bumbo and dando

Jonah has a lot of words. He knows them, says them with startlingly crisp articulation at times. He sings songs. He recites books verbatim.

And he babbles.

A favorite game is to run in circles chanting: Bumbo bumbo bumbo — or — Dando dando dando.

Tonight, I decided to try to get to the bottom of this.

Who is Bumbo? I asked. Where is Bumbo?

At first: Bumbo, in the window siiiiillll, he said, pointing to the curtain.

Oh, I said, is the Jertain in the Curtain? (quoting Dr. Seuss’ Wocket in My Pocket).

Yeah. Bumbo, in the windowww siiiilll.

Is Bumbo a boy or a girl?

He pauses, considers. Boyyye.

Where is he?

Jonah points out the sliding glass door to the back yard.

He’s in the backyard?

Yeah… Bumbo, onnn the BUS. (There’s a toy bus on the wooden trunk next to where we are sitting.)

He’s on the bus?

Yeah.

What is he wearing?

Heez wearringh aHAT.

What color is it?

He considers… Beluue.

What else is he wearing?

Considers again… Shoooz.

What color are his shoes?

Belue.

So he’s wearing a blue hat and blue shoes?

Yeah.

He’s on the bus?

Yeah.

Is he wearing a shirt?

Yeah.

Is it yellow?

Yeah.

I should pause here to mention that Jonah has just started saying “yeah” today — add that to his “yup” and you can see how completely lazy my husband and I are when it comes to speaking English. I should also explain that he is usually very deliberate with Yeah and No. For example, at dinnertime tonight, I ran through the entire contents of the fridge, asking him what he would like to eat. Every item was met with “No,” until I got to peaches. He said, Yeah. And he had a peach for dinner.

So, now we’ve established that Bumbo is a boy, riding on a bus, in a blue hat, yellow shirt, and blue shoes. We may be collaboratively creating this story, but whether it was originally his suggestions or mine, I can tell that he’s visualizing it as we go along, smiles of recognition flitting across his face each time we confirm a detail of the story. Which is so freaking cool.

And then he mentions Dando.

Dando, knock on the Doorrrrrrr, he says.

When you go to visit Dando, you knock on the door? I ask.

Knock Kuh-knock on the DOORrrrrrrr. He’s running in circles while describing this, giggling.

Are Dando and Bumbo twins? I ask.

Yeah, says Jonah.

Does he know what twins are? asks Scott. Yes, I reply, he sometimes plays with the twins that our nanny also babysits.

Dando… playwiph TI-TOe.

We all three consider this new piece of information for a moment.

Maybe he’s speaking Spanish? suggests Scott hopefully.