“Austinese” … and Fun With Language

The sun shone on a picture perfect fall day in Washington D.C. last Sunday morning as Jessica and I walked with Austin down the sidewalk alongside the Mall.  Hayden and his Dad were way ahead of us deep in a father and son conversation. The Mall sidewalks are wide and the city blocks, that parallel the National Gallery of Art, the Natural History Museum and the American History Museum, are very long.  Austin, at nearly 20 months wants nothing to do with riding in his comfy stroller,  preferring to walk between us.  His little footsteps skip along, probably three to one of our strides, and he is content even if he is seeing the world at knee height.   Suddenly he cries out “bydible” which in “Austinese” translates to bicycle.  Sure enough, two cyclists pass us.  But then he adds “two bydibles” and Jessica and I look at each other in amazement.  Did he really just say two bicycles?  “He’s a genius,” we exclaim, and to Austin we cheer, “Bravo, Austin” in encouragement. 

            Austin’s latest phase is absorbing, parroting, and practicing new words he hears all around him.  This goes along with imitating anything he sees us doing such as walking, wanting to hang on to Jeter’s leash and walk him like his Dada does, and signaling with his hands in his own yes and no gestures. He loves “”riding the bydible” which means he rides in the seat behind Jessica on her bike wearing his large kids’ helmet.  He is just plain having fun learning to express in words and gestures, all he sees around him..  If I asked him “where is Jeter?” he would look around and not seeing the dog would simply put out both little arms, turn his palms up, and shrug his shoulders in the classic body language of “I don’t know”.  His Mama does that all the time and he has learned it well.  When he does something well his Mama and Dada instantly reward him with “Bravo, Austy!”.  And so on Sunday afternoon when we were in the back yard playing while Hayden washed the car, Austin looked up and simply said “Bravo, Dada!”  I suppose he heard one of us and was complimenting his Dad on this chore.

            Our long weekend with Austin began with a trip to the National Zoo, which we walked to from Mary Rojas house.  Not quite sure how he would react to the crowds, the big exhibits , and the distances, we needn’t have worried.  Austin was engaged instantly.  We went to watch the sea lions as they were swimming vigorously and entertaining a group of youngsters.  As they swam quickly by in a huge aquarium Austin ran up and down roaring out loud.  After all, he had heard us say lions. Lions do roar even if sea lions don’t.  It was very cute and he didn’t tire of trying to catch them through the glass…and make a big roaring sound.  There were no tears at the petting zoo and close ups of the Moo cows, the Baa sheep. the Cocka-Doodle -Doo rooster.   He took it all in, in the serious way he has of studying the world. He is cautious but not timid and yet he isn’t aggressive either.  Jess describes him as the “perfect mini Hayden” and in many ways he is.  His clear blue eyes and serious expression seems to be his way of taking in something new as if he’s studying it  deeply first.   We saw elephants at the zoo and Austin raised and lowered his arm as if it were an elephant’s trunk because that is what elephants do.  I’ve seen his Mama teach him that and he does it very seriously before he breaks out in a grin of delight.

            At home we gave him with a new board book we brought called “What Do You See?” and he went right to Art to have him read it.  That was the first of maybe 30 times he asked to have that book read over the weekend until he had the words for “turtle”, “tiger”, “parrot”, and even “ladybug” memorized.  “B’s” and “t’s” are easier letters to pronounce than “l’s” and others but it doesn’t stop him from trying. And he wanted Pa-pop to read it, which is his word for Grandpa…started by Fred Huber his other grandpa. “Kick it? “ became his way of announcing “let’s play ball” He has a very coordinated soccer kick whether he’s maneuvering a balloon or a  small soccer ball.  “Bye de ball” means he wants to shoot baskets and he can do it outdoors with his pint sized basketball hoop just as he has watched his Dada do.  He can swing a tennis racket with some confidence and has his own now.  Hayden has given him several tennis lessons and he loves swinging at the ball.  Of course, we all think he’s a natural at all these sports!  Sometimes Jess despairingly says “we are raising a “dumb” jock!”  I tell her, " I used to say the the same about Hayden and that didn’t happen."

            We kicked balls and ran around on Saturday morning at the Arboretum while Austin would stop every now and then to kneel down and smell a flower as he’s watched his Mama do.  He does it very gently, sniffs and then grins.  He loves being outdoors and luckily has a small back yard to run around in with his own plastic slide and balls of all shapes and sizes.  He is a big helper and while Hayden washed the car he handed Austin a sponge and showed him how to scrub away.  He loves to help fill and empty the dishwasher in his own way, or take the Swiffer and move it around the hardwood floors downstairs as he’s seen his parents do.

            “La Macarena” is his favorite dancing song and Jess will put on the CD and he goes to it “shaking it up” big time.  He loves music, clapping to his own beat, grinning from ear to ear with the joy of it all. When we all get up and move to the beat with him it’s even more fun.  Tickles bring giggles as does the game of “Peek a Boo” which he will play forever.  I just like hearing him laugh out loud in sheer delight.    Sometimes he breaks out in a conversational tone with words that makes no sense and his Mama will quickly retort “Oh, yeah…I didn’t know that…” or some such thing.

            There is nothing more joyful than Austin who wakes up in the morning with a smile eager to embrace his world.  He absorbs everything around him faster than you realize and parrots it all back.  He is a calm, happy, and contented child with two parents who simply have fun being around him as we did.  Of course, we kept exclaiming “he’s a genius” and to us he is.  Isn’t that what grandparents are supposed to think and to say?

            I carry Austin’s words and voice around in my head now that I’m home.  I see him looking up at me with love or grinning when something has delighted him. I remember his little legs running down the sidewalk and my holding my breath hoping he won’t trip and fall.  So much of being a child is the not knowing what could happen if you did trip and the security that comes from being embraced by loving parents as Austin is.  I am already looking forward to my next visit and I’ve only been home a few days!