Wednesday, January 30, 2008

The Kid's Got Some Vocal Chords, That's For Darn Tootin'

I would like to take a moment to go over the many variations of sounds that can come out of a baby's mouth. For the sake of brevity, we'll stick to discussing the sounds that are unpleasant enough to reduce a mother to wearing ear plugs all the day long. (Though what mother would wear ear plugs to block out her child's incessant screaming sweet voice, I simply do not know.)

THE REAL CRY

Most of time The Real Cry is accompanied by the mother of all Momma Manipulators Heart Breakers- tears. While seen rarely in this household, tears illicit an immediate response of smothering momma (or daddy) kisses.

THE WHINE

This sound takes little effort to make -Jaron must simply utter a small squeal through his nose and hold it for a few seconds. Usually perfected between 4-6 months of age (I think Jaron did this one around 3 months), this vocal exercise is universally known and dreaded by moms everywhere. We most often hear this one at the dinner table when we are not shoveling food into his mouth fast enough. (Maybe this is a good time to remind you that my baby is only 9 months old so he still "gets away" with such behavior- though only for a while longer as his father often reminds him!)

THE SCREAM
If The Whine goes unanswered for too long it will most likely morph into The Scream. In our family, this one is also known as The Mad As Hell Cry. While this cry has changed tones as Jaron has gotten older, it is the same gut wrenching, hair raising, panic inducing scream he has had since birth.

THE HOLLERIN'
This is Jaron's newest and most favorite method of communication these days. He has discovered he can make his voice go louder and softer. The whispers are cute. The Hollerin', not so cute. We often refer to this one as baby cussin'.

And the faces he makes to accompany such sounds- priceless!!

*Can you tell we are in the throes of seperation anxiety around our house?!?!