I haven't blogged here in a long time, and I feel bad about it, but there are good reasons, too. First, I've got a two-year-old! I'm busy! You often drag out the bedtime process, then I have a tornado to clean up. Also, it's actually a lot harder to quantify and list al the progress you make now. It used to be "Hey look, you know twelve words," and now it's "Hey, listen to this story that shows you understand elements of rhetoric and persuasion!" And finally, I've been putting a lot of stuff on Facebook, so the little cute stories from day-to-day end up there.
However, I do keep this, or try to, as a record for you. So to list some of your accomplishments -- you have been doing really well in pre-school. For as crazy as you can be at home sometimes, you are the model student. Even when other kids push or grab toys, you are polite and restrained. At a recent birthday party, some boys were playing rough, and you opted to leave rather than push back (and voiced very clearly that you had made that decision).
Your language use is unbelievable. It's impossible to talk about your vocabulary any longer, because it surpasses any kid your age I've ever met. What I can talk about a little bit is your language use. I mean, your sentence structure is so sophisticated. You use complex, compound, complex-compound, and all kinds of appositives, parentheticals... I mean, your use of language shows a really amazing innate understanding of language structure. Even your mistakes show understanding of the rules. Like, if you say "I goed to school," it follows from the rule that past tense usually has an -ed ending. Same with pluralizing mouse as mouses. You're following the rules in cases where the words themselves break them. It's really smart, even though it's wrong. And you pick it up fast when you hear the rule. Yesterday I corrected you on "mice" vs. "mouses," and today you brought it up again: "One mouse, two mice."
Better than that, even, is what you use language to DO -- you tell the most amazing stories, describe dreamy musings, pretend to be different characters... And you love to play with language. Pig latin, rhymes, puns, and our favorite -- replacing some sounds with others, as in turning "Twinkle twinkle little star" to "binkle binkle bittle bar."
Physically, you're just about 37 inches now (a little less, perhaps, but it's hard to get a good measurement). You're getting so good at using a fork, drinking from a glass, jitterbugging with Boompah, climbing anywhere. You haven't gained a single pound in over a year now, although you've gotten so much taller.
Your memory is unbelievable. I have stopped recording all the times that you bring something up from six months ago. But a few days ago, you asked Grandma why she had planted flowers for your birthday party. That was almost a year ago, and Grandma swears you and she haven't talked about it since.
You are very sweet and affectionate. You like to help out. We recently gave you a chore -- wiping down your place at the table after we eat -- and you do it with enthusiasm. Potty training is almost finished. You still wear a diaper at night, and you have recalcitrant days where we have to change panties 5 or 6 times because you leaked a little, but we're not having many big accidents.
Maybe most amazing is that you're getting really close to reading. There are a handful of words you recognize, plus you can spell a few words. You know most of the letters and what sounds they make most of the time. We sometimes spell things out to keep them from you, and it's not going to work for long. Today we had this conversation.
Me (to Grandma): I think I might get her a P-R-I-N-C-E-S-S D-R-E-S-S for her birthday.
You: What's D-R-E-S-S?
Me and Grandma: Well... what sound does D make?
You: Duh.
Me: And what about R?
You: Ruh.
Grandma: What about E?
You: Uh....
Me: Let's skip that one. What about S?
You: Ssss.
Me: Well, what do those say when you put them together?
You: DRESS!
Anyway, you're a lot of fun almost all the time. You are also strong-willed and independent and argumentative, and sometimes that makes things really hard around here, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm really hoping that it carries you into adulthood and that you remain independent, as hard as that will sometimes be for all of us.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Monday, June 28, 2010
2 years, 3 months
Hi darling,
I'm so sorry I haven't updated this in so long. When you're awake, I spend most of my time chasing after you, and when you're asleep, I try to get to the gym or tidy the house or grade papers or one of a thousand other things.
I have been recording a lot of what you do and say on my other blog, but I had a goal with this one, and that was to dedicate it to you and your progress so that someday you could read all about yourself if you choose to. Anyway, I'm sorry. Writing once a month isn't too hard to do, and I should make an effort to keep it up.
