Goodbyes are never easy

Allow me to lend you my mommy-goggles for a second. If you'll peer through them, you'll see things the way I see them: adorable children with genius tendencies. (All moms have at least one pair of mommy-goggles. They're what we wear when we go to playdates and give parenting advice to other moms who obviously aren't doing things right, because look how much smarter/better behaved/cuter/kinder my children are!)

So peer through my mommy-goggles for a second, and join me for an awe-inspiring look at my 11-month-old's growing vocabulary.

We're realizing just how much Caleb understands now ("turn around and come back here" and "do not go up the stairs" are two of my favorites) and it's exciting to watch him discover new things or recognize familiar things in a new context (a toy that was in one place before his nap may be somewhere different when he wakes up, and he loves the hunt).

He'll dance on command, say "muah" and smash his lips in your cheek when you ask for a kiss, play peekaboo, stick out his tongue if you ask to see it, and throw his head back and laugh when he wants you to tickle his chin. He'll crawl up on your lap, then turn and speed-crawl away, pausing occasionally to turn his head back and invite you to chase him. He's quiet when he's trying to figure something out, and he giggles to himself when he's doing something he's not supposed to. (This has become a handy audible clue, since when I hear his guilty giggle I can simply yell, "Caleb, stop!" if he's in a different room.)

He says "Mama" and "Dada" when he's excited to see us, "nana" when he's hungry or sees a banana, "ni-ni" when we tell him night-night and put him in his crib, and he recently started trying to say "boo-beh" when he's playing with his blue bear. He calls the stuffed shark he sleeps with "duh-duh," probably because I sing the Jaws theme song anytime I tease him with it. (Its official name is Sharkie.)

And just today, as we were bidding farewell to some friends after Bible study, I swear he said "buh-bye."

I love my little wordsmith.