Who taught him to talk?

Austin is our last child, so each phase he passes through is accompanied by dual emotions. "Oh look, he's rolling over" versus "Oh man, he's already rolling over." "He's getting so big, he's into 6 month old clothes now" versus "Oh no! This is the last box of baby clothes we'll ever have!" Most of you know how that goes.

Austin's been talking for quite a while now. It was with sheer excitement when he started talking and not just signing his needs to us. We thought it was just so cute when he starting saying, "Ee you dough" for here you go and answered, "yeah,yeah!" just so excitedly when a simple "yes" would suffice.

This week, however, we are questioning why we ever taught this dear little guy ever to talk. He started saying, "NO!" He was always able to very adequately communicate "no" before, whether with a shake of his head, the not-so-gentle push of your hand away, or just running away when he didn't want what was offered.

That apparently was not good enough. He had to MASTER the word. "Nooo!" "Nooo!" It's now the automatic response to EVERY question asked:

"Austin, do you want a hug?"
"Noooo!"

"Austin, do you want your diaper changed?"
"Nooo!"

"Austin, do you want to come eat dinner?"
"Nooo!"

In his defense, he doesn't really like to eat food and who really wants their diaper changed when you're busy playing ball? My favorite, though, is the automatic response followed by the reconsideration:

"Austin, do you want to go outside?"
"Nooo!"...."Yeah, yeah!"

"Austin, do you want a chip?"
"Nooo! .... "Yeah, yeah!"

"Austin, do you want a bath?"
"Nooo! .... "Yeah, yeah!"

you get the picture. He's mastered the word and wants to show us.


I'm hoping for a new word soon, one like "please" or "I'd love to!" A girl can dream!