Oh, the cuteness!

Mommy doesn't have lipstick or makeup to play with, but she did buy some clips the other day. Which Beo was veeery curious about! So we both had to put clips in our hair. He is not at all sure what they are.

Peanut butter and jelly lipstick!

Shortly after these pictures were taken, I stepped out of the room for a minute.

When I came back, the piece of bread pictured above was gone. Beo was pointing at his shirt over and over and saying "Suh suh suh!" I said, "Yes! Big Bird is from Sesame Street!"

Whereupon he pulled up his shirt and proudly showed me that he had stuck the peanut butter side of his bread to his belly button.

I am still not really sure what "suh" means.

The other day a fire truck parked down at the end of the block, so Daddy took Beo down to check it out. They gave Beo a fireman hat and a fire truck pin! They invited him into the truck but he was TOO SHY. Maybe next time. :-)

Today Beo obtained my camera and sat in my rocking chair playing with it for a while. This is the only picture that came out in focus. I believe that is a knee and a foot.

So, Beo's gaining a few more words. He doesn't really seem to like nouns, although "car" is a recent addition. He likes action words and descriptive words. Go, outside, and cool are his new favorite expressions. Outside is technically a noun, but he uses it to mean WE WILL GO OUTSIDE NOW.

His language understanding is getting more complex. It's interesting to see his comprehension slowly evolve. At this point it's apparent that he's mostly listening for inflection (like questions or reprimands) and key words. He doesn't understand the concept of "tomorrow" or "later," which can sometimes create problems. For instance, if I talk about Daddy when Daddy is not home, he'll run to the door and look for him. Last night I told him we would go see "elephants at the zoo tomorrow" and he pointed to the door, indicating that yes, he would like to see them now!

My mom got him a couple of books where things with similar sounds were compared, and I could see him begin to grasp the difference. At first he recognized no difference between "soup" and "soap," but after a couple of repetitions he got it.

Likewise, his "sign language" is getting more complex. Today he came to me and pointed to his hair. I asked him if he wanted to put clips in his hair, but he shook his head and kept pointing. I told him I didn't understand and asked him to SHOW me. He walked to the bathroom door and pointed. I opened it, he walked in to the tub, pointed to the tub and to his hair. I said, "You want to take a bath and wash your hair?" He nodded emphatically and said "Mm-HM!"

I think I am probably partially at fault if he's slower to learn words - mainly because I find the nonverbal communication interesting and am willing to take the time to figure out what he means. The other day all three of us were at the park when Beo came up to me. I said, "Oh, you want my keys" and handed them over. Kelson was like, "How did you know THAT?" I explained that Beo had gestured to my pocket, which is where keys are usually kept.

And in fact Beo does use more words and attempt speech much more with other people. He gets very chatty when Daddy gets home at night. I'm not really worried, though. He'll learn to talk at his own pace, and in the meantime nonverbal communication is an incredibly important part of communication.

Beo now also now does this:

...Which I find hilarious. And the whispered "Hi" and big grin at the end just melt my heart. It's a good reminder that there are things much more important than sweeping the floor or getting the laundry done.