Inflection

Well, we've progressed from grunts and pointing, to baby talk, to toddler talk. And now we're mastering the fine art of Inflection. The following are a few examples:

Okay

Let's say I made the request of "Brent, could you please go and put your shoes on? It's time to leave". It would be met with the response "Sorry, Mommy. Playing trains, okay!" The "okay" in this sentence would be inflected to represent (very clearly and emphatically) the fact that he's TELLING me that it is okay if he continues to play with his trains, not ASKING me.

Okay can also be said in what can only be referred to as a parenting tone. For example, while snatching a train out of my hand: "No, Mommy, Bent play with Edward. You play with [enter the name of a train he is not concerned with at the moment], Okay?!" In this example, "Okay" ends with a piercing upward movement, and means "Everything will be alright, as long as you just do what I'm telling you", and backed up with a nodding, serious movement.

Huh?

Huh is usually accompanied by about five other "huh's". As in, "Go outside, Mommy. Huh? huh? huh?" Dramatic effect is important for this word, as well as persistence, pleading eyes, and a soulful stare. Some huh's will sound sad, some anxious, some angry. But it is the overall tone that is important.


In other news, Brent has his tubes taken out of his ears yesterday. They were mostly out on their own, so it wasn't too hard on him. Me, however...it takes me hours to recover from having to hear him scream. Even if 90% of it was due to my timing in scheduling of an unpleasant doctor's appointment during what should have been peaceful nap time. But five minutes later he was fine, so hopefully from now on it will be clear sailing.