Commands

Gavin and Vivian may not be talking yet, but they definitely understand a few commands and are fully capable of responding to them (we feel like they understand most of what we say, but they only actually respond to a few things). For instance, they definitely get it when we tell them to "sit down," which happens most often in the tub. We'll say "sit down Gavin" or "sit down Vivian", they'll look at us, and slowly sit down. A few other popular phrases that they respond to include:

• "Put it back", which is usually said after they've pulled 50 wipes out of the wipe container. We tell them to put them back and they shove them all back in.
• "Come here." They've been coming to us for a while now whenever we ask them to. Well, as long as we don't have a diaper or clothes in our hands- they still hate those things.
• "Jump up", which is said whenever they fall down. They usually get right up if they're not hurt too badly.
• "No." Here, they stop whatever it is that they're doing, make a sad or angry face, wait a couple of seconds, and then try again.
• "Where's the pup?" Interestingly, this is the first question they ever responded to. They've been looking at or pointing at the pup every single time we ask them this question for a few months now.
• "Go get the ball." Whenever we say this, Gav and/or Viv will run towards this large green ball we have. And Gavin will usually pick it up and carry it around.

My favorite, however, is "Where's your belly?" (which is a rather recent development). We'll ask them where their bellies are, Gavin will lift up his shirt and pat his belly while Vivi will just pat her belly. It's adorable. We're working on getting them to identify other body parts.

These few commands have become extremely helpful over the last few weeks and months. I wonder what they'll learn next?