Shhhhh
I don’t know if it’s the lack of sleep or what, but lately when I’ve been playing with Henry, after a few minutes, I’ll stop talking — doing anything at all, really — and just stare at him and watch him. It’s incredibly peaceful. For the most part, he’s very methodical in his movements — not as flaily as he once was — and it’s great to just observe him pick things up, move them around, point at them, smile, make strange noises, and, of course, shove anything and everything into his mouth.
I try to do the running commentary with him — look, a yellow block or door, door, can you push the door? — but sometimes I’m completely silent and observe. 
When I’m zoning out, there are times when I think I’m talking to him, but I quickly realize that, no, I’m not saying a thing.
(The same thing happened when Kristen was giving birth to Henry. I was holding her hand and staring at her, and I could’ve sworn I was giving her tons of encouragement, but no. I’m one strange puppy.)
Does this make me a terrible father that I’m not constantly trying to improve his vocabulary? Probably.
It’s a good thing Kristen is around or Henry would be mute until he hit kindergarden.
May 5th, 2009 at 6:26 am
Probably what’s happening is that you’ve discovered your super hero power: telepathy. Sounds like you have the transmission part down, and now you just need to work on the part where the intended recipient actually knows what you’re saying.
May 7th, 2009 at 10:07 am
I stare at Talia often, too. She gets such a serious look on her face when she’s playing with certain toys, you just know that mind of hers is really working. Pretty amazing.