vocabulary words

That phrase was terrifying in school. You were supposed to learn those particular words, know how to spell them, use them in a sentence and make them part of your regular speech. It was a daunting task. The one word I remember learning as a vocabulary work was "surroundings". It was wonderful knowing it meant everything around you. I was 7 or 8 and it seemed like such a big word it had those double r's and all.

Well now my surroundings are filled with toddler toys and vocabulary is again an important part of my life. E's pronunciation is not the best, but it is damned cute at times. We were practicing naming, counting and matching the other day with a basket full of rattles, finger puppets and small stuffed animals. He has 2 'raffes, 3 e'phants, 2 burdies (one is a regular bird the other is a duck) and he has a rhinus in each of the aforementioned categories. Rhinus is my favorite, I can see Linus carrying his blanket with a giant horn coming out of his head.

The evolution of understanding and vocabulary is very interesting to watch. For the past several months we have gone to the PA'K to play on the 'wings and the slides. This weekend we went on a long walk and we were going to end up at the park. As we got nearer and nearer our final destination E began yelling, as an excited toddler will do, PLAYGROUND! This is the first time I had ever heard him say this word and was amazed by it's clarity.

Last night we went out to eat at IHOP, our favorite restaurant. I asked for extra napkins because a rooty tooty fresh and fruity junior tends to get messy in the hands of a toddler who prefers fingers to a fo'k. As I was wiping his hands he said PAPER TOWEL. That was a surprise. I didn't know he knew that word.

The thing that really floored me this weekend was the trip to Micheal's. We were killing time before the BarReeRee (library) opened so we ambled down each aisle on the hunt for the elusive CIRCLE. He knows some shapes and circles are easiest for him to identify so we were looking for them. We were in the unfinished wood aisle and I was looking at the letters thinking about perhaps putting his name on one of the walls in his bedroom. I picked up an E and asked him what it was and he said, "E". I knew they were working on E in school the other day, because there are 2 boys in his class whose names start with E, but I didn't really expect him to be identifying it so quickly and confidently. I asked him about another letter expecting to get "E" as a response. He correctly identifed "G". Pick me up and dust me off, the boy's a genius.

His ability to properly identify colors is getting better and better too. He really knows owange and can generally get blue, though at times he will say it's green. But if he doesn't know a color it's always purple. I think that's because it's fun to say. "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" was the book selection this month in his classroom. I have been reading him this book since he was 6 months old and he has been able to identify the animals for me for quite some time, but when I asked about colors he never said much. The teacher reads it for a couple of days and he's identifing the next animal and color before the page is turned.

Our woolurd (world) is changing everyday as he connects words with objects and ideas. It's getting really exciting.

Well the house is quiet, E has been asleep for hours and even the neighbors have decided to call it a day. The clocks are tocking to one another. The office clock, the bathroom clock and E's bedroom clock are off by a tick and so in the stillness of night it sounds as if they are carrying on a conversation. I think I'll go listen in.

GOOD NIGHT