Just recently, Liam’s verbal ability has exploded.  In a single 24 hour period, about 2 weeks ago, he went from stringing short phrases together, often requiring a lot of translation by me, to speaking rather clearly in complete sentences.  Whatever quantum of knowledge and skill is required to communicate in a more advanced manner, he achieved it, and he hasn’t looked back.  It is amazing, wonderful, and a little bittersweet to see him take this major step.  (But, mostly, it’s really cool to be able to understand him so well.)

Liam’s first word was “no”.  Early on, he naturally added “mommy” and “daddy” to his repertoire, but he came up with his own interpretation of B’s name — something that sounded a little like “Meh”.  I kept expecting it to evolve into something that sounded more like Benjamin, but it never changed.  He started with “Meh”, and that’s where he stayed.

And then, on Tuesday, folded right into these past two weeks of language revolution, Liam said, “Ben-ja-min.”  Just like that.  No middle step, no gradual transformation.  Just “Ben-ja-min”, just like that, and then he repeated it when I asked him to.  And he smiled and laughed.

He still uses “Meh” most of the time.  But I know he’s got “Ben-ja-min” in there.  Hearing B say, “I love you, Liam”, and then getting to hear Liam say back, “I love you, too, Benjamin”, may just be the most fantastic thing I’ve heard, ever.  I can’t wait to hear what he’s going to say next.