What's in a Name?

This is our usual conversation on the way to my parents' in the morning:

EAMON: :::weird fish noise:::?

ME: Yes, we're going to see Grandpa.

EAMON: Nini?

ME: Yes, we're going to see Grandma.

EAMON: Deedore?

ME: No, no dinosaurs. You know you can't watch dinosaurs until after your second nap.

EAMON: Deedore aw gone?

ME: Yup, dinosaurs all gone.

EAMON: Aw gone?

ME: Yup.

EAMON: (thinks) More?

ME: No, no more until after your second nap.

EAMON: (pauses) :::weird fish noise:::?



And on it goes. It's not the most intellectual of conversations, mind you, but it fills the drive.

The most interesting part of the conversation is that I know that he's thinking more than that. And while he adds more and more words every day, and is communicating so much better since he had the frenulum surgery, I know that his brain is still developing faster than his mouth will allow.

I know this because not only does the child know all 26 letters and most of their sounds, and not only can he identify all numbers through 10, but today from the backseat, my parents heard this monologue:

EAMON: E (clap) A (clap) M (clap) O (clap) N (clap)

The funniest part of this? If you ask Eamon his name, he'll just smile at you. He can't say "Eamon." It comes out like "Eeeem," and he doesn't approve of this mispronunciation (which is kind of hypocritical, since he still calls my father this weird fish noise, but whatever).



Now, he's not reliable with the spelling yet. He did it in order that one time, but tried it again a couple of times afterwards and either left out letters or got the order mixed up. And though on the car ride home from my parents' today, he was reliably singing "M (clap) O (clap) N (clap)" in the right order...but my point is that it's not like he's ready to write any sonnets anytime soon.

Nevertheless, I cannot help but wonder if one day, a stranger will ask his name, and instead of "Eamon," we'll get the "E-A-M-O-N" as a response. It will make for some very interesting conversations if he decides to just spell everything to get around the speech issues.

Until then, though, let me reiterate, Eamon: The deedores are still aw gone. Sorry.