Jonah's been making requests for a long time. They started off as a set of urgent "mmm's" that over time transformed into one word pleas like "vo" for voda or water, "bread", "apple", "up", "down", and more recently "shy," his toddler pronunciation of "outside." The latter is more advanced because it's more of an abstract concept. When he first started to ask me to take him outside, I didn't understand him. To make sure I got the point, he went to the door and tapped his palm on in a few times, repeating "shy, shy, shy" with an upward inflection and a sense of urgency. "Oh, go outside. You want to go outside." I got it. That was just a few days ago.
Today Jonah took my breath away. We were lying in bed, just resting since Jonah's been sick with a nasty case of a cold - fever and all. Out of nowhere he said, "I" the first syllable of the name of one of his two best friends Ira.
I was confused, thinking that maybe he was saying "eye", but then again he doesn't know that word, so I let him repeat himself a few times. "Ira?" I finally asked him. Sure enough, his face lit up. "I, I.." he kept repeating. Then he got up off the bed, started for the door and said: "baby." I asked him if he wanted to see Ira. Jonah repeated Ira's name. I said, "Oh, you want to go play with Ira." Jonah repeated, "play."
Next, he gave me a quizzical look and said "car" almost as if it were a question. Just to make sure I understood his point he brought me his shoes, saying the word in Czech then in English. Finally, he said "call" and "phone." I couldn't believe it. He just spoke in a toddler-style paragraph. Unprecendented in Jonah's life. I felt terrible, because I had planned to go to 'indoor park' with Ira and his mom, but Jonah was (and still is) sick, so we had to cancel our plans and stay home. It broke my heart to not be able to take Jonah to see his friend, especially after such an amazing first oratory!
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Wow! That's so cool! And amazing! There he was, lying around with you, when suddenly he was thinking about playing with Ira, which he knew he was scheduled to do! I love it. Then he proceeds to use all the words he knows, in all the languages he knows, to tell you what the heck he's thinking. Ira-play-car-phone-call! Come on, Mom. Let's go get in the car and go play with Ira. No? Well, then at least call him on the phone! His thoughts and intentions are fully formed. The only obstacle is language, but he seems to be tackling that like a pro. This one stops at nothing. He's very determined to be understood as soon as possible. I knew I liked him.
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