Minor has been inexhaustibly crabby lately, the kind of crabby that is usually accompanied by an ear infection or other serious illness. He keeps up a constant litany of complaints: Grapes! No, don’t take one off the stem! Put it back! Wait, I dropped it–pick it up! I want to get down! Pick me up!

He’s not one of those kids who freaks out whenever his routine is broken; he’s just responding to the situation at hand by requesting something just a little bit different from whatever he has. I call these “micro-demands.” Meeting those demands doesn’t necessarily alleviate the complaints; he just moves on to the next.

This is supposed to be the stage where the child gets frustrated by his inability to communicate. That may be the case, but I’m always amazed at subtle differences he is able to get across with just a few words and gestures. Unlike Aitch at this age, Minor really loves to talk. His words aren’t very clear, but he has a lot of them, and he gets a big kick out of imitating us.

Minor has mastered the use of the head nod for “Yes” and the shake for “No.” He can also say “Yes,” but not “No,” which is the exact opposite of Aitch at that age, and which I find very surprising. He certainly hears “No” enough. For some reason, though, he is very good at one-syllable words that end in “s”: Gas, bus, and “yas” are his clearest words.

Anyway, he responds appropriately with the “Yes” and “No” shakes in conversation, which means we can get quite a lot out of him as long as we remember to frame our utterances in the form of yes/no questions. It also gives the impression that you’re having a conversation with a much older child. For example:

I am trying to change Minor. He’s fussing and writhing on the changing table.

I say, “Minor, do you want to go in your crib for a time out?”

He looks at me. He looks at the crib. He looks back at me and shakes his head no.

I ask, “What do you want?” He shrieks. Yes or no answers only!

“Do you want a toy?”

Head shake.

“Do you want a book?”

Head nod.

“The cow book?” Head shake. “The dog book?” Head shake. “The Little Fire Engine?”

“Yasss! Yasss! Yasss!” Vigorous up-and-down nodding.

Our daily game of Twenty Questions.