A Man of Few Words

Billy has a few things to say, but I'm beginning to suspect he comprehends everything.  His words include "hi," "choo choo," "Eddie," "bye," "book," and other simple syllables.  He points to the camera and calls it "cheeez." He also has made up his own words for some things.  He really likes birds and dogs, and he calls them "bah" and dah."   

I was very worried for awhile that Billy was not going to have the opportunity to be the book lover that his brother is because we were always reading books that required too much prolonged attention to each page. 
That has turned out not to be the case.  Billy now brings me his book choices saying "boook?" "boook?"  As long as I keep reading, he'll bring me every board book on the shelf, but he gravitates heavily toward Where's Spot, Chugga Chugga Choo Choo, and Baby Faces. 

He's particularly funny about Where's Spot.  On each page we look for the puppy, Spot, behind a flap.  "Is Spot behind the door?...No,"  etc.  Billy will sit by himself turning the pages of the book, lifting the flaps and saying "NO!"  On one page, "is Spot in the box?" there are three penguins inside the box and each one says "no."  Billy lifts the flap on this particular page and says "no, no, NO!" 

On the porch at preschool, there is a ceramic frog in one of the flowerpots.  Kyle reports that Billy points to it every day on the way into the school and says "frog!"  When I pick him up from school, we have a ritual involving the alphabet on the wall of his classroom.  I hold Billy on my hip, he points to the different letters at random, and I name them for him.  For some reason, though, whenever we get to the letter i, he screeches with laughter.  I have no idea why i is funny, but it is.

Billy is also wonderful at following simple instructions when he wants to.  Among other simple things, he will "stand up,"  "sit down," "give me a kiss," and, last night before bed, I told him to "give Eddie a hug," just to see if he knew what it meant.  He knew exactly what to do and he did it!  Awwww.