Month 21

Our Midwest trip was by far the biggest event of the month. A huge adventure.


Humor
Wesley told his first jokes this month. We bought an ABC book for the plane ride in which "J" features Elmo telling a joke. It goes like this...

Elmo: Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
Elmo: Boo
Me: Boo Who?
Elmo: Please don't cry

I first read this joke to Wes as we drove through the Illinois countryside. He thought it was hysterical. As in, leg kicking, belly-laughing, "again again" funny. He'd say "Joke Joke" which meant to tell the joke again.

Then he started telling the joke. After some practice it sounded like this:

Wes: Knock
Me: Who's there?
Wes: Boo!
Me: Boo Who?
Wes: Cry (while shaking his head to mean the negation of the word)
All: ::laughter::

Within a day he was making up his own jokes which went like this:
Wes: Knock
Me: Who's there?
Wes: Grandma
Me: Grandma who?
Wes: Great! (as in Great Grandma whose house we just left)

punchline adaptations were: Grandma This! (meaning this grandma), Jesse This! (as in this Uncle Jesse)

Wesley also started realizing that he could joke about things. One of his favorite things to say is that he is going to eat something absurd (worms, a dump truck, a snail, etc) and then he pauses and laughs and says "joke joke".

It really tickles me to see his sense of humor develop.

Home
Wesley clearly has a strong sense of home. As we were standing on the walkbridge preparing to walk onto the airplane, he began saying "home" "home...take". He continued to pine for home in his tired or uncomfortable moments on the trip. He started to say "Miss...Kaira", "Miss...Louis".

When we arrived home he was so happy. He joyfully pulled out every single toy he owned. It was a gleeful reunion with familiarity, with that which is ours.

Names
This month most everyone's name started to be recognizable (not just because of familiarity with his sound). It was a little sad to see Uncle Jesse's name switch from "T" to "Jess". It was refreshing to have "Grandma" differentiated from "Mama" (this had caused some confusion from time to time regarding to whom Wesley was referring). Lisa, Kaira, and Staci are now recognizable out of context. And, he learned a lot of new names on his trip, which I am sure was a big help in advancing this skill.

He has also ditched the "you" and "me" challenge and now refers to himself as "Wes" which he never previously did.

I think there are only a couple animals/objects that are still named by their sound. Firetruck is "wrrrwrrr" like a siren. Bees are "bzzz" and chickens are "bock bock bock". The others have their proper names, which sometimes still comes as a surprise when he names them.

Visit to Uncle Jesse's Farm
We finally got to visit Uncle Jesse's new farm, conveniently located in Petaluma. We are so excited that it's right down the road!

"Dirt"

Wesley talks about Uncle Jesse a lot. He talks about Uncle Jesse's trucks and tractors a lot. He had not yet seen one of said tractors, but this trip was a game changer. He may become the coolest kid on the block with an uncle like this.

Not only did Wesley get to see the tractors, but he got to DRIVE a tractor. He was so happy.

It felt great to be out on the farm. Such open space full of possibilities. I'm looking forward to seeing all those fields full of veggies!