Sylvan is experiencing a renaissance, I think, a rebirth from babyhood and its drive toward greater mobility to toddlerhood with a goal of greater understanding and communication (not that mobility is taking a backseat; see “My son is a monkey.”). I suppose Sylvan’s great leap in communication started in December, when he started to mimic words, but he’s really blossomed in the past couple of weeks.
Sylvan started singing. It started with “rum sum sum,” a song with hand motions that keeps him from going nutso in the carseat; then, in the car last night, he started patting his knees and singing “dum dit dum dit,” which is similar to the rhythmic refrain in his book Hand Hand Fingers Thumb. He also sang with his friend Leo’s piano today, doing his bobbing dance and singing “dum dit dum dit.”
His vocabulary continues to develop at the rate of 2-3 new words a day. This morning we found out that he knows “shaving,” then he said “penguin” this afternoon, and he’s gaining prepositions, like “on” and “under,” with their related concepts.
Sylvan’s personality is becoming more apparent, especially when we spend time with his peers. Sylvan is happy! He plays contentedly on his own and will talk to himself in his crib about what he sees before falling asleep. At our Birth to Three meetings, he plays in the playroom next door to the adult room for two hours, coming in occasionally to flash a big, dimpled smile and ask for a snack. Ah, I love my little independent.
Sylvan is also sweet. His passive nature means that he doesn’t really mind when his toys get taken or when another toddler pokes his nose. He moves on, which is a trait I admire. We might have to do some assertiveness training later, but it’s a nice quality in a toddler – and it would be a nice quality in me.