Well, the big news today is that we just got back from our annual trip to Eugene, Oregon. Everyone in our family commented on how tall you are, how beautiful you are, and especially how smart and verbal you are. I think your speech has changed and improved even in the last week. You use complex and compound (and compound-complex) sentences to express your ideas, you can tell little stories, you have funny new intonations... You suddenly sound incredibly... conversational. Today at the post office, you asked some stranger "How's it going?" She answered, "I'm pretty good, how are you?" You said "very well." While we were in Oregon, you asked why we couldn't see the crescent moon. We explained that sometimes we could see more of the moon than others. You said "Oh, well, I think it's broken. I think a monster took a bite of it." You've also gone from the typical two-year-old demands of "I want gum!" to "Can I have something? Well, I was thinking about gum." (Not that you don't sometimes still fuss and demand.)
You are also exceptionally interested in hearing other people talk and tell stories. You insist on us telling you stories all the time, and have on several occasions, right after I've kissed you goodnight, grabbed me and insisted, "talk to me!" You also demand to know what everyone is saying in the songs on the radio, and why they are saying it. Today we had a long conversation about why someone might hang their head, what they might have done to make them feel sad or ashamed, and how they might need their mommy to help them feel better. I sang you a snippet of "Hello, Goodbye" the other day, and you had a whole theory as to why the girl might tell the boy goodbye and no, and that maybe she didn't want to go on a date with him. You have strong feelings about "Tell Me Why," and you really want to know why the girl cried. I find this attention to lyrics especially interesting, because I am so interested in lyrics myself. People are always saying "Ooh, I love the way they use the zither in that song!" and I'll be like "the what?" But I know all the lyrics by heart.
We met your newest cousin (or first cousin once removed), Aidan, on this trip. He is 7 weeks old, and he waves his little hands around, occasionally getting them in just the right spot to keep his pacifier in, just as you did. But the contrast of how you move now is startling! Everything you do is so intentional. You insist on climbing up into your carseat by yourself. You put your shoes on and try hard to get the strap into the buckle. You can put Barbie shoes on -- not consistently, but often, and you do NOT want help. I even watched you in half-sleep one night as you tucked a doll into the crook of your arm, pulled the blanket up to your chin, and adjusted the pillow under your head. It kind of blew my mind -- just one year ago, we put you to sleep in a fleece bag because you couldn't pull up your blanket if you kicked it off by accident. Now you're practically making the bed.
One day a few weeks ago, I came home after you had spent some time with your dad, and you were both singing a little song. It was simple -- three descending "mmms," then a name like "Little Bear" or "Mama Bear" or "Papa Bear." I thought your dad had made it up and you had picked it up to copy him. Then you were singing the "helping hand" song, a song that neither your Grandma nor I can explain where it comes from. It always has the same melody and the same, slightly indecipherable, lyrics. I finally became convinced you had simply made it up, and I was telling your auntie that, when your dad piped in and said you had made up the Little Bear song, too. I'm sure many kids make up their own little songs, but this sort of makes my head explode, too. You've made up your own songs? I mean... wow.
You are the reigning queen of loopholes, by the way. We told you you couldn't say "go away" anymore, and that you'd have a time-out if you did. So you started just saying "go," then looking at us slyly. Sometimes you got to "go ahhh...." but then stopped. Then you started saying go away again, but you insisted each time that you hadn't been telling US to go away -- you had aimed your ire at Max, the imaginary elephant. You couldn't get in trouble if you weren't saying it to us, right? When we caught on and outlawed saying it even to our imaginary compatriots, you made up a third song. "I'm singing go away, go away, go away." Yeah, we banned that song. For a while, you tried other variations on the theme, like "Mo amay" and "fo afay." Then you started saying the "rain, rain, go away" rhyme, but really punching the "go away" part. Sometimes we have to work hard to keep a straight face at just how clever you are.
Well, you're awake from a nap now, and you are "doing some work" on a Barbie shoe. I'd better return to my normally scheduled life.
I love you more than you could ever imagine.
Mom
I'm so sorry I haven't updated this in so long. When you're awake, I spend most of my time chasing after you, and when you're asleep, I try to get to the gym or tidy the house or grade papers or one of a thousand other things.
I have been recording a lot of what you do and say on my other blog, but I had a goal with this one, and that was to dedicate it to you and your progress so that someday you could read all about yourself if you choose to. Anyway, I'm sorry. Writing once a month isn't too hard to do, and I should make an effort to keep it up.
Well, the big news today is that we just got back from our annual trip to Eugene, Oregon. Everyone in our family commented on how tall you are, how beautiful you are, and especially how smart and verbal you are. I think your speech has changed and improved even in the last week. You use complex and compound (and compound-complex) sentences to express your ideas, you can tell little stories, you have funny new intonations... You suddenly sound incredibly... conversational. Today at the post office, you asked some stranger "How's it going?" She answered, "I'm pretty good, how are you?" You said "very well." While we were in Oregon, you asked why we couldn't see the crescent moon. We explained that sometimes we could see more of the moon than others. You said "Oh, well, I think it's broken. I think a monster took a bite of it." You've also gone from the typical two-year-old demands of "I want gum!" to "Can I have something? Well, I was thinking about gum." (Not that you don't sometimes still fuss and demand.)
You are also exceptionally interested in hearing other people talk and tell stories. You insist on us telling you stories all the time, and have on several occasions, right after I've kissed you goodnight, grabbed me and insisted, "talk to me!" You also demand to know what everyone is saying in the songs on the radio, and why they are saying it. Today we had a long conversation about why someone might hang their head, what they might have done to make them feel sad or ashamed, and how they might need their mommy to help them feel better. I sang you a snippet of "Hello, Goodbye" the other day, and you had a whole theory as to why the girl might tell the boy goodbye and no, and that maybe she didn't want to go on a date with him. You have strong feelings about "Tell Me Why," and you really want to know why the girl cried. I find this attention to lyrics especially interesting, because I am so interested in lyrics myself. People are always saying "Ooh, I love the way they use the zither in that song!" and I'll be like "the what?" But I know all the lyrics by heart.
We met your newest cousin (or first cousin once removed), Aidan, on this trip. He is 7 weeks old, and he waves his little hands around, occasionally getting them in just the right spot to keep his pacifier in, just as you did. But the contrast of how you move now is startling! Everything you do is so intentional. You insist on climbing up into your carseat by yourself. You put your shoes on and try hard to get the strap into the buckle. You can put Barbie shoes on -- not consistently, but often, and you do NOT want help. I even watched you in half-sleep one night as you tucked a doll into the crook of your arm, pulled the blanket up to your chin, and adjusted the pillow under your head. It kind of blew my mind -- just one year ago, we put you to sleep in a fleece bag because you couldn't pull up your blanket if you kicked it off by accident. Now you're practically making the bed.
One day a few weeks ago, I came home after you had spent some time with your dad, and you were both singing a little song. It was simple -- three descending "mmms," then a name like "Little Bear" or "Mama Bear" or "Papa Bear." I thought your dad had made it up and you had picked it up to copy him. Then you were singing the "helping hand" song, a song that neither your Grandma nor I can explain where it comes from. It always has the same melody and the same, slightly indecipherable, lyrics. I finally became convinced you had simply made it up, and I was telling your auntie that, when your dad piped in and said you had made up the Little Bear song, too. I'm sure many kids make up their own little songs, but this sort of makes my head explode, too. You've made up your own songs? I mean... wow.
