The Sprout has started talking, and a friend of mine reminded me that I should make a note of the things he says. Although he was suggesting I do it “so you will remember it later,” I suspect what he really meant was “so you won’t bore me with it personally.”

Anyway, we have not been trying to drill language into the Sprout. Instead, we’ve just been talking to him. He’s picked up some key phrases which he says as one word. The really weird thing, I think, is he’s already started adjusting the parts of speech. He apparently already understands that pronouns have gender.

Anyway, here are some of the things we hear him say:

• “What is this?” Things that are new and interesting to him are always greeted with this question.
• “This this this this.” What he says when he has his hands on something interesting, possibly something he shouldn’t have.
• “Of course.” What he says when “yes” is not emphatic enough.
• “Do it do it do it,” or “Go! Do!” both of which are pretty much self-explanitory.
• “Is this a door?” Which is what he said today when he found a door he couldn’t open.
• “Yes she does.” What the Sprout said just after Elf said “I am trying to understand him but can’t. We both understood it?
• “What are you doing?” The Sprout said this in a slightly offended tone when we started washing his feet one evening before bed.
• “One, two, three, four, five.” The Sprout can count to five. Most of the time he gets the numbers close to the correct order.
• “Do a show,” which means “please turn on the television.”

I’m sure I’m forgetting some. And there will probably be a whole lot of new ones by the end of the week.