{"id":1612,"date":"2012-10-19T00:24:59","date_gmt":"2012-10-19T00:24:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irreverin.com\/?p=1612"},"modified":"2012-10-19T00:24:59","modified_gmt":"2012-10-19T00:24:59","slug":"one-more-piece-of-the-puzzle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/irreverin\/2012\/10\/one-more-piece-of-the-puzzle\/","title":{"rendered":"One More Piece of the Puzzle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

On\u00a0a lighter note\u2026 One of the most miraculous parts of parenting, by far, is listening as the pieces of the language puzzle click into place. Even though i\u2019ve watched it come together with the first kid, it is no less of a wonder the second time around.<\/p>\n

One day they are screaming, crying, flailing little animals. Then they are saying short, single-syllable nouns. \u2018Dad\u2019\u00a0 \u2018dog\u2019 and \u2018book\u2019 ranked among the first at our house. Then the single-word utterances take on purpose and urgency. \u2018Milk!\u2019 \u2018Down!\u201d and of course, every parent\u2019s favorite\u2013\u201cNO!\u201d<\/p>\n

Then comes the stringing together of words into sentences, though sentences that lack prepositions: \u2018put shoes!\u2019 \u2018eat cookie!\u2019 and \u2018go car!\u2019 (Huh. Toddlers sure are bossy). And then, in what seems like a literal overnight transformation, this tiny person is having a conversation with you.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d \u201cCome with you!\u201d \u201cDon\u2019t eat money!\u201d (we learned this on a recent visit to the ER, and it has become a persistent litany).<\/p>\n

What used to be \u201cNo, Boppa!\u201d is now, \u2018Mother, i believe that harper needs to apologize to me. Could you come and see about that please?\u201d Well\u2026something like that. I think his exact words were \u201cHarpa, say sorry.\u201d Maybe not a super refined articulation, but worlds away from a month ago, a week ago, yesterday.<\/p>\n

And before i know it, he will be the one announcing, during children\u2019s moment, that the preacher\u2019s family does not pray at meal time. Oh wait, his sister beat him to that one. It\u2019s cool though. I\u2019m sure he\u2019ll find his own embarassing revelations to share, soon enough.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong, I love babies. I especially loved my babies, when they were drooly, cuddly, bald little messes. But I\u2019m such a verbal person, that I feel a different kind of connection to my kids once they can converse with me. And my, but life is easier when they can say what they want <\/em>already, instead of all that pointing\/grunting\/crying nonsense!<\/p>\n

But my favorite part of watching the words come together has to be witnessing the joy on their own little faces, on that day when they realize that \u2018a grown-up just understood what i wanted! AND I GOT IT!\u2019\u00a0 <\/em>Watching them memorize books and being able to read them back to you; hearing them sing little strains of song that they picked up somewhere; overhearing a conversation between two tiny people who speak the same language; articulating what hurts after a fall; ordering what they want for dinner like my kitchen is a restaurant with a kids\u2019 menu. That\u2019s the stuff. Our house is alive with words.<\/p>\n

Not long ago, I overheard the older sister giving her brother a mangled version of the children\u2019s worship blessing: \u201cthe Lord is with you (something about the light) Go with God (something about cookies).\u201d He tried to squirm away from the hand she\u2019d placed on his head, but she was going to by-god bless him, whether he liked it or not. A great reminder that, while the language of faith has little to do with words, we piece it together, a little at a time, all the days of our life. Our greatest hope for the journey is that, some day, the lid comes off, the light clicks on, that last piece falls into place, and we can name for ourselves what all this fuss has been about.<\/p>\n

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On\u00a0a lighter note\u2026 One of the most miraculous parts of parenting, by far, is listening as the pieces of the language puzzle click into place. Even though i\u2019ve watched it come together with the first kid, it is no less of a wonder the second time around. One day they are screaming, crying, flailing little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1154,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[749,117,9,10],"class_list":["post-1612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marriage-and-family","tag-language-development","tag-parenting","tag-progressive-christianity","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nOne More Piece of the Puzzle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On\u00a0a lighter note... 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