Being a toddler is no easy task. There's so much interesting around you, so much unknown, and you can't ask anyone about it. Why can't you ask? Because you don't know how to talk yet! You probably remember the boy Mitya, who loved to play tag with the cat. Vasya the cat taught him to walk back then. But how much can you learn from a furry four-legged friend? He just says meow, meow, meow. And he won't tell you anything useful.
Mitya loved to go for walks with his mom. First, she would spend a long time dressing him—first a little shirt and tights, then a warm snowsuit and boots, and finally a hat. Mitya didn't like the hat, but for some reason his mom would grumble when he took it off himself. But what Mitya liked most about walks was riding in the stroller. He sat importantly, dangling his feet, while his mom pushed him along the road next to cars and through the park where very tall trees grew. But Mitya didn't know yet what things were called or how to say them. He could only say: "Ma-ma."
And from those two syllables, his mom could magically understand what he wanted. Sometimes it was a demanding "ma-ma," and then mom would pick him up; sometimes it was a sad "ma-ma" and mom understood he was tired. There were countless ways to pronounce these two syllables. But Mitya understood there were other words too. When he learned to point his little finger at different objects, his mom would name them. But he couldn't seem to repeat anything.
Ma-chine, — his mom would say in syllables when the baby pointed at passing cars.
Ma! — the little one would only answer.
Tree, — his mom would say when they walked in the park and Mitya eagerly looked at the green oaks.
Ma... — the child would answer thoughtfully.
This repeated day after day: mom spoke, Mitya listened, but he was in no hurry to repeat.
One day, while walking in the park, Mitya noticed a large black bird. It walked back and forth importantly on the leaves. Mom didn't immediately understand what the baby was so intently looking at. The bird also looked at the boy, took a few steps toward him, and the baby clapped his hands.
The bird wasn't frightened; it came closer and looked the boy over. He clearly pleased her. Mitya, in turn, stared even more intently at the unusual black creature. He had never seen such interesting birds before. He pointed at it with his finger and mom said:
Crow.
Mitya said nothing in response. Mom wasn't surprised; she knew for certain that Mitya couldn't repeat such a long word. The crow looked at the boy a bit longer, and then loudly proclaimed:
Caaaa-aw.
And flapping its large black wings, it flew away.
Mitya was amazed by this encounter. Throughout the walk, he remembered how the crow said "caw." And he very much wanted to talk to this bird. He spent a long time trying different sounds. Sometimes he growled like a tiger, sometimes he hummed a long "Aaaaaaa."
Mom smiled in response, not knowing what her baby was trying to repeat.
That evening when they came home, mom began undressing Mitya. But he couldn't forget the amazing bird. And suddenly, he saw that a bird similar to the one he'd seen with mom in the park had landed on the windowsill. He clapped his hands, trying to get mom's attention, and pointed his little finger at the crow. Mom saw the bird and said again:
Crow.
Caaaa-aw! — answered the baby.
Mom was surprised and very happy. Little Mitya had said something for the first time besides the two syllables "ma-ma." That evening, the whole family joyfully watched as Mitya, sitting by the window, talked with the crow. Sometimes it seemed like the bird even answered him back.
Mom began taking the boy to the park more often, and it turned out he loved birds very much. Soon he already knew words like "chirp" and "hoot." And then he was able to make his mom happy and say on his own:
Crow!
So love for animals and a desire for knowledge helped little Mitya say his first words. And the crow remains his favorite bird to this day.
