Hamilton's vocabulary continues to expand, and he's much more eager to try to repeat words that I say. He's also putting more of his words together into phrases, even without prompting. Sunday Hamilton and I drove separately to church from Mr. Morgan, and as we pulled into our parking space beside Mr. Morgan's Explorer, Hamilton said, "Dada truh." I'm not sure that Hamilton actually recognized the vehicle because he's since said that phrase for some general trucks that don't look anything like our Explorer. But maybe he did recognize the Explorer and realize that he could describe it with two of his known words.
He's also begun putting together other known words like "nih, nih, Mama," and "bye-bye, Dada." He now calls the dogs by their names: "Faa-e" and "Fee." He's copied my hand gestures for when I fuss at the dogs, and he likes to say, "gii," as he seriously waves his hand. I guess the phrase he's heard me say to the dogs the most is "Get out of the kitchen!" Another gesture that I suppose Hamilton picked up from watching us is throwing his hands and arms out to his side as if to say, "Where is it?" He does this gesture whenever we're looking for something or if he doesn't know where something is.
I've started concentrating on getting Hamilton to help clean up his toys, which requires patience and energy on my part that I sometimes don't have. In the last few days he's shown me my labor has not been in vain. He's capable now of putting away his favorite puzzle after he plays with it--with little assistance or cajoling from me. Since he unpacks this puzzle half a dozen times a day, I'm thankful for this newly acquired skill.
Hamilton's latest sign is "hurt." Mr. Morgan taught him the word "boo-boo" to go with the sign, and Hamilton's good at pointing to scrapes and scratches while using his new word. If he cries like he's hurting, then I'll ask him what hurts (using the sign), and he's begun knowing what I mean.
Great pictures Gray! I loved the update!
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