No what I mean?
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“Are you finished playing in the tub?”
“Noooo.”
No?
Until Sunday night, my questions to Lincoln have always been unanswered verbally. I’ve gotten a head shake or an enthusiastic look when I’ve asked “Do you want some carrots?” or “Want to go down the slide?” But now, this child says ‘no.’
Visions of a five-year-old Lincoln screaming “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” in the middle of the grocery store when I deny him some sugary snack he had over friend X’s house the day before flood my head. I can’t have one of those! I can’t have one of those kids who yells “NO!” at me to every one of my requests. (It’s no new flash to me that every child does this so don’t go commenting on how naïve I am. I know. I just don’t want to say it out loud because then it’s true.)
This first “no” was, of course, the cutest thing I’ve ever heard. It was accompanied by such a serious look that I assumed he also knew what the word meant.
Always the experimenter, I asked “You don’t want out?”
“No.”
“Are you in the tub?”
“Noooo.”
Hm.
“Are you Lincoln?”
“NOOOO.”
Nope, doesn’t know the meaning.
He does not say ‘yes.’ Why? I mean, in our house, Linc rarely hears ‘no’ and when we ask him a question where the obvious answer would be ‘yes’ (Do you want a donut?) we answer ‘yes, please’ for him to teach him that’s the appropriate thing to do.
I’d like to know more about how kids pick up their first words. I thought for sure he’d say “OFF ROXIE,” which is said a billion times a day to my 70-pound lap dog, or “DAMN CATS,” which is said an equal number of times per day about two or more of our five cats. However, he says a collection of about eight words regularly ranging from the standards ‘dada’ and ‘mama’ to the why-did-he-pick-that-one-up ‘cheers!’
‘No’ is now thrown around our house in any conversation with Linc, whether appropriate or not. However, on the upside, he also says ‘please’ (“Peees”) and ‘thank you’ (“Dank yooou”).
ADORABLE times infinity!
Erin Hill is a first-time mom to Lincoln, who was born in January 2010. She's learning as she goes and is experiencing everything a new mom goes through while seeing the humor, irony, and enjoyment in her adventures.
Erin is a full-time technical writer and features freelance writer in her "spare time." She lives in Plum with Lincoln, her husband, Adam, their dog, Roxie, and five (yes, five) cats, Nirvana, Gary Roberts, Elvis, Talbot and Forrest.