Talk, talk, talk

In the past week, Logan has suddenly started adding mimickry to his communication methods.

For a long while now, he's had various sounds that he would use fairly consistently for the same things, although the sounds really sounded very close (for example, he still uses "gah" to indicate a lot of things, although not all of the "gah" sounds are exactly alike. I can usually hear the difference between the "gah" for bath and the "gah" for cat.)

When he hears a truck outside, he immediately stops what he's doing, cries, "Uck!" and runs over for you to pick him up. The expectation is that you will immediately stop what YOU are doing and take him outside to view said truck. He does the same thing for planes that he hears, although that's indicated with a finger jabbed at the sky and his multi-purpose "gah" sound.

He has various sounds that consistently indicate cup, milk, ceiling fan (somehow this is a "baba".) He also will start saying "gagagagaga" when Ripley starts on one of her barking sprees, which we think is his repeating what my mom says to Ripley when she's doing her crazy-dog thing, which is a very dry, sarcastic, "Good Ripley. Good dog.")

He also makes a dog's begging noise to indicate his Doggies board board (because it is a counting and barking book, so you make different barks and growls for each dog.)

The mimickry, though, is new. It started last week when we were sitting in the play room, and Jedi let out one of his emo-meows. Logan immediately meowed himself. Since then, when Jedi meows, and sometimes just when he sees Jedi, Logan lets out a loud meow.

He's also started finishing songs. Mike has a repetoire of songs that he sings, mostly adjusting the lyrics to suit the situation ("Since Pete's been gone, I can feel for the first time...") He does one for Logan based on Led Zepplin's "Whole Lotta Love." A few days ago, Mike would sing the first part of the song, and Logan will finish it (not with words, but with a perfectly-toned drawn-out "gah!" that mimicks the guitar-slide after the "I gotta whole lotta love" lyric.)

It's really fun and amazing to see this key turned so suddenly in the lock. He's taken a dramatic leap in just the past week with his communication skills. It won't be too long before he'll be jabbering up a storm with words, then sentences, then endless questions, then insufferable teenage angst/attitude, then normal adult conversation.

It's inevitable.