First Words

Draevin, is now 14 months old. I love hearing him develop his language skills and it fills me with wonder and delight to hear the words he picks up and says. The current list is:
BA (ball)
Ba-Ba (bottle)
Ckee (cheese)
Joo (juice)
Mama (not always to his mommy, but he's getting there)
Dada (same as above)
I (hi)
Ot (hot)
Bye
He knows the sign for "more" and uses that often when he's eating. He knows the sign for milk and has used that occasionally, as well. He also has a distinct language of some sort with repeated syllables and melodic phrases. What's even more remarkable to me is that, although he has a seemingly small vocabulary, he understands exactly what we say to him and mostly does what we ask.
"Bring that to Grammy."
"Go get the ball."
"Put that back in the drawer."
Simple things mean so much. First speech is a miracle.

Communication

The words we use to communicate have power. My goal is to communicate with loving kindness. Yet, being human, I lose my patience, I get grumpy or moody, and I have times when I lash out. I'm not proud of this, but I've learned to accept myself and to keep working toward more conscious communication. Going slow enough to respond rather than react is key. Grownups also need "time-outs." And how powerful would it be if, when I feel short-tempered with my husband, I simply said, "I need a time out." I could take my angry inner child away to settle down before opening my mouth and saying something I will feel sorry for. A few deep breaths or a short walk would probably do it. This feels so much better than a regretful apology to the one I love.