While I’m concerned with conjugating verbs correctly and not making mistakes, Jesse is jumping in head first. He could care less how smoothly things go; he just wants to learn. At meals we keep our dictionary near by. Jesse will reach for it, look up one to two words, and smile while he says them, hoping to strike up conversation. One night while we were eating dinner with Valeria he said, “Que instrumento… Alfredo?” She got the point and filled in the blanks. “Toca? (play?),” she clarified. “Si, Si,” said Jesse. We then talked for a few minutes about what instruments her son plays. Or, like the time Jesse saw her shelling peas and he wanted to help. I’m often too nervous to take initiative. So while I was figuring out in my head how to properly ask, “Can we help you shell the peas?” Jesse had already looked up one word: the verb “to help.” He got up from his chair, smiled and said, “Ayudar?” Not conjugated. Not in a sentence. Just, ayudar. “Si! Si!” said Valeria.