–edited later to add photos–
This weeks prompt: LISTEN*
GO:
He babbles constantly these days, my little Boy. Hosting imaginary dinner parties, talking to his beloved stuffed Puppy, pretending on the fake phone. He talks and laughs and coos.
I have listened to his noises since before he was born, absolutely living to hear his precious heartbeat. For a while, that microphone machine placed on my belly was the only thing that could quell the pit in my nervous stomach. But now he’s a living breathing darling little Boy, and he talks.

feeding puppy some cracker.
He talks with his hands, signing and grabbing for things he wants while pushing things he doesn’t want away. He talks with his newfound toddler voice, bellowing loud and whispering soft and hitting all decibels in between. And he actually speaks words – not baby gibberish – surprising me daily with new ones he’s picked up. Today he repeated after me the word ‘happy‘. Last week he learned his auntie’s name, and says it daily. ‘Amy‘. And his favorite words remain: mama. daddy. puppy.
I will listen to his words until I am out of breath. I pray he keeps speaking happy and family and love. For each sound that escapes his sweet mouth, I am grateful (though there are car rides where the gratitude lies deep under gritted teeth. Just keeping it real.)
And I have to wonder, what does he hear when he listens to me?
STOP
*Linking up with Five Minute Friday at the wonderful Lisa-Jo Baker‘s. The rules for FMF: write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. Hop over to her place to find out the full scoop behind FMF, and to visit other posts that were freely written in just five minutes.
– anna
{girl with blog}
I like the “Amy” part the best 🙂
I knew you would =)
oh do savor each and every second, anna … the years they do slip on by so fast …
My girl turns three on Friday (it’s almost Friday here) 🙂 and listening to her learn to talk and take those words to make sentences and sentences to make stories…just WOW. It’s amazing. Hold on to every moment, every word…each one is precious. Enjoy that sweet boy! Love this. 🙂
Ummm… sort of blubbering here… that was so beautiful. I loved this –> I pray he keeps speaking happy and family and love —> It was the cry of my heart when mine were small… still is!
It is pretty amazing listening to your children learn to speak. My son (3 1/2) now speaks so clearly, I can’t even imagine the days when he only knew a few words, and didn’t even say those remotely correctly. And now my daughter (14 months) is starting to utter her first words, and I’m in awe all over again. Hold onto those precious, positive utterings. They pick up negatives all too quickly – from no fault of our own, but simply as they learn to express their own feelings. Happy Friday!
oh wow-I wonder what they do pick up when they listen to us. I sorta like to holler…even when I’m happy! lovely post friend!
My sweet grandson is two and a half and listening to him talk is one of the greatest joys of my life. Such a sweet little voice! And when he calls me YaYa it makes my heart melt.
His hair is getting long! Has he had his first haircut yet?
I got a little choked up reading this, because I could have written a post so similar. Every single day my kids speak words and thoughts and truths that astound me and make me fall in love with these precious gifts all over again. I just love hearing their hearts and minds spoken out loud. But, I had to laugh with your comment about car rides and keeping it real, because, I get it. Completely. 😉
This was so beautifully written, and it took me back to when my kids (33 and 31, now) were so little. That’s one thing I love about FMF, so many of you are young moms and are going through things I lived so long ago. And it’s good for me to read them and remember them and think, ah, yes. Those were such sweet days. Cling to these hours and seconds and minutes, because pretty soon — way too soon — your stomach will turn little flips when you hear your son’s voice because you no longer get to hear it every single day. But you know what? That’s okay because it’s still just so sweet to hear that voice say, “Hi, momma!”