You are the reigning queen of loopholes, by the way. We told you you couldn't say "go away" anymore, and that you'd have a time-out if you did. So you started just saying "go," then looking at us slyly. Sometimes you got to "go ahhh...." but then stopped. Then you started saying go away again, but you insisted each time that you hadn't been telling US to go away -- you had aimed your ire at Max, the imaginary elephant. You couldn't get in trouble if you weren't saying it to us, right? When we caught on and outlawed saying it even to our imaginary compatriots, you made up a third song. "I'm singing go away, go away, go away." Yeah, we banned that song. For a while, you tried other variations on the theme, like "Mo amay" and "fo afay." Then you started saying the "rain, rain, go away" rhyme, but really punching the "go away" part. Sometimes we have to work hard to keep a straight face at just how clever you are.
Well, you're awake from a nap now, and you are "doing some work" on a Barbie shoe. I'd better return to my normally scheduled life.
I love you more than you could ever imagine.
Mom
Thursday, February 25, 2010
23 months!
Holy cow, I can't believe how fast the time passes.
I think the most interesting recent development is that you are telling jokes and playing pranks. For example, you've had your "one-two boobie" joke for months, but recently you asked what a babysitter was. Grandma explained, and you asked "Are you going to sit on a baby?" Grandma laughed, so you keep asking "Are you going to sit on a baby?"
Also, the other night I was walking in your room and I stepped on something hidden under your rug. I yelled "ouch!" I looked under the rug and there was a parasol. I pulled it out and set it aside. The next morning, "ouch!" again. I looked under the rug and there was the parasol. Apparently, you got into the car with Grandma and said "I put the umbrella under the rug again." Last night I asked you to tell a friend of mine what you'd been doing, and you totally admitted it: "I put the umbrella under the rug. Mama stepped on it. She said 'Ouch.'" Little prankster.
You are interested in longer stories now. You make up words. Like, you'll say, "Bazoop! What did I say?" You also think it's really funny to pretend to be a baby. You rarely grin wider than when I agree to feed you, or you crawl on the floor announcing "I'm a baby! Ga ga goo goo!"
You like the name game a lot, and I'll catch you singing "Boompah boompah bo boompah banana fanna fo foompah."
You try to help, like moving clean laundry from one pile to another as I fold it. You also helped put laundry in the washer once. And you like to pull shredded paper out of the shredder, then get the broom and sweep it around.
You're really excited that we can put pigtails in your hair, and you frequently ask for pigtails. You have also gotten a lot more interested in your wardrobe, and you'll ask to wear a particular outfit.
You're still an enormous eater. I think your new favorite food is mortadella, of all things. You're so active, though, that you burn off all that energy. In fact, you're still only 28 pounds. But you just hardly ever stop moving, bouncing, running, climbing...
As for nursing, it's on its way out. On Monday, you didn't nurse at all. You now nurse for just a few seconds before getting distracted. Or you'll tell me "Mama, you don't have any booby milk!" Until a few weeks ago, you still said I had milk, so I think it was the day without nursing that helped dry up my milk. I've planted a few suggestions about how big girls don't nurse, but I'm not pushing you. I also decided to stop taking my herbs when I run out this time, whether you're done or not. At this point, I think it's much more about comfort than milk anyway.
Next month is your birthday, and of course I've already gotten all your presents. Daddy and I are really excited about the stuff we picked out -- a ballet outfit, recycling truck, tool kit, a book called Flotsam, and a play tent.
I love you tremendously,
Mom
I think the most interesting recent development is that you are telling jokes and playing pranks. For example, you've had your "one-two boobie" joke for months, but recently you asked what a babysitter was. Grandma explained, and you asked "Are you going to sit on a baby?" Grandma laughed, so you keep asking "Are you going to sit on a baby?"
Also, the other night I was walking in your room and I stepped on something hidden under your rug. I yelled "ouch!" I looked under the rug and there was a parasol. I pulled it out and set it aside. The next morning, "ouch!" again. I looked under the rug and there was the parasol. Apparently, you got into the car with Grandma and said "I put the umbrella under the rug again." Last night I asked you to tell a friend of mine what you'd been doing, and you totally admitted it: "I put the umbrella under the rug. Mama stepped on it. She said 'Ouch.'" Little prankster.
