Speaking of Louis...
You may not have noticed, but John and I love to talk about Louis. We have to be careful what we say when he's listening, but he is most definitely our very favorite conversation topic.
Sometimes people ask about his appetite (you won't believe it until you see him eat a third banana in one sitting and then a full dinner an hour later), his sleep schedule (he spoils us), and his latest toy preference (these days he wakes up asking, "Pay Legos?").
The question I field most often, however, is "How is his English?"
The other day when I heard myself saying, "Well, he doesn't really have any prepositions..." I stopped myself. Clearly I need to come up with a better way of summarizing his English fluency.
Louis has a lot to say. And he uses English nouns, verbs, some pronouns, and the occasional adjective. We understand about 90 percent of what he says, and if you were to hear him, you'd probably understand at least half. Then there's his sense of humor. If he points to himself and says "Uncle Steve" or "Mama," he expects you to laugh. He knows you'll know he's kidding. And then there's his Cat in the Hat, who talks in a really cute voice Louis uses just for the Cat.
The challenge for me, as his mother, is not to brag about Louis, while also trying not to sound like we're not proud of him. We are tremendously proud. He astounds us every day just by being his sweet, curious self, a boy who thinks setting the table is only slightly more fun than getting the mail. When the only concern my mother has is that he sucks his thumb when he's walking down the stairs, I realize yet again how blessed we are. He's an absolute dream, and he has entered our lives without missing a beat.
And, amidst all the other momentous changes in his young life, he's learning a language he never heard before Dec. 7.
Is Louis speaking as well as other 33-month-olds? I have no idea. Is he speaking as well as other children who have only been exposed to English for eight months? Again, I don't know. Is he conversing well enough to get what he wants for breakfast ("toast jelly"), to tell us how he wants to spend the day ("Pay Legos?"), or to give me directions to Grandma's house in the morning ("Go dat way!")? Absolutely. And we're just thrilled to see him grow and learn and connect with us in yet another way.
Oh, the joy of being new parents--and of being Louis's parents. Who needs comparisons?
When our agency told us to have Louis evaluated for language delay two months after he came home, the team of four people who came to our home asked me how many words he was saying. "Oh, 10 or 20," I said. "Excuse me," one of the evaluators interrupted me. "Did he just say 'airplane'?" Well...yes. But he likes airplanes, I tried to explain.
The evaluation team didn't seem interested when I told them he has a passion for vehicles, that his train vocabulary was his strength, far exceeding any interest in naming foods or other household terms. It may have helped that his father wakes him up most mornings giving a litany of train terms through Louis's bedroom door, while Louis responds in kind. I knew the evaluation was over when one of the team members turned to me and said, "When you said you brought him home in December, you meant a year ago, right?"
Not quite--but it feels as if we've known him that long!
Today, trains are just a piece of his growing vocabulary. And being around his cousins this summer only helped. Now Louis says his name and almost anything else he feels like saying. He strings together words, making two- or three-word sentences, and listing what we did today.
Louis is growing in other ways, too. We took him to the playground this weekend and watched him climb. He doesn't need nearly as much help as he used to.
Are you still wondering how much Louis has to say? Well, see for yourself. Here is a video of Louis starting to say his ABCs (which he does know, but which he humbly prefers not to share on video). The second video shows Louis singing. He adores singing.
Sometimes people ask about his appetite (you won't believe it until you see him eat a third banana in one sitting and then a full dinner an hour later), his sleep schedule (he spoils us), and his latest toy preference (these days he wakes up asking, "Pay Legos?").
The question I field most often, however, is "How is his English?"
The other day when I heard myself saying, "Well, he doesn't really have any prepositions..." I stopped myself. Clearly I need to come up with a better way of summarizing his English fluency.
Louis has a lot to say. And he uses English nouns, verbs, some pronouns, and the occasional adjective. We understand about 90 percent of what he says, and if you were to hear him, you'd probably understand at least half. Then there's his sense of humor. If he points to himself and says "Uncle Steve" or "Mama," he expects you to laugh. He knows you'll know he's kidding. And then there's his Cat in the Hat, who talks in a really cute voice Louis uses just for the Cat.
The challenge for me, as his mother, is not to brag about Louis, while also trying not to sound like we're not proud of him. We are tremendously proud. He astounds us every day just by being his sweet, curious self, a boy who thinks setting the table is only slightly more fun than getting the mail. When the only concern my mother has is that he sucks his thumb when he's walking down the stairs, I realize yet again how blessed we are. He's an absolute dream, and he has entered our lives without missing a beat.
When our agency told us to have Louis evaluated for language delay two months after he came home, the team of four people who came to our home asked me how many words he was saying. "Oh, 10 or 20," I said. "Excuse me," one of the evaluators interrupted me. "Did he just say 'airplane'?" Well...yes. But he likes airplanes, I tried to explain.
The evaluation team didn't seem interested when I told them he has a passion for vehicles, that his train vocabulary was his strength, far exceeding any interest in naming foods or other household terms. It may have helped that his father wakes him up most mornings giving a litany of train terms through Louis's bedroom door, while Louis responds in kind. I knew the evaluation was over when one of the team members turned to me and said, "When you said you brought him home in December, you meant a year ago, right?"
Not quite--but it feels as if we've known him that long!
Today, trains are just a piece of his growing vocabulary. And being around his cousins this summer only helped. Now Louis says his name and almost anything else he feels like saying. He strings together words, making two- or three-word sentences, and listing what we did today.
Louis is growing in other ways, too. We took him to the playground this weekend and watched him climb. He doesn't need nearly as much help as he used to.
Are you still wondering how much Louis has to say? Well, see for yourself. Here is a video of Louis starting to say his ABCs (which he does know, but which he humbly prefers not to share on video). The second video shows Louis singing. He adores singing.
SO cute!!! From a mommie of 5 (one of which had to learn the language at 2 years old), it sounds like he is doing GREAT!!!!
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