Growing Up On Mars

OK, the strangest thing is happening. Wes is growing up. It seems like just a very few months ago that he was in the NICU at the hospital, a minuscule 2-pound miracle that we all prayed over until he came home with a little monitor we had to keep plugged in when we were baby-sitting to make sure he was still breathing. And didn't our hearts stop when it started beeping, even though it was always a loose connection or a momentary lapse. Now he's almost two and he is turning into a real person. He is talking. OK, some babbling like he's from Mars, but now and then we actually get something understandable. His parents get a lot more understandable stuff but, at our house, it has to be Earth language for us to get it.

The other day I took him to the grocery and, while we were there, I got him a box of animal crackers. He was working on them in the car seat on the way home and, all of a sudden, I heard a little voice piping "My milk? My milk? My milk?" The boy wanted milk with his cookies and he was telling me.

Then, we were looking through kid's books at Goodwill and I idly held one out to him. "Do you want the duck book?" I didn't really expect an answer. I often talk to him and don't really expect an intelligible answer. But he leaned forward, looked carefully at the duck book, looked up at me and said "No." Then he proceeded to keep looking through the other books.

I fixed dinner for him and began making macaroni and cheese. "Macaroni and cheese" I crowed to him, because I know he likes macaroni and cheese. He grinned at me and did a little dance, singing very clearly "Cheese! Cheese! Cheese!"

And, of course, it goes without saying that he can clearly say "Read book? Read book? Read book?"

Did you really expect any less from the grandson of a librarian?


He was reading with Tom the other day and we got a whole, entire, understandable sentence out of him. It was very strange. Good. But strange.


We are looking forward to a whole new era.