It's been amazing to me lately to realize how much children can understand before they can speak. It makes sense that it is easier to figure out what someone else is saying than to try to formulate the words yourself. It is the same way when learning a second language. However, it often surprises me when Simeon reacts to something I've said.
Simeon is a late talker, partly due to the fact that he is being exposed to two languages. He didn't say his first word until almost 15 months, and while we think he says a few other words, we're not certain. As a first time mother, I remember being worried that Eris hadn't said her first word by the time she was a year old. Looking back, she was also exposed to two languages living in Israel, even though we only spoke English at home. Also, as a proud mother, I expected her to start talking early. I needn't have worried; shortly after her first birthday, she said her first word, and by the time she was 18 months, I counted a vocabulary of over 100 words including full sentences. So with the learning curves of two other children behind me, I am less worried about the rate of Simeon's acquisition of words and free to enjoy watching the process.
When I tell Simeon that I need to change his diaper and go lay down on the mat, he often will. In the evenings, I tell him it's time for a shower, and he gets excited and takes my hand to pull me to the bathroom door. Sometimes he screams and arches his back when I try to put him in his highchair, but if I ask him if he wants to eat a banana or an omelet (or something else he likes), he calms down and slips into his seat. This morning, he once again surprised me. He followed me into the bathroom, leaving the screen door open. I said, "Simeon, please close the door so that bugs don't get into the house." He turn right around and reached up to close the door. I clapped for him; his favorite form of positive reinforcement.
Simeon not only reacts to what I say but also to his sisters. He really enjoys laughing, and sometimes he'll laugh at something funny before anyone else does. Now I'm not always sure he understands why he's laughing, but he realizes that a certain tone of voice means that something is funny, especially if Hollis says it. In the evenings, Eris asks if he wants to go with her to listen to Daddy's bedtime song. Inevitably, even if he's nursing, he will go to her and lift his arms up. It is so sweet to me to watch my oldest daughter wrap her arms around her little brother and carry him to Daddy. When Hollis tells Simeon he can't have something she's playing with, he gets angry. Meriel mentioning the crayons are on the table will send him climbing on the chairs to get them. And my personal favorite, hurrying out the front door and closing it behind him as I say, "Simeon stay inside please!"
Simeon is also a master at context clues. When I put clothes from the washing machine into a laundry basket, he runs to the bottom of the stairs so I won't forget to take him up to the balcony to hang laundry with me. If he notices me getting dressed to go out, he will get clothes from his cupboard and bring them for me to put on him. He used to stand by his highchair while I set food on the table for a meal, but now he is too impatient and starts to climb on the table to get it himself. My current favorite is his excited dancing and babbling when he hears the vegetable truck coming down our alley.
Someday soon, I will get to enjoy Simeon's explanations just as I smile when Hollis, dressed up in a black skirted leotard and beret, says, "Mommy, I'm a mentor. Do you know what a mentor is? Someone who looks for millipedes!" And I look forward to his thoughtful questions like, "Why do people worship idols? How can we help them to love God?" from Meriel. Eventually, he will even be able to relate such puns as Eris's favorite from Alice in Wonderland, "Do you know why lessons are called lessons? Because they lessen from day to day!... Ten hours the first day, nine hours the next, and so on." (Yes, she has Reddington blood in her; my mother's family is famous for puns.) But at this moment, I am enjoying watching Simeon understand, and communicate with smiles, sweet noises, and hugs... lots of hugs!
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