Judah and Applesauce

My little man is amazing me with his increasing vocabulary. I can't imagine just learning a language [Amharic in his case] and all of a sudden being dropped into a completely new language with 2 "white" people [of course, Brian's brown, but that doesn't matter to him]. He's become a pro at parroting words. He's not communicating more than 1-2 words at a time, but he's definitely learning to communicate and understanding significantly more. The other day I asked Judah, "Can you get Addise's water and bring it to her?" HE DID! Obedient and super smart.

His tantrums have also dramatically lessened now that he can communicate better - for obvious reasons! With the help of baby sign language and his ever-growing-vocabulary, he's just a much happier kid. He gets SOOOO proud of himself when he learns a new word. Yesterday he said "veggie straws" and giggled with immense pride, especially when I called his Daddy in to hear him share his new triumph.

Our social worker sobered us with the reality that it will probably take 4-6 months total [we've had him 2.5 months] for Judah to catch up to a "normal" 2 1/2 year old's language ability. **Experts calculate 1-2 months for the child's age. Judah was 2 1/2 years old when we got him. That's discouraging, but WOW what a long way we've come the past few months.

Enjoy the 47 seconds of pure adorableness...he's really good at saying the letter "p". The video's ending is quintessential of a 2 1/2 year old's willingness to cooperate with a crazy momma.