Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Story: Word #1...Ball

by Designing Mom Kate

My husband and I are both writers (he's a copywriter, I am now a
blogger), we consume books by the shelf-ful (less so for me now that Oscar has arrived), and we love to play Scrabble on date night. I guess we have a thing for words. Our little magpie, Oscar, is picking up words like crazy and I'd like to chronicle some of his favorites here.


Word #1: BALL Oscar's first word was uttered in Mexico around his 1st birthday: "Ball." Since then, I think I may have heard him say the word at least three thousand times. Sometimes he questions, "Ball?" (as in: where is the ball? Is that a ball? Can I have my ball? Are you holding a ball?). sometimes he exclaims with gusto, "BALL!" (as in: there's the ball! I see the ball! A new ball! I caught the ball! I want that ball that isn't mine! I love the ball! The ball brings me more joy than I can possibly express!). And often times the word is simply uttered matter-of-factly, "Ball." (as in: I just woke up and I need to see a ball. I know what a ball is. That is a ball. There's a ball in front of my face. I can say the word ball. Even though you just gave me a vaccination, I will forgive you since you just gave me a ball.).


When we arrive at the park for our morning run - he starts yelling, "Ball!
Ball! Ball
!" when he gets his first glimpse of the basketball court. One time in a restaurant he started shouting, "Ball, Ball!" - I didn't see one anywhere - until I glanced at a TV in the corner showing a baseball game (how on earth did he see that?). His ball radar is very acute. His little obsession drives our entertainment choices. He loves balls? Well - then we'll get him a whole slew. Whenever we shop and he sees a ball (as in: Ball!) - I can't resist buying it. I reason - he needs indoor balls, outdoor balls, park balls, car balls, bath balls, diaper-bag balls. And of course he needs large balls, small balls, squishy balls, bouncy
balls
, hard balls, balls that fit in my purse, balls that are larger than his entire body. My husband wants to encourage his interest in baseballs, basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, tennis balls. I like the clear ball with a tiny cockatoo inside. I could open a ball store at this point and Oscar would be the best salesman.


He's recently morphed his first word into crude sentences: "That Ball!" is a new favorite. Recently at an outdoor wedding - the couple filled the pool with about 20 beach balls (for the kids). Oscar was like a magnet to the edge of the pool - trying to grab a ball. Finally, I got in the water and would bring him the ball of his choice as he excitedly pointed to "that ball!" (note that each ball was exactly the same). His passion for balls is genuine and adorable and I hope he never outgrows this brand of enthusiasm in his life.

2 comments:

Tori Higa said...

that was the cutest story - so well written, too. :) my son is obsessed with cars - i have never noticed so many cars or trucks in my life. but now that i have him to point them out, i can't stop noticing all of the big trucks, cars, or busses on the road... it's amazing how these little ones find things they love at such an early age.

Manda said...

so precious! my 2 year old is sitting on my lap as i read this and said, 'mommy, he's playinaball!'

too cute!

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