Baby's first words. We're not always sure when (or even IF) we hear them. They're often nothing more than a somewhat indistinguishable sound containing an all too familiar grunt mixed with a known word delivered via the easiest pronunciation possible. It's like their first steps. It's something we, as parents, tend to remember and cherish.

But what about other milestones? Like baby's firsts sentence? Around my house, I'm not shocked by Aj's first sentence.

Aj's first sentence came this last weekend (Labor Day Weekend, Aj was 17mo old). I've seen it coming for many months. There have been classic, un-deniable signs everywhere. It started almost directly after Aj learned to crawl; he relentlessly and feverishly sought out and conquered almost every single object that has wheels and could be mounted, both at home and away. If it had wheels, and it could be sat upon, Aj would figure out a way to get his little butt up there. It hasn't been easy, either. It's one of the main reasons I call him "little bump". But falling over and pulling the vehicle he was trying to mount on top of him hasn't stopped him. If anything, it's made him even more determined.

He has several toys on the deck he rides, ranging from a big Tonka Dump truck to a skateboard to a three wheeler that he can't quite reach the peddles on. We have an electric quad and electric jeep, and he knows how to make them go, though at first he didn't mean to.

But his favorite is a small (50cc) combustion engine quad we ride around the back-yard track. No matter what he's doing, if I hold the quad keys out and shake them, he'll come a runnin'. He knows the difference between those and any other keys we have. He loves to ride and he'll ride 'til he falls asleep, and has several times, just like his brother.

Lately I've been letting him control the throttle while I steer and govern the acceleration manually. He'll wind it up 'til we're flying down the back straight first gear pegged (you should hear him laughing as we go, I can only imagine the look on his face), then let off abruptly as we're coming into the hairpin so I can turn, then he'll start feathering it on and off as we come out of the turn and start going thru the esses. He shows real poise and has what appears to be a natural talent. Some might argue that you can't spot talent that early, but I beg to differ.

So I guess it shouldn't surprise me that when we've finished riding, and get off to go inside for a cold drink, he stops, turns and points at the quad with a very clear and audible warning:

"Vrooom-vroom hot", he says. Then he turns and walks inside.

Originally posted in Sept '06 at True Innocents