The Boy

Last June when we said goodbye to our three seniors and "see you later" to the rest of the dorm kids Jayson was a boy of few words.  He would say Mama, Daddy, Layla and  "Ha Yoen".  But he would not say any of the other dorm kids names.  He would say "bonjour" to our house workers, and he would respond to questions by nodding his head or saying "no!"  But that was about it.  I was a little worried because I had big plans to potty train him when we got back from our trip to Burkina Faso, and I wasn't sure how much he understood.  Our colleagues Colin and Teena and their 2 year old son (who is almost three months YOUNGER than Jayson) had just been up to Niamey to visit and Ethan was talking in Dinde and in French and in English AND he was going on the toilet too!!!

We went to Burkina Faso and Jayson learned a new word, Ouagadougou... okay now you try to say it... wa ga do goo... not so hard,   just like baby talk right??  Well this started a trend, he began to rapidly add words to his growing vocabulary... in fact in the last three and a half months he has not only learned words, but is now speaking in full sentences!  AND he is going to the potty!! YAY!!

When the kids came back to school Jayson calmly greeted them all by name!!  The kids were shocked and delighted.  He even asked about the graduates, wanting to know when they were coming home...
Now that Jayson has discovered language he has not stopped!!  He is very descriptive. Waking up in the morning, he comes to me with wonder still all over his face, "Mama, I waked up!" Coming in from outside, "Mama I am home!!",  "Mama get out, I need privacy!" He was doing his business on the toilet, "Okay Mama, you can wipe me now." But he isn't always very polite!! 

 However when ever I scold him he immediately looks at the ground and says "Sorry Mama", whether or not he is sorry it still gets the desired result! and he is good at stalling at bedtime too... "I need cold water!"  and "I need a hug and a kiss" and "Nighty Poo, Don't poo in your nighty!"