‘Adorable,’ ‘beautiful’ and ‘hilarious’ are my two and a half year old son’s favourite words lately. We’ve obviously used these words in his company but they aren’t words that occur in our daily language, or maybe they are! While friends and family are impressed by his vocabulary they also find his statements quite humourous. We too are impressed by his regular use of these words but what surprises us most is his ability to apply them in different contexts. From beautiful necklaces, to beautiful weather or my dress being beautiful. We first heard hilarious in response to a silly comment one of us had made and since then he’s used it to comment about peoples’ personalities, or to describe a book we’ve read. In addition to these words he told his childcare provider that she was ‘fired’, immediately followed by a belly laugh. When asked who would take care of the children he simply responded, “I don’t know”. We haven’t a clue where he heard this statement but it was obviously one he liked the sound of and again, he used it in the right context. I thought I’d grown accustomed to being amazed at the physical, emotional, social and verbal developments of my son, but his vocabulary choice of late have left me in further awe of how much he learns on a daily basis.
As parents we’d heard ‘horror’ stories about the transition from crib to ‘big boy’ bed. No more napping, early starts to the day, destroyed rooms, extensive bedtime routines, night time visits. . . As a result we were the last of our social group to make the change. While our son is no longer napping at a set time and getting him to sleep is a little more time consuming, the transition has gone better than we expected. He’s very proud of his ‘big boy’ bed and comments that he’s ‘older now’. As parents this is worth the extra patience and time we devote to our nighttime routine. This transition has occurred simultaneously with a growth in his vocabulary and communication skills, while getting him to sleep takes a little longer the bedtime process is more rewarding now. While we always read before bed our routine now includes a book and discussion about the days events. Hearing our son’s recollections of the day and learning what his favourite moments were gives us greater insight into him as an individual. My husband and I both agree that conversations with our son are without a doubt the best conversations either of us have had!