More words!

MAN - my child is selective about when and when he will not speak!  Sometimes, I cannot understand a thing he is saying.  His baby babble language is off the charts - he often sounds like he is talking about Abu Dhabi :)  I often think he is saying something specific, (as he says it with the same enthusiasm as when we speak to him about things) but I just cannot connect his babble to an object.

Other days, he seems to be making a really strong effort to say (in more clear English) a word we are repeating for him.

Here is what we have heard him say lately:

Kitty-kitty
Bye Bye (Often says this when we are getting ready to get shoes on or going to the car).
Dot (I point to a picture we have and point out each dot - "dot, dot, dot, dot". He will now randomly point to dots and say "da, da, da, da").
Picture
Car
Shovel
Callie

This morning, in the car on our way to Callie's house, he was looking at a Thomas the Train book that has buttons with sounds on it.  There are several trains and a tugboat, but there is also a cat, fish and bird.  When I asked him to push the buttons for each animal, he will push them immediately!  But when I asked him to say "kitty", "bird", or "fish", he gave me a blank stare.  So then I tried running through "where are your eyes....nose....ears...?" and he looked at me and simply said, "no, ma".

We have this photo framed and on the table in our entryway.  I will often take it down and show Ben, while pointing and saying, "Mama, Dada, Baby Ben!".  I remember soon after the first time I showed him, he took the same photo and did the same thing!  I was so impressed!  And then another day the same week, with a magazine in front of him, he pointed to it and in the same voice I used said, "Mama, Dada...".  Apparently he picked up on my action, but not quite the concept :)  Still cute!