X has been speaking for some time now (nanana and dada have been around for ages), but his vocab has hockeysticked sometime in the month of January. Perhaps as a way to impress his uncle.

This past month, he’s added some lovely new words:

• Mama (Sarah was very happy for this one — much better than her previous nom-de-plume: Gaga)
• Cheese
• Shoes
• Nose
• Gamma (for grandma)
• Gammagrampa (for grandpa)
• Poop! (very exciting! awareness is the first step towards the big flush.)

And a few others. There are other words that he’s using consistently, but they are mostly symbolic at this stage — waving his finger in the air for ‘fan’ (or really any rotating thing); panting for doggy; or ‘thhppdd’ for oink/pig.

The vocab is coming fast and furious now, as are motor skills. He’s learned to walk up/down stairs like an adult, has almost learned to jump, and can run faster than I’d like.