You are interested in longer stories now. You make up words. Like, you'll say, "Bazoop! What did I say?" You also think it's really funny to pretend to be a baby. You rarely grin wider than when I agree to feed you, or you crawl on the floor announcing "I'm a baby! Ga ga goo goo!"
You like the name game a lot, and I'll catch you singing "Boompah boompah bo boompah banana fanna fo foompah."
You try to help, like moving clean laundry from one pile to another as I fold it. You also helped put laundry in the washer once. And you like to pull shredded paper out of the shredder, then get the broom and sweep it around.
You're really excited that we can put pigtails in your hair, and you frequently ask for pigtails. You have also gotten a lot more interested in your wardrobe, and you'll ask to wear a particular outfit.
You're still an enormous eater. I think your new favorite food is mortadella, of all things. You're so active, though, that you burn off all that energy. In fact, you're still only 28 pounds. But you just hardly ever stop moving, bouncing, running, climbing...
As for nursing, it's on its way out. On Monday, you didn't nurse at all. You now nurse for just a few seconds before getting distracted. Or you'll tell me "Mama, you don't have any booby milk!" Until a few weeks ago, you still said I had milk, so I think it was the day without nursing that helped dry up my milk. I've planted a few suggestions about how big girls don't nurse, but I'm not pushing you. I also decided to stop taking my herbs when I run out this time, whether you're done or not. At this point, I think it's much more about comfort than milk anyway.
Next month is your birthday, and of course I've already gotten all your presents. Daddy and I are really excited about the stuff we picked out -- a ballet outfit, recycling truck, tool kit, a book called Flotsam, and a play tent.
I love you tremendously,
Mom
Monday, January 25, 2010
22 months
Well, Zadie is 22 months old today. She has been more interested in potty training, though it's not at all consistent. A few days in a row, she won't have a wet diaper at all, and the next day she refuses to go anywhere near the potty. Weirdest of all, she seems to be holding her pee as long as she can to avoid going in her diaper or in the potty. I bought her some pull-ups, because poopy panties are pretty gross, so we can't really put her in panties full-time yet, but I didn't really like the expense or the earth-unfriendliness of the pull-ups, so I bought a few new cloth diaper covers. She can take as long as she wants to get fully potty-trained.
She got a HAUL for Christmas, including a pedal-less bike and a trike. Unfortunately, she can't reach the pedals on the trike or the ground on the bike, so she's not really motoring yet. Her favorite activities right now are going to Bounce Town and Art Beast, coloring, watching PBS kids shows, reading books (we got a bunch of great new ones at Christmas and on our trip to Santa Cruz), and playing with her xylophone and tea set. She also loves her Legos.
She is still really into girly stuff, playing with my jewelry, putting on my "fancy" shoes, asking for barrettes in her hair, and wanting her fingernails polished.
She is a big eater, and she LOVES smoothies, bacon, eggs, noodles, rice, and beans. She ate a whole kids meal at a Mexican place last night - a taco, beans, and rice. She also ate about half the chips and salsa, although she kept insisting "I don't like it very much... Push it here, I want some more."
She's kind of entering that terrible two phase. Most of the time, she's a ball of fun and sweetness, but she occasionally just... freaks out. She'll scream "I DON'T WANT SHOES ON! I WANT MY SHOES ON!" That kind of thing. There's just no pleasing her. Of course it's worse if she's tired or hungry. She has taken to telling us to "shoo." She even told me "I don't love you, Mama." Apparently she inherited my ability to say really hurtful shit. I know she doesn't mean it, though.
She is so much more coordinated these days. Like, she made a painting the other day that looked really intentional. Of course, she still trips right over her own feet a couple times a day, too.
She's also getting so big! For a survey about her health care provider, I just checked to see how tall she was, and she's 2' 9". All her old dresses are mini-skirts now. And looking at pictures from only a few months ago, it's obvious her hair keeps growing and growing! When I pour water on it in the bath, it touches her shoulders, although when it's dry it's so curly that it doesn't even touch the nape of her neck.
