Aaat dat?

Almost immediately on the heels of Colin's first birthday, it has begun.  The questions.

At school they have photos of every family posted on one wall, and regularly show the infants the pictures.  Apparently when they do this they say something along the lines of "Who's that?"  And Colin is soaking it up like a sponge.

First of all, his teachers have reported in the past that when Colin sees the photo of me and his father he would "kiss" (i.e. lick) my picture.  (Don't worry - the photos are laminated, for just such an occasion!)  He also loves to point to the photo of Sydney and Seamus.

On the day after his birthday I had Colin in my arms and was walking downstairs to head to school/work.  As we were bouncing down the steps Colin pointed to the wall (which is covered in family photos) and rather clearly asked "ooo dat?"  His father heard and exclaimed that Colin was asking "who's that?".  I wasn't sure, but he kept pointing to different pictures, and over and over asking "ooo dat?"  I caught on and started naming people.  Daddy.  Mama.  Grandpa Buzzy.  Grandma Lulu.  Daddy.  Sydney.  Baby-Colin.

Now, just a couple of days later, the kid is a question factory.  At the grocery store last night he was relentless.  He saw a watermelon: aaat dat?  (translation: what's that?)  A red onion: aaat dat?  A can of tomato paste: aaat dat?  Each time I'd bring the item over to him, let him touch it, and tell him what it was.  (Yes, this made for a very slow trip at the store.  But it was kinda fun for me, seeing which items interested him and which were passed over.)  Then when we were in line, there were some helium balloons in the checkout aisle which were apparently fascinating.  Our time in line sounded something like this:

C: (pointing to the balloons) aaat dat?

M: Those are balloons 

C: (pointing to the balloons) aaat dat?

M: Balloons 

C: (pointing to the balloons) aaat dat?

M: Those are balloons 

C: (pointing to the balloons) aaat dat?

M: A red balloon

C: (pointing to the balloons) aaat dat?

M: Balloons

C: (pointing to the balloons) aaat dat?

M: Those are balloons 

(etc. etc. etc.)

Even this morning... I was brushing my teeth as H was getting Colin dressed.  And heard him: aaat dat?  aaat dat?  I can only assume he was pointing to exciting articles like a comb, or possibly his shoe.

If the kid is asking these ceaseless questions now, I can only imagine what he'll be like in a year or two.  I read once that the average toddler asks 72 questions an hour as they try to learn about the world around them.  That sounded crazy at first, but in retrospect I'm betting it is a pretty accurate number.

And I now know why growing up I was given the Big Book of Tell Me Why.  I distinctly remember driving in the car (on Clifton Boulevard back in Lakewood!) with that book on my lap, looking things up and then regaling my parents with my new-found knowledge.  I took that book everywhere, and was constantly referencing it.  And I'm so very, very glad that a few years ago I bought a set of the Big Book of Tell Me Why (volumes 1 - 3)... I think those books are going to be really handy in the years to come!