Speaking "Austinese"

             “Nana….nana..” were the first words out of Austin’s mouth each morning he came downstairs to greet us.  No, he was not asking for his grandmother but for a banana.  I’d reach for one as he headed to his booster high chair.  I would peel it and break it in pieces and he would devour it like a little monkey.  Austin is “into” eating bananas and starts his day with one each morning seemingly famished after an 11 - hour uninterrupted sleep.

            At 16 months Austin is surprisingly verbal and by the end of his week’s visit to Asheville I was well versed in speaking and understanding “Austinese”.   “I dat…I dat”, I learned was “I want that” as he pointed to what he was after all the time.  “Jeter”, the dog’s name has become his word for all dogs and as far as we could tell for most animals.  Having Jeter, their Ugandan bush dog, visiting us as well, made Austin feel right at home.  “Jeter?  Jeter?” he would ask all day long and we would reassure him that Jeter was either outdoors or under the dining room table.  “Jeter, bad boy!” is in his vocabulary as he imitates his parents when Jeter gets into something he shouldn’t.  Then we would try and teach him “Jeter, good boy” but somehow it didn’t have the same satisfying “b” sound that he seems to gravitate to.   “B” words like “ball” and “bad boy” come out of his mouth so clearly and easily. 

            In between recognizable words and asking for things, there is his chatter that sounds like real conversation but, of course, makes no sense.  I love the way his mother simply answers with a matter of fact, “Oh, is that so?” as if she’s understood every word.  He has all the correct intonation but recognizable words are not yet there.  He loves to play the game of handing you things whether it’s a piece of food or a puzzle piece because he wants to share. We always respond “thank you”…then hand it back.  This can go on for a while.  One day Austin handed me a puzzle piece from the wooden puzzle I borrowed from the library for him.  When I gave it back, as the game goes, he suddenly just came out with “thank you” in clearly enunciated English!  We were astonished.   You never know when he will simply come out with the right word and that’s what makes him so much fun. Expecting the unexpected.

            “Car…car”, Austin would cry as we headed out the door and he would point to his parent’s red Mini or our SUV parked in the driveway.  He has a fascination for sitting in the driver’s seat of the car, fiddling with the controls and pretending to drive.  Is this a “little boy” gene, I wondered?  We would try and distract him by holding our hands up and saying “ sorry, no key”.  But Austin caught on in a flash and “car” was followed by “key” and he quickly understood that we must get the key.  So his cry became “key…key!” Then he would insist until someone produced a car key and he would have his time in the car.

            “Bubbles?” was another request and of course, another “b” word.  I had bought a large bottle of bubble liquid that was on the front porch the week he was here.  He would all of a sudden remember and would say  -“bubbles?” and we would head out the door to sit on the front step.  I would dip the stick in the liquid and Austin would blow out the bubbles and then chase them.    He liked doing it himself and when he concentrates his brow furrows and he really pays attention.  He loves learning new things and often has a look of great concentration and seriousness and yet other times, when playing “peek-a-boo” with him he breaks out in a very wide grin and giggles loudly.

            One of the joys of grandparenthood is watching my adult son interacting with his child.  I loved watching Hayden kick the ball back and forth with Austin on the lawn and even throw the soft small rubber football back and forth using all the real moves as if in a game.  Austin moves with great agility and has obviously inherited both his parents’ sports coordination…the “soccer kick” especially.  Hayden took Austin to the tennis court for his first tennis lesson and held the racket for him as they practiced hitting a ball.  Austin looked delighted, as did his Dad who was always a sports fanatic as a child and a passionate tennis player.

            “Dada” and “Mama” are definitely in his vocabulary but we’ll have to wait for the grandma and grandpa words when he’s a bit older or perhaps the next visit.  “Bye, bye” is there but another easy “b” word.  The most fun is that he understands what’s going on around him although he may not always comply with what you want him to do

            A week with my 16-month old grandson was a joy and unsurpassed by anything else in my life.  I miss his words and language and giggle now that he’s gone home.   But I try and imagine all the new words he will have when I see him again and I can’t wait.