Gideonisms

Because I don't have any pictures with me to post right now, I'll give you some insight into the world of our little man's growing vocabulary. I remember when Gideon was 17 months old, I made a list of all the words he knew, then lost track somewhere around a hundred of them. I just thought that was a lot! Since then, he's somehow catapulted from one word phrases to whole converstations - complete with complete sentences, inflections, logic, and humor. Here are just a few of my favorites: (and sorry for the length; this is more so I'll remember this time than anything else).

-When something becomes a "rule" in our house, we can tell that Gideon understands it because he'll repeat it to us and himself several times and preface it with "Mommy/Daddy say..." such as: "Mommy/Daddy say look both ways, cross street." "Mommy/Daddy say pick up toys." "Mommy/Daddy say keep undies dry." Well, yesterday, I caught him repeating to himself over and over, "Mommy/Daddy say eat food, not bugs." I guess that's a good rule to know! (And for the record, he's never tried eating bugs, but I think he learned this rule when we were talking about a friend of ours whose little boy has ...)

-I was working on a sewing project the day that tropical storm Edouard ripped through our neighborhood. (And by "ripped through," I mean that it rained a little and I think I saw a tree sway once. But, at least it gave Jason the chance to work from home that day!) The thread kept jamming in the machine, so I let out a frustrated, "Ugh!!" A few seconds later, I heard Gideon run downstairs and tell Jason, "Mommy says, Ugh!" repeating it exactly like I said it. He continues to randomly remind me, Jason, and whoever else will listen that sometimes, "Mommy says, UGH!!" Thank goodness that's all I said!

-Months ago, when he was barely talking, we passed by the elemetary school in our neighborhood and the kids were all on the playground during recess. I said, "Look, Gideon. Look at all the kids having fun outside!" Since then, almost every time we pass a school he says, "Kids fun outside!" whether there are kids there or not.

-He's started announcing his activities before he does them, sometimes several steps in advance. For example, "Gideon go upstairs, get books, come downstairs, read books couch. Be right back." Then he'll show up downstairs with a basketful of books and start reading. Sometimes his "plans" are not exactly within the realms of activities that a toddler can execute: "Gideon go bye-bye. Go shopping, Target." (or HEB, which he calls "H-B," or Home Depot).

-But, in his mind, I guess he thinks he can execute them because several times during each week, we get to the car and he begs, "Gideon drive! Gideon drive!" Now, no one has ever let him sit in the front seat before, so I have no idea why he thinks we'll suddenly say yes to this request, but he's even climbed into the driver's seat when I'm loading up the car a couple of times. Of course, his second-favorite request is, "Gideon ride motorcycle!" which he says any time he even hears one drive by, much less sees it. I can't help but wonder if we've still got fourteen more years of this driving infatuation ahead of us. I had no idea it would start so early! :-)

-He can also spell his name, kind of. Any time he draws with a pen or crayon, he thinks he's writing his name. "G-O-N, Gideon!" he'll exclaim proudly. We're working on the middle three letters. He can spell stop, though. We'll come to a stop sign and he'll say, "S-TOW-P, stop - right there!"

-We've talked about the baby a lot too, so it's funny to see him put it all together in his mind. We pray every night that God would bless the "baby in Mommy's tummy and keep him or her safe and healthy." We also talk about hearing the heartbeat at the doctor's office. On the way to our last appointment, I told him we were going to Mommy's doctor and he thought for a minute and said, "Baby Mommy's tummy, her safe, healthy, heartbeat BA-boom, BA-boom!"

-He's started using abstract words too, and what's even stranger is that he'll use them in the right context. "That's dangerous!" or "That's different!" Yeah, I guess you're right, Gideon...

-One of his favorite songs says "SkinnaMarinkyDinkyDink, SkinnaMarinkyDinkyDoo... I love you!" So, Gideon will sing the "I love you," part so sweetly and sometimes mix it up with, "I love you, Dude!" I think we have my dad to thank for the dude part. (Or, Papa Dude, as Gideon likes to call him).

-He also says, "Yes Ma'am" a lot, thanks to my constant "reminders." But, we're in a phase now where he sounds really polite, but he doesn't always get that saying "Yes Ma'am" is not enough. You actually have to DO it! :-)

-A couple of weeks after my grandmother's funeral, Gideon asked out of the blue, "Gideon go see Mee-Maw." I explained that we couldn't go see her because she is in heaven with Jesus. But, he kept asking randomly, which I just found strange because he never used to ask when she was alive. A couple of weeks ago, when he asked to go see Mee-Maw, I reminded him that we couldn't because she's in heaven. "Jesus," he said. Finally, it hit me. "Oh, do you want to go see Mee-Maw so you can see Jesus too?" I asked him. "O-tay!" he said, and started getting up to go. It was my first, What in the world to I say to this? moment as a mom, and I can't imagine "Where do babies come from?" being any harder to answer. How do you explain to a toddler that you can't actually see Jesus, but you can talk to Him whenever you want? Regardless of my awkward explanation, it so touched my heart that my little boy isn't even two and he already wants to see Jesus. And so illustrates Jesus's plea to have the faith of a little child...

-And, sadly, the last new phrase he's learned really took off Monday night when we went to the mall. "Gideon walk by self!" he kept begging. Then, "Self, self, self, self, self!!" as if we didn't get it the first time. Great... so we're in that phase now!