myself and ask, "Who am I?"  I am hopeful the association will be helpful someday resulting in the response "mama". I try.

I truly believe he has said dada twice to my husband.  He touched him and said it clearly. Dada. I count it as his first word.  The first time my husband was asleep, but the second time he heard it and whirled around in bed asking "Did he just?" and I smiled and said. He did!

That moment was very special even though it was not my name he uttered. Each of his milestones have been very special in their own ways. I keep picturing his first steps in my mind and the excitement that will inevitably ensue, but no matter what I imagine it will be better. I know because so far I have not been disappointed by the amazing rush of watching my boy do things I take for granted every day. Walking and talking.