Fools Rush In
Children are amazing creatures. Abbie went 22 full months without saying a word, but the floodgates finally opened. She said her first word tonight, her first honest to goodness, unprompted word. It happened while we were watching the Final Four game tonight, specifically George Mason versus Florida. It’s good to know that those countless hours I spent watching sports over the past two years instead of playing with Abbie didn’t go to waste.
If you saw the game, then you know Florida hit a lot of three-pointer shots, 12 of them to be exact. Once Florida pulled away in the second half, I started paying more attention to Abbie, and tried drawing her into the game. Every time someone, usually Florida, hit a three, I would throw my arms in the air and yell “three!” The first couple times I did this, Abbie just smiled at me. Eventually she joined in, throwing her arms in the air and shouting “eee!”
“Eee” doesn’t count as a word. She’s been able to say word fragments like that for months now, like “muh” for “more,” or “buh” for “book.” Plus she only said it to copy me. I want her to speak spontaneously, without repeating what I just said, so that she may one day come up to me and say “fish” when she wants Goldfish instead of me just going for the bag every time she whines.
After a few more call and response sessions, she added a “th” sound to utter “theee.” That counts as a word. I gave her the biggest celebration she’s ever seen, dwarfing her first birthday party with expenses well into three-figures. We laughed, we kissed, and we yelled “theee” some more. Abbie laughed, and turned back to the TV, this time constantly yelling “theee.” I corrected her, saying that we only yell “three” when somebody makes a three-pointer. I felt a little silly correcting her when she’s obviously too young to tell when someone hits a three, but she seemed to understand, waiting until someone shot to yell “theee.” Of course she shouted it on every shot, three-pointers, two-pointers, and free throws whether they were good or not. I corrected her again, explaining that we only yell when somebody makes a shot from behind that line. She laughed again, and I thought I’d be hearing “theee” for the rest of the night.
Amazingly, she turned to watch the game, and waited until someone hit a three to yell. I thought it was a coincidence, but she waited until the next made three to yell again. Then she started calling shots, yelling “theee” while a good three-pointer was in the air, but staying silent when a missed three-pointer was in the air. This had to be a fluke, that a shiny object caught her attention during the bad three-pointer shots, but she proved me wrong on one of Florida’s last possessions. They had about a two-minute possession near the end of the game where they kept missing shots, but grabbing the offensive rebound. Abbie intently watched the entire possession in silence, not once turning to watch a pet bound through the living room or even my dangling wedding ring. As soon as Florida took the three-point shot that ended the possession though, her hands were in the air and she was yelling “theee!”
I could only sit astonished. I asked if she liked the Gators, and she smiled while snapping her hands in the alligator sign. I figured I’d push my luck and asked if she thought the next winner would be the Tigers, or the Bruins. I knew she couldn’t say either of these, but she scratched her hands across her chest to make the bear sign. She had to go to bed before the game tipped off, so I figured I’d get her pick for the final right then and there. I asked if she thought the national champion would be the Gators (snap snap) or the Bruins (scratch scratch). She scratched her chest for the Bruins. Since she was right on the semi-final game, we’ll have to watch the final game together, even if it does go past her bedtime. I hope it has a lot of made three-pointers.
If you saw the game, then you know Florida hit a lot of three-pointer shots, 12 of them to be exact. Once Florida pulled away in the second half, I started paying more attention to Abbie, and tried drawing her into the game. Every time someone, usually Florida, hit a three, I would throw my arms in the air and yell “three!” The first couple times I did this, Abbie just smiled at me. Eventually she joined in, throwing her arms in the air and shouting “eee!”
“Eee” doesn’t count as a word. She’s been able to say word fragments like that for months now, like “muh” for “more,” or “buh” for “book.” Plus she only said it to copy me. I want her to speak spontaneously, without repeating what I just said, so that she may one day come up to me and say “fish” when she wants Goldfish instead of me just going for the bag every time she whines.
After a few more call and response sessions, she added a “th” sound to utter “theee.” That counts as a word. I gave her the biggest celebration she’s ever seen, dwarfing her first birthday party with expenses well into three-figures. We laughed, we kissed, and we yelled “theee” some more. Abbie laughed, and turned back to the TV, this time constantly yelling “theee.” I corrected her, saying that we only yell “three” when somebody makes a three-pointer. I felt a little silly correcting her when she’s obviously too young to tell when someone hits a three, but she seemed to understand, waiting until someone shot to yell “theee.” Of course she shouted it on every shot, three-pointers, two-pointers, and free throws whether they were good or not. I corrected her again, explaining that we only yell when somebody makes a shot from behind that line. She laughed again, and I thought I’d be hearing “theee” for the rest of the night.
Amazingly, she turned to watch the game, and waited until someone hit a three to yell. I thought it was a coincidence, but she waited until the next made three to yell again. Then she started calling shots, yelling “theee” while a good three-pointer was in the air, but staying silent when a missed three-pointer was in the air. This had to be a fluke, that a shiny object caught her attention during the bad three-pointer shots, but she proved me wrong on one of Florida’s last possessions. They had about a two-minute possession near the end of the game where they kept missing shots, but grabbing the offensive rebound. Abbie intently watched the entire possession in silence, not once turning to watch a pet bound through the living room or even my dangling wedding ring. As soon as Florida took the three-point shot that ended the possession though, her hands were in the air and she was yelling “theee!”
I could only sit astonished. I asked if she liked the Gators, and she smiled while snapping her hands in the alligator sign. I figured I’d push my luck and asked if she thought the next winner would be the Tigers, or the Bruins. I knew she couldn’t say either of these, but she scratched her hands across her chest to make the bear sign. She had to go to bed before the game tipped off, so I figured I’d get her pick for the final right then and there. I asked if she thought the national champion would be the Gators (snap snap) or the Bruins (scratch scratch). She scratched her chest for the Bruins. Since she was right on the semi-final game, we’ll have to watch the final game together, even if it does go past her bedtime. I hope it has a lot of made three-pointers.
posted by Matt at
10:09 PM
1 Comments:
Just to clarify this post. This is an April Fools day joke. Abbie did not say or do anything in this post. In fact she was with me in Sioux City this weekend. So, now that everyone is so excited for her, it was all a horrible lie. Those responsible for the typing of the post have been sacked.
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Anonymous, at 8:54 AM
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