What Alexander said

I've been in England with my two-year-old grandson, who has now discovered language, and while I was with him I noted down some of the delightful things he said. He is particularly interested in trains and buses, toy ones and real ones.

Alexander got lots of many pieces fix that train track.

Thomas goes to bed in Gordon's shed.

He made four attempts at a negative statement about his toy train.

Gordon got any much steam coming out. Gordon got no steam. Gordon hasn't got any more steam. Gordon hasn't got any much steam left.

When we were on board, waiting to leave the station,

'xander can't see wheels on the train... We're not going any more!

Colouring a drawing of "Ivor the Engine", he told us,

The buffers need be green.

and after a trip to see "Ivor the Engine" on the Watercress Line,

Ivor blow his whistle for us!

We plunged out of the tunnel.

Doors go pssh, open, let more people get off. Doors go pssh, shut, then the bus go.

The baby go wah-wah on the bus.

This is a reference to one of the many verses of The Wheels on the Bus go Round and Round. After dark, catching sight of my son-in-law's reflection in the bus window,

Mummy, there's a picture of Daddy on the bus!

Alexander knows the numbers of the buses that pass through his part of London (such as the "airport bus", No. 285) though I'm not sure he can recognise the shapes of every digit, yet. The first evening I spent with him, when he'd been collected from his day-nursery, he counted the gas cylinders beside the NPL building where his parents go to work:

One, two, three, six gassy Lindas.

Then we got him home and prepared to have supper. "Grandma's washing his hands." He loves his yoghurt. "That's a little small spoonful," he said, helping himself to a large amount.

The next day being sunny, we did some gardening. "Oh come dig!" he insisted, and talked about it afterwards.

Alexander dug a big hole Grandma put blue flowers in it.

The fluffy black cat that belongs to the neighbours padded by.

'xander stroke the cat one of these days,

he said.

Indoors, there were jigsaws to play with.

Do the jig-jaw all so well. Well done, Alexander!

he says to himself, clapping his hands when he has completed one. And to settle down at night, he has books read to him.

This is a big, happy book!

he told me, choosing from the shelf in his bedroom.