Repeat After Me…

If you ever want to hear how you sound to the people around you, hang out with a toddler for a while and then listen to how he or she speaks back to you. I have to say, I am mostly happy with what I hear, but definitely see places where I can improve.

The good:

Alex is unfailingly polite and grateful and empathetic. Without too much prompting, he says please, and more specifically “May I please _____ ?” when he wants something. When I give him food, he says “mmm, this is good, thank you Mommy!” And thank you, by the way, especially unaccompanied, comes out as a heartbreakingly cute “Faaaank you!”

He likes to preface sentences with “I have an idea!” and “How about…..” and end them with “is that a good idea?”, all with precisely the same intonation I use when I use those phrases with him. As in, “I have an idea! Let’s play cars, Mommy. Is that a good idea?”

He is quick to apologize when he makes a mistake or does something he knows is wrong. As in, after a toy he was playing with went awry, “Oh, I’m sorry Baby Nate! I didn’t mean to hit you. Are you OK?”

He is unbelievably wonderful with his brother. If Nate cries in the car, Alex will immediately start saying “It’s OK, Baby Nate, we’ll be there soon, it’s OK, it’s OK, shhhh shhh, it’s OK!”

His sentences are complete and complex and generally correct — he doesn’t seem to have the same problems with pronouns, for example, that many kids his age have. The occasional misplaced modifier (”I went down the big kids’ slide water today!” instead of water slide) is about as bad as it gets.

He’s picked up several of my other stock phrases, including “you’re funny, hunny!” and “silly dilly!” He says I love you to everyone in the family, including Tucker, often and unprompted. I think that is the one I am proudest of.

The Not So Good:
If one of us raises our voice to Alex, he generally replies with “don’t yell at me, Mommy! That’s Not Nice! You need time out!” He’s right, it’s not nice, and I am trying to make a concerted effort to whisper rather than yell to get my attention.

Oh, and it finally happened: Alex dropped something on the floor the other day and exclaimed “sh*t!” Oops.