Say What?

Yesterday Megan, Lauren and I took the kids to Lincoln Park Zoo.  On Wednesdays

the Green City Market is right outside the zoo, so it is a perfect opportunity to visit the zoo

and then have a delicious picnic lunch with the goodies we find at the farmers market.

We started in the farm section of the zoo and I'm quite positive that when we were in the barn

Owen said "moo" when he saw the cow.  What makes it difficult to be 100% sure is Owen does

not like to repeat things on command, other than to repeat "Raar" when asked what a lion says.

You can point at something and say the word, then ask him to say it and he will just babble in his

own little language or give you a blank stare.  But then when you least expect it he will say

something that makes you do a double take and think, did he really just say what I think he

said??  

What's crazy is that Owen is seriously one of the most vocal kids I have

ever heard.  Whether we're driving in the car, out for one of our walks, or just sitting at home, his mouth is constantly moving. He babbles on about anything and everything.  But then when put

on the spot and asked something specific, he chooses to keep his mouth closed.  I'd like to say

that maybe we just have a shy little guy on our hands who gets nervous under pressure, but all of

his other actions point in the complete opposite direction of shy.

A perfect example is when we were at the Green City Market having our picnic lunch.  There

was a man sitting in the picnic area playing a bongo drum and singing.  He had various small

instruments including cow bells, drum sticks, jingle bells, etc for the kids to come up and play

along with him.  Now someone Owen's age might get a little apprehensive at the thought of 

going up there on his own.  And if that man were to talk to him and engage him like he did with

Owen, that might send him running back to the security of his mama.  Not Owen.

He walked right up there, stood 2 feet away from the drum, grabbed some jingle bells from

him and started to play.  He was having such a great time playing with the man and only took 

one quick glance back to make sure I was still somewhat near.

 I'm so proud of how brave and fearless Owen has become.  Sure it's a little unsettling when

we're at the park and he tries to fly head first down the slide, or step out from a ledge that is

3 feet off the ground, but he is such a tough little guy and I am very thankful for that.

A normal day consists of us returning home with a new bump, bruise, or scrape somewhere on

his body from the day's fall, but it never phases him.  He gets right back up and keeps running. 

Now if only I could figure out a way to get him to be as fearless repeating words on command. ;)