He Can't Moo Like a Cow . . .

. . . but you should hear him roar like a tiger!

Several of you have asked me recently how Caleb's speech is progressing. Well, the good news is that it is progressing. Slowly.

They say that imitation of parents and mimicking animal sounds are a good indication that your child is close to talking. And when they say "animal sounds", they generally mean tame, domesticated animals like cows, pigs, sheep, cats, and dogs.

But not Caleb. Oh no. Domesticated animals just don't do it for him. His very first animal sound? "Rrraahhh!"

I'm not joking. I caught him roaring one afternoon a few months back, right out of the blue. I don't know where he picked it up; he just started doing it. He'd see a picture of a lion or a tiger, and start growling. "Rrraahhh!"

That was a few months ago. Now? Still no farm animals for him. He hisses like a snake. Hoots like an owl. Baas like a bighorn sheep. The culprit behind these obviously-wild-and-out-there-animal-noises? Well, you see, I found this book . . . and let me tell you friends, this book is amazing. It's an alphabet book that pictures animals native to North America for every letter. Not only that, it also depicts these animals in real life drawings, in different national parks around our country. One national park for every animal. The illustrations are incredible. Caleb loves it. =)

And what animals do we find under O, R, and S? Yep, you guessed it! The Elf Owl, the Rattlesnake, and the Bighorn Sheep. Caleb's favorites.

Of course, he probably wouldn't be making those sounds today without some help from Daddy. Jason has faithfully read this book to Caleb every night when I'm at work, making the sounds, and more importantly, making it fun. (For example, under T, we find a tarantula. Wellllll, ok, so spiders don't make noises. But they sure can tickle!!).

That's not to say that both Jason and I haven't tried to get Caleb into the whole farm scene. You know, Old MacDonald and all that. He's just not into it. He's more of a Noah's Ark kind of boy. =) Which is fine. The fact that he is actually making animal noises of any kind is, as I said originally, progress.

As for imitating parents? Not much of that yet. I *think* he says "Ah dun" (all done) when he's finished eating. Sometimes. And he will sign for "more" juice or food.

But eh, slow progress is better than no progress at all. And since I can't seem to get our doctor and insurance company to agree on assessment and/or therapy for Caleb, I guess I'll be thankful for what I've got right now: one little tiger who's adorablely cute, no matter what sounds he makes. =)