Baby's Got Rhythm

Kai got the book Brown Bear Brown Bear What do You See from family friends Greg and Marie on his first birthday. I noticed a few weeks ago that the daycare also has that book. Perhaps it's because of his familiarity with the book, Kai recently started "reciting" the book on his own when he's playing. Just like how he'd start singing while he's playing with his cars.

"Brown bear brown bear what do you see? I see a red bird looking at me. Red bird red bird what do you see? I see a yellow duck looking at me...." It goes on with different colors and animals. Kai knows them all by heart now.

During the bedtime story time tonight, Kai wanted me to read to his new favorite toy "Giraffe" while he plays by himself around the armchair. "Mommy read Winnie the Pooh [to] Giraffe." As I read to the yellow bedside toy that sings a lullaby when you pull the string on his butt, Kai climbed into his bed with a Thomas the Engine book:

(pointing at the title) "The spe-show deviviry." He practiced saying this tongue-twisting (for a 2-year-old anyway) title a couple more times. "The spe-show deviviry. Okay..... Train track train track What do you see? I see Cranky looking at me. Cranky Cranky What do you see? I see Thomas the Train looking at me. (This part got a little tricky because of the sheer number of syllables he has to fit in, but he did it) Thomas-the-train Thomas-the-train What do you see? I see a helicopter looking at me. Helicopter Helicopter What do you see? I see a what-that-is looking at me. ("What that is?" is Kai's "What is that?) The whole time he was reinventing the Brown Bear rhyme with Thomas the Engine, he pointed at each of the items he included in his new rhyme on the cover of the book. "What-that-is" is the box that needs special delivery.

I was blown away by his superb sense of rhythm and pace, linguistically. He obviously understands how the original Brown Bear rhyme works and (just to knock his Mommy's socks off) is able to make a new one with dead-on rhythm in which the beat falls on the correct syllable!

I'm totally intrigued. We need more rhyming books 'cause who knows what else a 2-year-old will come up with.

To the library!