The victim

2/1/11

Little Jedidiah is approaching his 15 month anniversary of being alive. I suppose you can call that a birthday, but it sounded more interesting to call it a monthly anniversary of being alive.

Our little boy has still yet to take his first steps.
Maybe he has not ventured into walking so much but he is talking up a storm. In fact, this morning he laid his head on my chest and talked to me for at least five minutes without stopping. And you might think that he is slow to walk, but let me tell you he is amazing because he can speak Chinese! I don't know where he picked it up from, but apparently he sounds very much like a female character on the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. (We did watch this movie when we recently went to Miami but Jed was sound asleep. Maybe he was awake with his ear to the door, trying to listen in on the movie. Who knows?) It's such a rare thing that he should rest so peacefully on me and talk that I relish every moment of it, looking him in the eye and validating his strong words with an occasional "Uh huh, I know what you mean." As a mother I feel compelled though to teach my children proper manners. Every once in a while, I reminded him that while the things he says are important, he must remember to give others a chance to talk. That's what conversation is about.

There are only a few words that have come out of his mouth in English. One of them being "Yes." Jedidiah enjoys crawling back and fourth through different rooms of the house saying "yes" over and over again. Every time you ask him any question, the answer is always "yes." But the most recent development happened recently when we were having a great fight. It was late at night, and the torture began: it was time for putting pajamas on. Jedidiah was squealing and twisting and as I, almost in tears, was trying desperately to cover his bare bottom so I could put him to bed. So, as he was twisting and turning and babbling in his gibberish Chinese words, he very loudly and clearly said "VICTIM, VICTIM!!" My son is the victim of parental cruelty at his bedtime ritual. So, ever since then I every so often ask Jed: Jed, are you the VICTIM? And he answers very confidently: "Yes!"