eight, five, eleven, five... Yay!

Our son Corben is a year and a half old.

He is hilarious. And he knows it.

We went to Abilene, Kansas last week to visit family and friends. This is Corben one morning, still in his pajamas, strolling around his Great-Grandparents' yard looking for trouble.

He flips between funny and 'giggly', to so cute you can't stand it, to defiant and ready for trouble.

We think he's pretty sharp, too. He's trying to start counting. "Eight, five, eleven, five... Yay!" [hands clapping]

I thought I'd take a moment and familiarize those of you who read this with some of his vocabulary, in the event that you want to converse with him and understand what he's saying. I'll put a small warning that some of his language may be considered offensive by some.

"ahhno" -- translates "Oh No" [said with much emphasis and drama]

"allright!" -- translates "All right!" [excessive emphasis on 'right']

"lalou" -- translates "Love You" [generally said during farewells, although recently more spontaneously]

"Tuk" -- translates "Truck" -- he uses this word for a truck or a car.

"doddie" -- translates "Doggie"

"caisin" -- translates "Raisin" -- Corben had craisins [dried cranberries] before he had raisins, and now does not understand the difference

"kakkak" -- translates "Duck"

"aphala" -- translates "elephant"

"shit" or "sheet" -- translates "Sheep" [this is best when he comes up to you carrying an animal other than a sheep that he has mistaken for a sheep**]

** one side note is that if Corben identifies something, he will say it again and again with increasing emphasis and volume until you acknowledge him for correctly identifying whatever it is.

"tinkle tinkle" -- a request for the song "Twinke Twinkle, Little Star"

"abee - abee" -- a request for the Alphabet song

"NOOO!!!" -- a response in the negative, said loudly and frequently

"apease" -- translates "Yes, please" or "help, please"

"Buddy" -- this is how Corben identifies himself. When asked to give his name, this is his response. This is understandable since that is pretty much what we all call him all the time.

Well that's enough vocabulary for now.

Here are a few more action shots of Buddy from this past week: