My son is starting to speak. He is starting to point and ask for things. He is telling us what he wants. It was exciting and precious with our first child, but with our third - and last - it feels sad.
Why can't he just look at us and smile? Or cry? Why can't he just wander around the house and pick things up and move them from place to place, without narrating the process? I want to have to guess his needs and what's going on with him. I don't want him to tell me. Because, if he tells me, I'll know. And that will be that.
Why can't he just moan abstractly, and whine? Why can't he just stare? Must he vocalize with logical inflection to indicate whether he's telling or asking? Why doesn't he just fling things in frustration? Why does he have to try to say our names? Isn't it enough for him to just have his basic needs fulfilled? Must he express himself to the closest shade of meaning he can manage? Why?
I know why. He's like me. He wants to tell me stuff. He wants to ask me. He needs to communicate.
Now he's like me. So, tell me - What do I do now?
