In my alternate alternate life (the first alternate life being the one where I’m doing a Ph.D. dissertation on the implementation and application of the Second Vatican Council in the U.S.), I’m a human behaviorist, with a concentration on child development.

Perhaps it’s partly because my two best friends in college were both Child and Family Studies majors. Or just because I’m fascinated by it – particularly language acquisition.

‘Cause that’s where we are right now.

For a few months, Michael the Baby has been comfortable with "Mama" "Daddy" and "Kagie." Says them all the time, frequently. One of the most startling leaps occurred about two months ago when, upon riding in the car as we approached St. John’s (Katie’s school), he would see where we were and start yelling "KAGIE! KAGIE!"

Followed by the moments when the phone would ring and he would immediately start yelling "KAGIE! KAGIE!" Because, of course…who else gets phone calls in our house?

I do think his first word was an emphatic "NO," however. Not unusual, I imagine.

Just in the past two or three weeks, though, things have started progressing rapidly. He can sort of say Joseph – "Joo-Joo." He says "Bye-Bye" and "Hi," often to perfect strangers. He sees the table being set and starts yelling "Eat! Eat!" "Down," "Out" "Baby" "Nigh-Night," "Mine" "Wawer" "Go" "Goggie" (dog – or sometimes, any small animal) are some of his words. Like any normal 18-month olds, he likes to throw things. If it’s food, he’ll eye us, toss the crust or crumb if he’s not stopped, scowl (he’s a big scowler) and growl, "Baaaad!"

The minute he wakes up and gets his breakfast and his bearings (and yes, he says "oatmeal" – although at this point it is a catch-all for "food," I think, since he was yelling it the other day in Target, pointing at their snack bar. I’m pretty sure they don’t serve oatmeal.) – he finds his shoes, muttering "giggies" (piggies), hands them over, and insists- "Out-wide. Out-wide!" – Outside. When he wants to make music, he points to the piano and says, "La-la!" During the Easter season, he  picked up "I do!" and started answering the baptismal promise questions a beat after everyone else. Loudly, sometimes. Ask him any question and he’ll shake his head with great regret and answer, "Nooooo."

Most fascinating, though are the rudimentary sentences, all built around "Ay-anh" (a phonetic attempt). "Ay-anh eat." "Ay-anh DAT" – you guessed it – it’s "I want." He also mimics what he hears – so if he’s bidding someone farewell, he’ll often say, "Bye-bye, baby." Funniest are his incipient manners. He can say "pease," and when you hand him what he wants (often "joooosh"), he’ll take it with a brisk, "Kank oo baby," and trot off. ("thank you, baby").

The baby imitates so he can get his needs and desires met. Watching, responding and watching some more. As I type this, I have a five-year old tumbling around next to me saying, "Night-Night!" and "Guggies!" (huggies) – because it’s what his little brother does to get attention – and it works, and everyone thinks it’s adorable. When Katie was around 3, I was standing in line at the grocery store, exasperated at something. I heard a sigh, and looked down to see little Miss Katie standing, her hip jutting out, hand on that hip, shaking her head and making her own disgusted noises. They’re always watching. Always.

It’s what we do from the beginning, it’s what we do for the rest of our lives. We watch, observe and imitate. The question is who. Who will we imitate? To whom will we listen? Anyone? Everyone? Or the One who loves us the most?