Friday, February 08, 2008

"Nose"

Ethan's been pointing at noses (his, yours, the cat's) for months. He is a huge fan of noses. But he hasn't actually said "nose" until today. He apparently preferred the way "ear" (which sounds like "eee-awr", ohdeargod, someone stop me from just eating him up) and "eye" rolled off the tongue and was content to just poke at noses rather than expressing his adoration verbally.

This afternoon as I was lying down with him at the beginning of his nap, he took his usual inventory of Mama's face. Eyes, eeee-awrs, hair, mouth, teeth, etc. When he got to nose, he did his usual little tap and smile and I said, "yeah, that's Mama's nose." His response (through the paci, of course)? "Nose," in his sweet little voice.

I need to have a video camera permanently installed somewhere on my body so I can capture these moments, but I would have a hard time finding one that matched all my outfits, so it's probably not going to happen. I think all parents have a favorite word that their child says, and they are usually the most mundane words. I remember reading Dooce's blog when her daughter was pronouncing the word lotion as "showshun". Husband and I listened to that sound clip over and over again, giggling under our breaths (we had a newborn preemie sleeping in between us at the time) and wondering what words would come out of Ethan's mouth some day and, for some unexplicable reason, above and beyond the others, just melt our hearts.

I guess "nose" is one of those words for me. He says it perfectly, so it's not as though the charm is in a mispronunciation (that would be "alligator", which sounds like "al-ga-er", and of course, "eeee-awr"). It's just that he seems to own it. He's been silently admiring noses for so long, it's as though he couldn't quite express his delight at their existence on our faces until today. And I was there when he first decided to declare his glee aloud.

Although, I was also there tonight when he decided to say the word, "ass" several times, all a-giggle, after I happened to let it slip. Good mommy.

6 comments:

Sarah said...

Awww-- "admiring noses" is really funny, as is the idea that your camera needs to match! So adorable to hear their little voices, huh?

Right now, my favorite word is shampoo, which is pronounced "hampapoo," and cracks me up.

I totally watched that clip on dooce-- I don;t even thin Harry was born yet!

Becca said...

So cute! This talking thing is a trip, isn't it?

My favorite word of Charlie's is na-NAN-uh (banana). I love the hopeful way he says it after each nap and before each meal and I even love the way he sobs it into his highchair tray when he runs out of little banana pieces.

Unknown said...

Oh yes, the days of "Fra Fri" and "Crawbears" is long gone, except when their mouths are full. The days of "Zat" as in "Wha's Zat?" are coming soon. (translations: French Fries and Strawberries, and the the obvious "That"). Cheers - Jim

Anonymous said...

And isn't it wonderful how quickly they pick up the words that you DON'T want them to say? Sometimes once is enough!

Amy said...

At least he wasn't using an adjective with "ass" -- like sweet or big. Haha.

My favorite Jack word right now is "bye" which he just says in the cutest little voice that makes me melt every time. Oh that and same goes for "night night."

Here's to many weeks of hearing nose in your house!

Becci said...

Yes, Dorothy admires noses, too. And half the time when she's pointing at it, she sticks her finger right up there! She also says coffee (my girl), but it's more like... "kawkeee???"