Up the down staircase

Joseph is saying several new words these days and so we are trying a little more pointedly to get him to repeat and pronounce things that we say everyday. Joseph has been able to say "up" for a long time. He used to point up and say "up" whether he wanted to go upstairs or downstairs. I did teach him to point down when he wants to go down, but he still says "up." Especially in the morning, he will wait for us to go downstairs, but indicates that he wants to go by pointing down and saying "up?"

So Michael especially is trying to get him to say "down." He says to Joseph, "Say 'down.' Duh-duh-duh-duh-duh down!" and Joseph always replies, "Da da da da da UP!"


Joseph also started saying the word "nice" a few weeks ago. Now he is using it all the time: "Wow, Daddy. Nice!" or "Oh, cool. Nice!" and earlier today he was paging through a clothing catalog and at every page he would say "Oh! Nice!"