The chatter of a toddler – Mummascribbles

Zach makes me laugh so much now. He’s a complete chatterbox and sometimes there are moments that are just hilarious. Most funny conversations happen in the car and generally, by the time I’ve got to wherever we are going (usually home), I’ve forgotten what it was that he said that made me laugh so much. It’s like I need a dictaphone switched on continuously to catch everything so I can then write it all down.

Yesterday I managed to remember because it was truly impossible to forget. I picked him up from nursery, and like the rest of the UK at the moment, we have the strong winds. Trying to calmly wait for him to get into his car seat (his new thing that he just has to do by himself but that takes at least five minutes of faffing around before he actually sits on his bum to be strapped in), I asked him to hurry up a bit as I was getting blown around and was cold. Once in the car and driving, the following conversation took place…

Zach: It’s windy isn’t it mummy?

Me: Yes it is, it’s very windy.

Zach: My hat would blow off, over the fence!

Me: (laughs) Yes I guess it would if you had it on – you’d have to hold it tight onto your head.

Zach: Yeah I would. Want my hat mummy.

Me: What now?  You want your hat on in the car?

Zach: Yes please mummy

As his hat was sitting in his bag on the seat next to me and I was sat in stationary traffic, I unzipped his bag and gave him his hat.

Zach: (after a few seconds of trying) Can’t get it on mummy!

Me: Would you like me to put it on for you?

Zach: Yes please.

Still sitting in stationary traffic, I put the handbrake on and lent round to put his hat on.

He then sat there for the rest of the journey with it on while repeatedly telling me that the wind would blow it over the fence if he didn’t keep it on tightly! He was absolutely adamant that this would happen and I don’t know where he got the blowing over the fence part from but it was just making me giggle!

When we arrived home, he asked me to hold it for him so that it didn’t blow off of his head.

Indoors, I then asked him if he wanted something to eat. Sometimes we buy pancakes, you know the little ones in the supermarket that taste like syrup? I offered him a scone & jam, spaghetti on toast or a sandwich and he said that he wanted a pancake which wasn’t an option as we didn’t have any. When I explained this to him, his response was:

Want a pancake mummy, we’ll have to go and buy some! 

Oh I did giggle!

Finally, there was a slight disaster. I’d popped some milk in his cup and put it on the coffee table for him. He wanted it on the floor and I said no because I just knew he’d spill it. Of course he ignored me and he put the coaster on the floor then put his milk on it. Before I could even say Zach I said no, he’d taken one step and yep you can guess what happened…

I guess they always say don’t cry over spilt milk!

I quickly cleaned it up, wiped the floor with a few baby wipes and told him not to walk on that bit as it was slippery. For the next few minutes he wandered around saying…

Mustn’t walk on that bit cause it’s slippery! 

Then he decided he wanted a cuddle so came and sat with me.

It was just one of those evenings where I had one very happy boy who was showing me how big and grown up he is with his speech and his memory and his knowledge. I was having a chat on Twitter yesterday and a few of us were mentioning just how quickly they grow up and it’s so true. We were watching him this weekend just gone with a new pair of eyes. He’s so tall now, he understands so much and he is so good at communicating that there is hardly ever a time that I don’t understand what he’s saying. And if he is struggling to get a word out, if he knows in his head what he is trying to say, but he just cannot find the right word in his little vocabulary, he says to me disappointingly…

Oh, I don’t know the word mummy. 

And between us we figure it out. And it’s one of those moments that just makes my heart explode with love.