Oh bamam!

Connor is an astonishingly good mimic and Jamie of course is his favorite subject. It is very interesting to watch the patterns of mimicking become more complex as Connor becomes older and more able (and inclined) to process information individually. In the bath a couple of nights ago, for instance, Jamie turned in surprise when I poured some water over him to rinse him. "Oh," he said, "Daddy, I thought you were Connor!". Connor then mixed comprehension and non-comprehension when he echoed, "Oh, Daddy, I tought you were me!!!"

Since Jamie has a fine vocabulary and curiously complex way of forming sentences sometimes, this has meant that Connor also creates some fine verbal constructions. He asks complete questions with great precision. It's funny because he still speaks rather slowly and with this exaggerated tonal elevation at the end of the sentence to indicate a question. It makes listening to him a real process of unfloding meaning. Thus for instance, when preparing to get into the car, he might say, "I-I-I- can...bring...six...cars...down-tairs...to bring...in..car...to play...wiff...while...we go to...my schoooool? Dadaaaaa?"

Poor little fellow has a rather sensitive tushy and he's been using the new verbal skills to let us know when he needs a diaper change and has an "owiieee on my bamam!" (Bamam=bottom). Then he will ask with heartbreaking earnestness, "You can put...cream...make my...bamam feel...betteeer?"