Communication
When Robin makes his funny little baby noises, the natural tendency of any adult in the room is to make them right back at him. He finds this interesting, and amusing, and the game can be kept up indefinitely.
Today he was blowing raspberries, and I was imitating him, and then something changed—he would make a noise, and wait, never breaking eye contact, for me to make it back to him. There was an intent and an understanding that I haven’t seen in previous iterations of this game. He wasn’t just being amused by adults making funny noises. He understood that I was doing the same thing he was, that we were taking turns doing it, and that something was being communicated thereby. The noise was meaningful. It meant “I see you, I recognize you, I acknowledge you.”
Thbbbbt! “I see you, Mommy!”
Thbbbt! “I see you, Robin!”
Thhhbbbbt! “Yes! You see me!”
Thbbt! “That’s right! I sure do!”
It was a really exciting moment! He doesn’t know a single word, but I feel certain that we’ve had our first conversation.
February 26th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
Oh god that’s cute.
Tell him that Auntie Nina says thhhbbbbt!
February 27th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
I remember a moment just like this with Ibby–with her, it was a tongue-clucking conversation. So exciting! I like babies and all, but I like them SO much better when they can talk to me!