Out of the mouth parts of the face of babes

"The face of a child can say it all, especially the mouth part of the face."
- Jack Handey

It's been pretty amazing hearing Jack learn more and more words each day. Sometimes he learns a word within seconds just by repeating things we intentionally try to teach him. That's how he learned "Elmo" and (stupid me) "booby."

Other times, he picks words up I don't even know we're saying that often. He says, "Perfect!" which I've been told I frequently say. It's really cute when Jack does it. He also has been saying "Abbey Road" a lot, because I just happened to mention that Beatles album the other day.

And then there are times he stubbornly refuses to say things that we try to teach him over and over again. He still won't call me "Mommy," even though he will call me "Mom" sometimes. Otherwise, I'm still "Nanny." It's hard to know what will latch on in his little brain.

One of Jack's favorite words, to our dismay, is "bathroom." As I've mentioned before, Jack loves the signs on public restrooms. He used to call them "boo-boon," but now he knows how to say "bathroom" pretty clearly. The problem is that he thinks ANY sign - whether it's handicapped parking or no smoking or warning signs - is "bathroom." This can get quite uncomfortable when we're, say, at church on Family Day and he sees the cross at the altar and yells, "Bathroom!" in the middle of the service. Or when he shouts, "Bathroom!" in a quiet library, and all the people who are trying to read swivel their heads to stare at this noisy little boy and his mortified mother.

Not that either of those has ever happened before. *eye roll*

And it's not like he yells it once, and then it's over. He KEEPS calling, "Bathroom! Bathroom! Bathroom!" I really don't understand why this is such a big deal for him. The only other thing that comes close to fascinating him that much is Elmo. Shushing doesn't work (surprise!). Acknowledging that "Yes, that is the bathroom" doesn't work. We're trying to teach him what the non-bathroom signs mean, but it's slow going. The only thing we can do to minimize our embarrassment is to beat a hasty retreat.

But one sweet thing happened yesterday. I'd been trying to get Jack to say, "I love you," and he finally did for the first time yesterday. I said, "Jack, love you!" (I figured, two words would be easier than three for him). He repeated, "Yuh-yoo!" I did it again, "Jack, love you!" And again, he said, "Yuh-yoo!"

Awww.