The moment

[eyelessgame]

Sherilyn and I have discussed this on occasion: when a baby starts developing into a toddler, especially when he's pre-verbal, it's hard sometimes not to think of him as, essentially, a pet... not yet quite human.

This continues for a while even as he starts picking up language -- it's still kind of like how a puppy learns to scratch at the door to go out. He starts calling his big sister 'kay-ee' and his brother 'wa-wa', and puts words together to say what he wants: 'my tun!', and makes more and more words and gestures describing what he wants and thinks: when thirsty, he opens the fridge and carries me the gallon jug of apple juice (sometimes all the way across the house), or protests 'Hey! Tha' my!' when something's taken away...

For his brother and sister, I don't remember it happening suddenly; full sentences and their own imagination and questions gradually made me start seeing the human-level thoughts going on behind them.

But evidently you can pass the rubicon all at once.

Last night, as I was putting him in his crib, he sat, looked up at me, pointed to his chest, and proudly announced "I'm Joshua!"

Yes. Yes, you are. Hello, son.

Comments

I thought this sounded familiar

[dtm]

You've journaled on this before.