Has he learnt anything new? This is the question my mum regularly asks me about Booni. And my standard reply is, ‘He hasn’t learnt anything at all! He doesn’t know anything!’

Booni is a completely different story to Vins (yes, here I go again – comparing). He has no interest in learning anything!

I’ve been worrying and worrying about him. He can’t sit still for three minutes, so I don’t think he absorbs anything. He won’t look at the pictures of animals in our books – he usually just throws it on the floor. Or chews it. He won’t watch anything on TV for more than one minute (I know they shouldn’t watch TV, but I actually think they learn a lot from it). He won’t sit still long enough for me to touch his nose when I ask him where his nose is.

So what does he know???

I came across a post I wrote about Vins when he was ten months old – about the things he could do at that stage. It wasn’t an extensive list – but it was pretty good.

Booni… What can Booni do? He’s going to be a year old at the end of this month!

1. He can crawl.
2. He can walk while holding onto furniture.
3. He can stand unsupported for a few seconds.
4. He dances when he hears music.
5. He can wave goodbye (if he’s in the mood).
6. He understands ‘no’ if you waggle your finger at him and say ‘no’ at the same time.
7. He holds up various objects to his ear and pretends it’s a phone.
8. If he’s holding a comb or a hairbrush, he tries to brush his hair.
9. If you ask him where Rolo is, he points to him.
10. He can say ‘mama’ (although I don’t think he’s referring to me).
11. He can roar like a lion. (Explained below)
12. He can identify the lion toy. (Also explained below)
13. ‘How does Booni clean his mouth?’ (More below)
14. He climbs into his bouncy chair when he wants to sleep.

8 & 9 – I came back from London with a new determination to spend more time with him and really teach him something. I don’t know how it happened, but that something was to roar like a lion. I’d ask him (a few times a day), ‘Booni, what does a lion say?’ And I’d roar. And Vins would roar. And then Booni would roar. We practised this for a few days – me asking, me roaring, Vins roaring and then Booni copying us. Eventually, when I asked him, he’d roar on his own. It’s really the cutest thing. YES! He knew something! Then I took a little toy lion and kept showing it to him. ‘Look Booni. It’s a lion! What does the lion say?’ Honestly, by day 3, every time I asked him what the lion, he looked at me as if to say, ‘not the f*cking lion again!’. Anyway, so eventually I started taking out two toys and I’d ask him, ‘Booni where’s the lion?’ He was eventually able to choose the lion. And the smile on his face when I cheered for him… Heart melting.

10 – After a messy snack, I got a wet wipe and cleaned Booni’s face and neck (how food gets onto his neck, I just don’t know). Then I gave him the wipe and said, ‘How does Booni clean his mouth?’ I didn’t think he’d know what to do with it (apart from chew it). He looked at it. And I asked him again, ‘How does Booni clean his mouth?’ He looked at me and smiled and before I knew what had happened, he’d launched himself at me (we were sitting on the floor) and started cleaning my face with it! It was cute. But gross.

I guess he does know some things?