Appy-Happy, Tree-Three, and the most-famous one - "oh..oh"

There was a time when it seemed LG wouldn't talk. Ever. I tried everything and he just wouldn't go beyond the "bow" "bow". On a few occasions, I felt the dog he imitates was capable of uttering a sensible word or two but not my son. And, then I gave up. Because it didn't matter much. Throw in the combination of two three languages and you have a confused setting. We were doing quite okay communicating with LG through his actions that made the absence of words seem insignificant. Having said that, I can't say how elated I was when he uttered his first real word - "akka" nonchalantly in a sari shop like a pro as if he has always been speaking. In a matter of three four days he picked quite a few words and then it all stopped one day. This was when he had just turned a year old.

For the past eight months, it has pretty much been "bow" and variations of "bow" such as baby, bhabhi with the occasional "di","appy" for "apple" and "tree". This past week has been a surprise ride. It all started one night with "baaalish" for "barish" when it was raining cats and dogs. We were having dinner when Lil' General said it the first time. We literally dropped our plates hearing it. And then like a broken record, he stuck on to it through the week. His vocabulary is increasing now.

A neighbor stopped by this afternoon as I was feeding him lunch. She said, "Hi..LG." He winked at her and in his most casual self responded with a "Hi". The boy just doesn't stop surprising me. More than the word, it was his casual mannerism that had me in splits. Then this afternoon, my father-in-law was arranging the bowling balls counting them simultaneously. When he reached "nine" a second time, LG seconded him with "nine" and "ten". Great. In the evening, came out "one" and "three". Cool, I thought.

But the one word that steals the show is "oh..oh". Dropping all the food served first on to the high chair's tray and then onto the floor creating a huge mess is followed with this regretful "oh..oh" with hand over his mouth that almost says, "Oh now..Who the hell did this? I wasn't even aware..see what a mess mom." with full of empathy in his eyes for seeing his mom don on the role of a maid yet again mopping the floor for the Nth time.

By the time The Seniol is back for his vacation, his son would entertain him with enough words. I'm also forewarned of not using those words that I'd rather not like him to utter. No swearing days to let off steam - too bad.

Today was Ganesh Chaturthi and we did the usual pooja with LG contributing his bit in throwing fruits off the plate or plucking flowers or tripping on the floor a few times by mistake to bump his head.