Magic Potion

James will be two years old in May, Andrew will be four. James has been trying to speak a little more, especially words with soft consonants like b, m and d. He usually makes his point fairly well by using a mixture of context, pointing, babysigns and, if necessary, whining.

Yesterday I grabbed a glass beside the sink that I thought had been used as a water glass recently. I filled it with water and handed it to James and told him to drink it. He wanted something else, but I told him again to drink it. He began increasing the volume of his pleas. About the third time I told him to drink his water I realized he was not being defiant but trying to communicate... something. I turned back toward him and asked him what it was. "BA! BA!" he said. I looked into the glass and there, floating on the top, were three moths. He was trying to say BUG. Poor guy. I am learning.

Then the other day Brian was putting the boys to bed. I hear them all laughing and Brian told me later that James had made a joke. His first joke. He would say da-da and point to Brian, then say da-da, point to Andrew and laugh. He knew that Andrew's name wasn't da-da and thought it was funny to call him that.