New Gears are Turning

Monday night, deep in the darkness of early morning a little voice piped up. We went to investigate. "Whuh dat? Whuh dat?" She was talking in her sleep. There are new gears turning inside that little blonde head.

Lately there have been a great deal of "Whuh dat?"s: trucks, tractors, flags, blocks, flowers, bugs, hills, iPhones, dogs, people, lights, buckets, pine cones, sun glasses, and so forth. Everything is fascinating. It's clear to us that she's processing a great deal more language than she can reflect back to us. Simple requests like, "take this to mama," or "give some cheese to Max," are instantly comprehended. We're having small conversations.

"Whuh dat?"
"That's a picture of Arrow."
"Where's da Arrow?"
"He went away."
"Bye bye, Arrow!" Pause. "Whuh dat?"
"That's a picture of Max."
"Where's da Max?"
"Max is downstairs."
"Dat way!" she asserts, pointing with outstretched arm like a parade marshall towards the stairs.
"Do you want to hug Max?"
Nods. "Hug Max."

And so we did.