toys, sounds, and vehicles
the journal of Michael Werneburg
twenty-seven years and one million words
I've posted a couple of items in the journal about Ken's reaction to toys. But tonight it really hit home how mature he's become.
He and his mum are back in Tokyo following nearly a month in Kyushu. Yesterday, in preparation for his return, I bought a boxy wooden cow toy that's got four wheels. This toy is large enough that he can ride on it, holding onto the handle bars and kicking himself along. It's also got a handle at the back that's set low enough that small children (can't really call our Kenny a baby any more!) can push it around to help strengthen their walking.
Kenny loves it. I met them at the airport when they arrived, and was the one to set him down when we got in. He immediately walked away (before I could get his coat off) and into the living room. I caught up with him, got the coat off and showed him the toy. He immediately grasped the idea and began to push it around the room with delighted sounds. Soon he was tipping it over to dump the detachable seat plate and the small wooden blocks contained within. He's pushing it forwards and backwards, and I suppose in the coming weeks it'll help him shake off the drunken-sailor stagger.
But then I decided to try pushing him around on the thing. I sat him in the seat, and he grabbed for the handle bar. Then I started to push, and made my best "brrrrrmmmmm" engine sound. Ken responded in a way that simply amazed me. He squealed with delight and then leaned back so that he could kick his feet out of the way of the wheels. Then he started leaning into the curves. I am not kidding -- this kid is not quite a year old and has already grasped how to stay in the saddle! I picked up the pace, and soon we were veering around furniture and according to Mari he had an insane grin of delight on his face the entire time.
When we'd run into something I'd usually stop and make a beeping sound while I backed up and turned the thing around. He quickly got the gist of this and would look over his shoulder whenever I would make the beeping sound -- before I had even started to back up.
Then there were those other stops. The stops where I'd charge into something soft -- like a folded up futon -- and dump him over face first. He'd whap into the object, scramble off the uprighted car, and come up grinning like a lunatic.
I admit I was not being overly cautious in these crash landings, but he seemed to love it and didn't break any bones. After the last of these (for today son, only for today) I sat panting for breath and let him right the toy himself. Then I placed the seat-plate on it and sat up behind the thing. I grabbed the push-handle and made a "vrrrrmmm! vrrrrmmm!" sound. He looked at the car then at me. So I tapped the seat and made the "vrrrrmmm" sound.
So he tapped the seat and made the same sound. With surprising fidelity.
I gaped at him. I tried it again. He wobbled to his feet and did it again. I'd heard the reports that he knows the English word for "nose" and "mouth" (his Obaa-san had done some experiments with a bronze statue in which he correctly pointed to the right features) because I've been pointing at his features ever since he was born and making a consistent set of sounds ("mouth" being a resonant hollow sound, "nose" being a nasal one, and "ear" being almost the kind of sound you get when you wobble a ruler that's partially pressed against a table -- like "ear-r-r-r"). But for him to immediately mimic a new action and sound together with clear understanding!
I guess it's time I started seriously reading to the kid. A happy coincidence given that I'm leaving full time employment. Yes, it's all falling in place nicely.