Currently, the Bubbers king is absolutely fascinated by dogs.
Whenever he hears a dog bark, he immediately whips his head around, points to the window, and excitedly exclaims, “Dog! Ruff, ruff!”
Naturally, this makes my little SLP heart leap for joy and my tender mommy heart melt at the adorableness of it all.
“That’s right!” I reply, “A dog! A dog says, “Ruff, ruff!””
And then Bubbers spends the next 45 minutes pointing, smiling and declaring, “Dog! Ruff, ruff! Dog! Ruff, ruff!” over and over again.
At first, Charming thought I was exaggerating and didn’t believe me when I said our little guy was really saying, “Dog! Ruff, ruff!” (Since his cute 14 mos. articulation makes it sound like this).
But after Charming witnessed it for himself a few times, he was finally a believer.
And now we ecstatically spend all day every day talking about, listening for, pointing out and trying to find dogs and Bubbers just loves it.
He loves it so much, in fact, that he’s practically generalized “Dog” to every animal he sees.
For example.
Last Friday, I took Bubbers for a drive to meet up with our church playgroup.
We were meeting at a little country market I’d never been before and as I got Bubbers out of the car, we were greeted by this impressive site:
The Bubbers king gaped open-mouthed at it for quite some time before reaching out his chubby little hand, pointing with all his strength and asking: [Click here]
Laughing, I shook my head and explained, “No sweetie, that’s not a dog. That’s a 40 foot chicken with a funny looking egg.”
Then we moved on, exploring the market and keeping our eyes open for anyone who looked familiar.
It wasn’t long before we came upon these little guys and Bubbers sat up in his stroller, pointed and declared, “Dah! Uh, uh!”
Again I laughed and said, “Sorry Little Man, that’s not a dog, that’s a rooster and a chicken.”
Then they got closer.
And started flapping!
This really got Bubbers’ attention and he pointed and pointed, saying over and over, “Dah! Dah! Uh, uh!”
Then I got nervous that somehow they were related to the poor chickens of my youth and were seeking revenge at long last, so I quickly wheeled the Bubbers king away, explaining as we left, “No, son, those aren’t dogs.”
I still didn’t see anyone from church, so we wandered some more and found a pen of birds.
I pulled Bubbers out of the stroller and he didn’t quite know what to think of it all.
“I don’t quite know what to think of it all.”
And then he looked up.
And saw the birds.
And smiled.
And leaned forward.
And declared: [Click here]
Then I bent down next to him and smiled, “No, that’s a bird. It says, “Chirp, chirp!””
And then all of a sudden we saw the next best thing to a real live dog…..
A real live train ride!
So even though we never found our playgroup, I took Bubbers on his very first train ride.
And he just smiled.
And stared.
And had the time of his life! (Even though we never did see a real dog that day).
What a great story! Too bad you never found the playgroup. Looks like you guys had plenty of fun, though! I love that little train – My sis-in-law had her son’s 3rd birthday party at the park there a couple of years ago and we all got a train ride. My boys were in choo-choo heaven. :) Loved the sound clips too – what a cute little voice!
Aw! Such a cute story! I love the train pics. Brought back great memories of when my boys were in their “train phase.” I never thought they’d outgrow it but they did. Now Jase & I are the only ones screaming “ding ding!!!!” as we drive over the tracks.
And I loved hearing Bubbers!
@Melissa: Oh what a fun place for a birthday party! I was so impressed with the park and all the animals! I couldn’t believe I’d never been there or heard of it before. And I’m glad you liked my story! :)
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@Charlotte: Oh! I was totally thinking of Sammy and how much he loved trains when I saw it and took our ride. That makes me sad that he’s outgrown it. :( We’ll scream “ding ding!!” with you!! :):) And I’m glad you liked hearing the Little Man. I love his little voice with that cute intonation–just amazes me how quickly he’s learned how to use it!
Preston has been obsessed with dogs lately too. Every time he hears one he starts looking around so I tell him a dog says woof woof and he just laughs. Then he started say ‘uff’ ‘uff’ every time he would hear a dog. The other day we went outside and when he saw the neighbors dog he started ‘uffing’ again! I didn’t even know he realized that the dog was what made the woofing noise, it was pretty exciting for me. :) He also started saying ‘uh oh’ a lot lately too, either when he drops things, or right before he throws them… obviously he still doesn’t quite understand the true meaning of that word. :)
Sound’s like you had a fun day despite not having friends to share it with! Leonora loves animal noises. Dogs have always been her favorites, but she’s learned “Old McDonald” and now loves mooing at the cows and neighing at the horses we see around here.
That train looks like it was so fun for him! I’ve heard that many kids call all animals dogs for awhile.
I forgot to say that I loved the title to this post, it completely reminded me of “The Scarlett Pimpernel,” you’ve seen that one right?
This is such a cute post. I love little bubbers expression on his face in the train ride.
My word, your pictures of chickens are even wonderful. Where is this shop? I especially loved his concerned look. It seems like everything is dog at first and then it becomes cat…. I’ve always wondered why?