Please Advance to Woof

While Oliver and I were reading one of his books a few nights back, he pointed to a cartoon depicted dog and said, “Woof!” While for some time he’s been pointing out chickens, birds, cats, cows, dogs, frogs, and even the occasional worm, heretofore "woof" had not been a part of his repertoire. He hisses like a snake, meows like a cat, makes monkey sounds while patting his chest (no brutish pounding, mind you), trumpets like an elephant, moos like a cow, rumbles while pushing cars, trucks, tractors about, but for some reason "woof" remained out of his reach, a more advanced sound, if you will. Of course, Bella the Bulldog would argue that woofing is obviously an advanced skillset and that this should have been obvious to me all along.

At any rate, trust you me that I have been woofing at him for a very, very long time. Then, suddenly, "woof" just happened. Now, when asked what sound a doggie makes, he pauses, concentrates very hard and utters a fine little "woof." Since he's already prone to eating dog food, we now have a perfectly shocking little trick for the next party we host.

Dear future guests, prepare to be shocked and awed!