Yeah.

Matt told me I was complaining too much, specifically in my blog posts. Sorry about that--not intentional. (but I still think that the poop bags make a good story.)

So here is a piece of awesomeness. Some of you might know that, while Theo has been talking for quite some time, he can be difficult to understand. He generally speaks in the second person when he means first person, and third person or first person when he means second person. Also, in his year-plus of speaking he has never used the word "yes" or nodded his head. He has never answered in the affirmative--never. He'll say "no" if the answer is no, but any time the answer is yes, he repeats the question. E.g.:

Matt: "Theo, do you want some breakfast?"

Theo: "Do you want some breakfast?"

It was confusing for babysitters and frustrating and worrisome to me. Not hearing an answer to your questions, over and over, is discouraging. There's a connection missing. Then all of a sudden, just about the time we moved, he started answering, "Yeah." At first he used it incorrectly (that is to say that he answered "Yeah" when the answer was really "No"). But then all of a sudden within the past week he started saying "Yeah" and really meaning it. Like suddenly it clicked for him. It sounds silly, but it is so amazing to ask him a question and hear the real answer. I was beginning to wonder if I would ever hear the word "Yeah" pass his lips.

He is also starting--oh so carefully--to combine a lot more words on his own. My little heart skips a beat every time I hear his husky, halting voice come up with a new sentence he's never said before. Add that to his new, cowlicky short haircut (not pictured), which I LOVE, and I have a grown-up boy on my hands.

He still mixes up first, second, and third person and has difficulty answering more complex questions, but you have no idea how much I love hearing him say "Yeah." I am so very grateful for this, today.