Nathan speaks!

That statement is actually not true. It would be more accurate to say: Nathan exclaims! Loudly, enthusiastically, and (mostly) monosyllabically. He announces most motor vehicles when they pass, demands cream "Teeeee!" on his bottom at every diaper change, identifies loads of animals and foods and objects, calls his sister "Chel" (Isn't that sweet?), and counts to eleven. (Well, he skips eight, but heck, I'm giving it to him.) Kid's pretty smart. In fact, whenever he sees a picture of ice cream (Aye teeeeeee!) or hears the word spoken, he points out the window--always in the correct direction, toward the nearest ice cream shop.

A ride with Nathan in the car sounds like this: "Fah! Fah! Fah!" Yes, Nathan, there's a flag. "Nuh fah! Nuh fah!" Yes, another flag. "Buhhhhhhh!" Bus. Wave to the bus driver! "Ammah!" Not an ambulance. That's a police car. They both have lights on top. Wave to the police officer. I laughed quite a lot the other day when we had an impressive convergence of vehicles. Some background information: We have some goofy rituals for car rides. We always say "woo-hoo" when we pass under train tracks. (Once he figured out how to say it, Nathan became the best one of all of us for remembering. Sometimes it takes me a moment to figure out why he's sitting back there hooting; then I realize we're under a track and join in.) Also, we sing "Fruit van, na na na na na na" (To the tune of Fontbonne, na na na na na na, for all you 1997 RA's out there.) whenever we see an Edible Arrangements van. (Long story, really not worth repeating here.) We often pass an EA store that is near train tracks, so Nathan has it all linked together in his mind. So here's what happened...

We were about to pass under the elevated tracks. Nathan began his cheer: "Ooooh!" Then he saw a bus and interrupted himself to announce it. "BUHHHHHHH!" Resumed cheer: "Ooh-ooh!" And celebrated the (not present) fruit van: "Foo-vah, na na na." So it sounded like this: "Oooh--BUHHHHHHH! Ooh-ooh! Foo-va, na na na." He got it all in there, and it was a hoot. Rachel and I were quite amused.

So I guess you can see that not all of Nathan's talk is monosyllabic. In fact, he's got some sentences. "I do," for just about any task that he plans to tackle on his own. "I see," when he sees a bus or wants to see the picture I've just taken. And tonight, as I was kissing him at bedtime, "Ahwa voo." And Nathan, I love you, too. I do, I do , I do!