oh.

River is just soaking up knowledge these days and he loves when I explain things to him. Yesterday we were sitting in his glider reading a book and I asked if he wanted to sit up so he could see better. He said, "No. River like it here," pointing to where his head had been laying on the chair. I said, "You like the armrest. That part of the chair is called an armrest." Then, matter of factly, as though he were filing that little bit of information away in his brain, he said, "Oh." Not an insincere, whatever mom, kind of "oh." It was a fully engaged, I totally get it "oh." He was quiet for a second, then just to show he had understood he chewed out the new words, "River like head arm-rest."

I wish I could convey the wealth of meaning that that little "oh" seems to have. He says it all the time, punctuating his certainty with one sweet little syllable. It's even more adorable when he switches it up and says, "Ah." I can just see the spark of insight as though he were Sherlock Holmes saying, "Ah ha! Watson, the game is afoot!"

He's also taken to demanding, "Mommy talk." We'll be sitting in the sandbox playing with a toy airport and he wants me to tell him all about the planes and the tower, how the baggage works, and where the people go. Instead of learning principally through visuals, he understands so much language now, and he likes to hear me teach him about his world with words. I love hearing him say, "Mommy talk," watching him follow along a discussion of traffic lights or cooking eggs, and wrap it all up with a bright little, "Oh."