water and language

I made the mistake last week of introducing Gavin to alternate methods of playing with water. He was bound to find these ways sooner or later, and I relize now, too late, that it is much better for it to be later than sooner. But alas, Fist Time Parent-itis strikes again.

I don't even remember now how it was I introduced him to the kitchen sink as a plaything. I'd held him up to it before to rinse cereal or yogurt off his hands and face but never just to play in. Oh yes, I remember now - I was on the phone with a client and Gavin was clinging to my leg crying and whining for attention. I needed to talk to this person, I couldn't hang up and talk later. So I picked up the boy and held him up to the sink and turned on the water. Ahhhh, Gavin said. This is fun! Splash, splash. Unh! Unh! Turn the water back on!

Oh boy.

Now whenever we're in the kitchen, guess what he wants to do?

Oh boy again.

The other thing I introduced him to, this time knowing fully what I was doing, is the hose outside. How could I not, when I had to use it to fill his little inflatable pool? And when it's so hot and humid outside it's like swimming just to walk to the garden?

I don't mind the hose so much. It's fun to watch him play with the water. Or drink it, which is really what he spends much of his hose playtime doing. The rest of the time is spent pushing on the outlet with his fingers, which makes water squirt everywhere. He started doing that, then dashing toward me for a hug when the water got him. He would do that while laughing and giggling, so it wasn't that he was scared by the water. It was just part of the game. The other thing he's started doing is anytime he's playing with water - hose, sink, pool, or bathtub - is to dip his fingers in and suck the water off, then hold his fingers up for me to have water too. Aww, thanks kid. Thanks for sharing your dirty icky buggy poolwater with me.

One afternoon this week Gavin and I were playing with the phone. He loves the phone. It beeps. Sometimes it talks (as it did yesterday afternoon in a different phone playing episode... fortunately it was only Jason he'd called, and not some random stranger). So we were playing at answering the phone. I say "ring, ring", he puts it up to the general vicinity of his ear, then I say "hello?" On this occasion he started saying "hi" when he put it to his ear. So then I expanded on that and started saying, "hi Daddy." Imagine my surprise when he repeated, "Hi Daaa-eee"!

Since then Gavin has been on a "daddy" kick, practicing his "dada" sounds. He is still not saying words with any regularity, apart from "hi," "ball," "bread," and "belly." A strange assortment of words, to be sure. But he is getting closer to talking, we think. Or at least closer to the time when he'll start saying more words - hopefully words that will help him communicate his needs with us. We're not naive enough to think one morning he'll wake up reciting the Gettysburg Address, but maybe he'll say "water" or "eat."

And now, some pictures.

Is there a Gavin behind that ball?

Why yes, yes there is!

Posted by allison at July 1, 2005 06:48 PM