Genius

Milo and I have been reading a book called Animals Everywhere. It's been in the rotation for several weeks now, so it's gotten quite a bit of play at bedtime. The book has an environmental theme and features real animals in their real environments, animals that most toddlers might not know. Brown marmots, pheasants, manatees, that sort of thing. As we read, I like to point out the different animals, count them, whatever.

So tonight we were reading the page about the turtles, frogs, alligators, and egrets in the bog. I asked Milo how many turtles he saw. He said nothing. "Where are the turtles?" I asked him. Silence. I pointed to the egrets and said, "Are those the turtles, Milo?" He took his paci out of his mouth and said "Egrets." Who knew he actually picked up on what an egret was? Such a brilliant kid I have.

Then I pointed to the turtles and said, "There are the turtles; how many turtles are there?" And he said, "Three!" which is totally the right answer, further confirming his intelligence. He's so awesome.

He's so stinkin' smart

On the drive home yesterday, I started singing to Milo to keep him entertained. We sang the ABCs, Mary Had a Little Lamb, and some old campfire songs. Each time I paused to catch my breath, Milo said, "More, more."

So of course I gave him what he wanted. More singing. But when I really got tired of singing, I switched to animal sounds. "What does a cow say?" I asked. "Moooo!" I answered myself.

But then Milo started answering. Turns out he knows moo, quack, and possibly baa and neigh. When I asked him what the rooster says (and gave him my best cock-a-doodle-doo) he mimicked me with his own "Da-doo!"

I didn't know he knew any animal sounds. His daycare report sheet said he knew them, but whenever I had asked him before, I never got any response. But apparently he does know his animals, and he's awfully cute when he makes their noises.