Who let the dogs out?

Saturday Sep 05, 2009

Who let the dogs out? Fuf fuf fuf fuf fuf fuf

This week I requested to be the guest writer on the Torquil blog, because I think that Jay is the cutest, funniest, smartest baby on the face of the earth, and I am completely and unequivocally unprejudiced in every way. I am just his completely unbiased grandmother, aka, Lala. I realize that the Dog Song used as the title this week was used in the past, when Jay’s croupy cough won the title. But I could not resist repeating it, for reasons to be explained below.

So just to keep you up on what Jay is doing these days, I wanted to share the fact that his verbal skills are increasing exponentially. He can repeat virtually anything you say, so it is very important to use only polite language in his presence. He can repeat anything, and does so happily, unless you try to get him to talk on the phone. He loves a phone almost better than anything, and talks to a blank phone with quite a chatty little charm. “Hallo? Butta, butta yaba, dadee, dubba dubba. Byebye.” But put a phone up to his ear with a real person talking to him, and those little lips purse all the way to his throat! As you desperately cue him to say “Hello, Mama”, he just grins and gives you the silent treatment. Then as soon as you hang up, he reaches for the phone and is back with “Mommee, Hallo!”

He is putting together small phrases and using terms at the right moment, too. When he sits down in his high chair, he holds out his hand and says “Ameen” to indicate that it is time to hold hands and say the blessing. And he has learned that to demand “MINE!” (sounds more like my-een!) does not work nearly as well as a sweet little “peas” to indicate “Please hand me that”. In fact, he has learned that “Help me” is a pretty useful phrase when he cannot do something alone. Even the way he says his name, Jiy, is awfully cute.

But my very favorite is the animal sounds he makes. Of course, he learned that a cow says MOO as soon as he began to move his lips. And I think he actually calls a sheep a BAAAA. But puppy is his favorite animal, and when asked what a puppy says, he replies Fuf, fuf, fuf, with no sound at all. (Thus, the title of this post.) I guess his WOOF sound has only partially come in, so the Woo part of Woof is left off. But it is so fun to get him to do it, I cannot resist asking him all the time. He probably is thinking, why can’t she remember what a dog says? I tell her all the time!! He does not seem to distinguish between a little yap yap yappy dog and a big BOWWOW dog. They are all fuf fuf fuf to him. Soooo cute!!

Untitled from Jen F on Vimeo.

Posted at 07:51PM Sep 05, 2009 by Jen Foster in General | Comments[1]