Blisso!

Connor speaks extraordinarily well. He has a huge vocabulary now and is very careful about his pronunciation. It helps that he has some more teeth now so he can form the works a little better. He is also a very good mimic and can repeat words back, or at least approximate them, immediately. For long words he gets the first sound and then fudges the rest of the syllables. A favorite lately has been "bamamamas" for bananas.

A funny manifestation of his speed in learning new words and using them came earlier this week, when he came home from school with a rather enormous blister on his big toe. He was rather fascinated by it, but we were concerned enough to get him in to the doctor that night to make sure it didn't get infected. We didn't see our regular doc but one of the other physicians in the practice, whom we refer to as "Dr. Cheney" because of his decidedly dour demeanor. Connor looked on with great interest as the blister was treated. The little guy must have heard the word "blister" a hundred times by then, so he pointed and said "Blisso!" Dr. Cheney looked at him in surprise, so, just to be sure, Connor said it again, this time with feeling, "BlissOOO!!" And to my great surprise Dr. Cheney really cracked up, noting with understatement, "He speaks very well for a baby." I am sure my Nonna, Marie, was looking down and agreeing, thinking, "He's very advanced for his age." (She was fond of noting this of her great-grandchildren).