Quick—a toddlerspeak quiz. What is the translation for these Haydenisms?
Baido
Teee
Aaahhh
Nanee
Sss
Nai nai
Nai
Nanoo, nanool or nanle
Toottie (’oo’ as in book)
They always say that a child’s vocabulary starts to grow exponentially very suddenly. I was a little skeptical for Hayden, mostly because he hasn’t been terribly interested in talking!
Then again, I’m not sure that my perception of the situation is at least partially due to my own inability to recognize his “words” for a long time. Perhaps it’s not just that he’s finally making an effort to use his words. Maybe it’s just that I’m learning to listen better.
Answers:
Bye (possibly baido:bye::hello (haido):hi, or possibly bye-bye)
Cheese
Yes (yeahhh)
Candy
Shoes (or peeing)
Night night—which he has started saying spontaneously, and even started trying to wrap me in blankets for night night!
The other day, I got a comment that really touched my heart, though not in a way you might expect. It was left on my post about being grateful for Hayden. Here’s the beginning of that comment:
I think you are very hard on yourself Jordan.
And oh, is it true. I’m sure people have told me this before, but for some reason, this time I heard it. And I hadn’t been particularly hard on myself that day or anything. (Being particularly hard on myself is a day when I feel as though I have to apologize to Hayden, saying I’m sorry that he doesn’t have a better mother.)
But I was very happy to hear that someone else thought I was being hard on myself. Because you know what that means? It means I’m apparently doing better than I thought!
The comment continues:
Honestly from what you have written, I see a very grateful Mummy, who loves her son very very much and wants the best for him.
The major road that runs by my house is undergoing major construction. Has been for months, will be for at least another year (that’s the DOT estimate, so we should probably double it).
It is horrendous to drive. One week, all four lanes of traffic are stuffed into an area that will eventually house three lanes, the next week, they’re all on the other side of the road. There are more orange and white cones out there than I’ve seen Sego Lilies (the Utah State Flower) in my whole life. The cones courteously denote massive lane shifts, but as yet can’t help me when my traffic light is on the other side of the road—OHMYGOODNESSIT’SREDHITTHEBRAKES!!!!
However, I know that one day, probably many years from now, possibly after we move away from here, this road will be very nice. Although sometimes I lament that at the rate they’re going, by the time they finish it’ll be time to resurface it, I’m hoping that for at least a few months, we’ll be able to enjoy a wider, smoother and less congested road.
But until then, I’m going to be whining and complaining about the mess and the noise and the daily brushes with death.
And yesterday it hit me—this is pretty much the story of my life. I spend so much time obsessing over, worrying about and complaining about the stuff I don’t want to deal with today. Meanwhile, I keep looking (and hoping) for a smoother road ahead.
