I Promise

It's so interesting to me the things that children pick up from their parents.  I tend to tell Jude "I promise" a lot.  I only do it when I know I can produce the desired results, but that's often enough when the desired results are fairly simple, like "we will go to the store, but only after lunch, I promise," or "we will play with the puzzle, but we have to clean up the other toys first, I promise."  See?  Pretty easy when they're 2.

Jude has adapted this speech habit of mine and now uses it quite regularly.  He let the cat outside the other day and closed the screen behind him, to which the cat responded by turning around and looking a little concerned.  Jude told him, "when you come back, I'll let you back in Keyo, I promise."  How cute is that?  And let me assure you, despite his slight toddler lisp, he is that articulate.  I'm not sure if it's simply how he is, or it's because we've always tried to teach him to 'use your whole sentence' when speaking.  Probably a little of both.

The other super cute speech thing he did today, that I've never heard prior and I'm curious to see if it'll continue, he was telling me he loves me, and missed me (he does this all the time, the "miss you") and then told me, in a very concerned voice, that "you worry me Momma." ... Not sure what to make of that, but it was cute nonetheless.  "I worry you?" I asked him, "Yes Momma."  That's the most explanation I got out of him.  Now, we have been known to use that phrase, like "You worry me sometimes," when referencing behavior.  Usually in light, but I didn't think we used it often enough for Jude to have picked up.

We have a child with a great capacity for understanding the spoken word.  At least that's what the most recent evidence is telling me.  He's very keen on words and how to use them.  He uses big words regularly and in context... which my mother tells me I did all the time, so this really comes as no surprise to me.  In fact, I'm rather giddy about it.  I love language and I can't imagine having a child that didn't share the pleasure.  I can't wait to see where it develops in the coming year.