Jakey Reading his Book

It's pretty much a truism that watching language develop is beyond fascinating. Jakey's words have been emerging by threes and fours, as every day brings some new tidbit and expands his ability to make phrases. By now, he's mastered nouns - check out the video - and is experimenting with transitive verbs, even though he doesn't yet use prepositions. We watch him with delight, cobbling his stock of speech into communication, applying the still limited tools at his disposal to explain, demand, choose, and show affection. Who would ever think that a tiny 20 month old would have so many desires, would one moment want to tuck in quietly ("Kakey cudd' mommy") and the next be raring to go ("Kakey do'n. No uppies mommy! Kakey walk.")? Who could imagine that he would have preferences ("No 'ogut. Kakey eat quesa-ka-di'a. Kakey eat Z-bah. Kakey eat wheat. No soup. Kakey wan' beans.")? Who could predict that he would already play out his life through his stuffed animals ("Beah wachee E'mo. Beah wachee Bird. Beah run! Beah run mommy eye. Beah sit. Beah eat. Kakey beah eat.")? Extraordinary and wondrous days.