a little picture I am a South Jersey Friend and dad with a love out of outreach and a passion for looking afresh at Friends' testimonies, language and practices. I am the publisher of Quaker Quaker, a community site for Friends, and write about online publicity, organizing and design on my business site at MartinKelley.com.

La la LA la?

Francis has been mostly quiet for his nineteen months, prompting the beginnings of worry but no real alarm. He's sort of said some ma-ma-ma babel but it's not been definitively tied to Julie and seemed to indicate hunger as much as anything ("mother equals food" is a primal equation perhaps even though Julie stopped nursing last December).

Well in the last few days we've had his first clear-cut words: "La la LA la." Even without the accompanying notes, most friends of toddlers will recognize Elmo's theme song. Francis starts singing it whenever he sees his little Elmo doll. It's cute enough that we forgive him not prioritizing ma-ma and pa-pa first.

I hope to get a video of Francis's La la LA la for Youtube soon. In the meantime, here's a few photos. The first includes big brother Theo and--on top of the mess--Elmo himself. The second is Francis reading a book from the Thomas the Tank Engine Railway Series (not a posed shot, he climbed the rocking chair with the book himself).