Conversations and Words

As I sit here, futzing around online, I hear Pete playing quietly behind me.  He has a Batman figure and a robot.  His conversation goes like this:

Deep, gravely voice: You wanna baddle?
Normal voice: No, Oh-ot. I wanna seep.
Deep, gravely voice: No, you wanna baddle! You no go to bed.  You stay and baddle!

I love these conversations he has with himself while he plays.  His imagination seems to be filling in all the blanks, and he needs to hear it.  It's not only with his action figures that he supplies everyone's words, either.  When he pretends to call someone, he provides both sides of the conversation.  He'll pick up his toy phone and this is what I'll hear:

Normal voice: Hi Daddy!
Deeper voice: Hi Peter.  What you doin'?
Normal voice: I play with my oh-ot an Batman.
Deeper voice: Otay. Can I talk to Mommy?
Normal voice: Otay.  Here, Mommy. Daddy want to talk to you!

So I'll take the phone and have a "conversation" with my husband.  Because it amuses him.

Today, as we were walking through Wal-Mart, Peter decided he wanted to ride in the cart.  No problem for me, because it means I'm not having to chase him everywhere.  Plus, he's not that heavy, so picking him up and putting him in the car isn't a problem.  But as we're going through the aisles, Peter was "feeding" me various things.  I believe I had ice cream, cookies, coffee (which "Mommy dink coffee, but Peter no dink coffee and Teddy no dink coffee and Batman no dink coffee).  When I told him that I was too full to eat any more and that I'd explode, he replied, "I gonna esplode too. Boom!"

Right now, Batman is trying to fly but he can't.  And Oh-ot is holding out his hand to help keep him up.  "I not awight.  Weed a book. A bue book."  He keeps me smiling when he's like this.

I also love the words that he has chosen for some things.  It's not always easy for people that aren't around him daily to understand what he says - he's not quite three, after all, and his speech isn't developed to the point of everything being perfectly intelligible. And honestly, there are many times when I can't quite figure out what words he's using or what he wants.  But he's got some standards that I know immediately.

Oh-ot - Robot
P-pop - Lollipop
Ploes - His three pillows: Mommy Plo, Daddy Plo and Baby Plo
Gee Ae-o - Green Arrow
Eye-or - Cyborg (No, my son isn't getting his training in the classics much)
Hi Heem - Ice cream
Tocklet Mewk - Chocolate Milk
Punbod - Spongebob
Mee Mou - Mickey Mouse
Fackah - Cracker

The list could probably go on forever.

I want to remember these times. Because I know there will come a time when he stops having conversations when himself and starts playing video games with his brother (though that still happens even now).  There will be a time when he'll be perfectly understood and his Plos will be no more, but his pillows will be there.  Where he plays with robots and eats ice cream, when he gets a lollipop as a treat rather than a p-pop.  He's going to grow up and leave these toddler things behind him.  And there's a part of me that doesn't want it, because I treasure this time.  I don't remember as much from Teddy at this age as I would have thought I would.  And that saddens me.

I hope I can hold on a few of these memories with Pete.  I'm hoping that by writing it, it will make it easier to stick in my brain. Because the time will pass too quickly for my liking.