She's still nursing, although not as much as before. She backs off a little bit all the time. She'll even forget to nurse at her usual times completely, then when it's time for me to go to work or her to go to bed, she'll panic and be like "I need booby time!"
She took a Spanish class before Christmas and still runs around the house screaming "Arriba! Abajo!" There is another Spanish class coming up and a dance class, both for kids her age, so I'm hoping we can get her into one of those. I think she'd enjoy either.
Well, as you might be able to tell, I'm distracted by my very active toddler. I'd better go. I can't believe she's going to be two in 8 more weeks! I have a birthday party to plan...
She got a HAUL for Christmas, including a pedal-less bike and a trike. Unfortunately, she can't reach the pedals on the trike or the ground on the bike, so she's not really motoring yet. Her favorite activities right now are going to Bounce Town and Art Beast, coloring, watching PBS kids shows, reading books (we got a bunch of great new ones at Christmas and on our trip to Santa Cruz), and playing with her xylophone and tea set. She also loves her Legos.
She is still really into girly stuff, playing with my jewelry, putting on my "fancy" shoes, asking for barrettes in her hair, and wanting her fingernails polished.
She is a big eater, and she LOVES smoothies, bacon, eggs, noodles, rice, and beans. She ate a whole kids meal at a Mexican place last night - a taco, beans, and rice. She also ate about half the chips and salsa, although she kept insisting "I don't like it very much... Push it here, I want some more."
She's kind of entering that terrible two phase. Most of the time, she's a ball of fun and sweetness, but she occasionally just... freaks out. She'll scream "I DON'T WANT SHOES ON! I WANT MY SHOES ON!" That kind of thing. There's just no pleasing her. Of course it's worse if she's tired or hungry. She has taken to telling us to "shoo." She even told me "I don't love you, Mama." Apparently she inherited my ability to say really hurtful shit. I know she doesn't mean it, though.
She is so much more coordinated these days. Like, she made a painting the other day that looked really intentional. Of course, she still trips right over her own feet a couple times a day, too.
She's also getting so big! For a survey about her health care provider, I just checked to see how tall she was, and she's 2' 9". All her old dresses are mini-skirts now. And looking at pictures from only a few months ago, it's obvious her hair keeps growing and growing! When I pour water on it in the bath, it touches her shoulders, although when it's dry it's so curly that it doesn't even touch the nape of her neck.
She's still nursing, although not as much as before. She backs off a little bit all the time. She'll even forget to nurse at her usual times completely, then when it's time for me to go to work or her to go to bed, she'll panic and be like "I need booby time!"
She took a Spanish class before Christmas and still runs around the house screaming "Arriba! Abajo!" There is another Spanish class coming up and a dance class, both for kids her age, so I'm hoping we can get her into one of those. I think she'd enjoy either.
Well, as you might be able to tell, I'm distracted by my very active toddler. I'd better go. I can't believe she's going to be two in 8 more weeks! I have a birthday party to plan...
Monday, December 28, 2009
21 months
Azadeh, you are a real character. Today on the train to San Francisco, you looked around and loudly said "How are you today, people?" Everywhere we go, people are charmed by you, partly because you are intentionally charming -- you smile, cock your head coyly to one side, say "Hi!" and "How are you today?" and "What's your name?"
You learned lots of words in Spanish at your Spanish class. Now we can ask "Donde esta los ojos?" and you'll point right to your eyes. You know several animals and some other facial features and some of the months and a few other things, too.
You still love ArtBeast (in fact, I think I'm going to get you a 1-year pass), and you also love the zoo and the park and, since Grant's 2nd birthday, BounceTown. In fact, practically every time we leave the house you announce that we're on our way to BounceTown.
You make little jokes. Your favorite is "One two boobies!" (You counted them once, carefully, while pointing at them, and it made me laugh, so now you do it all the time. If I don't laugh, you say "Mama, laugh!")
Christmas is over now, and you really enjoyed it. You got lots of new books and toys and some clothes. Your favorite, I think, is the doll stroller, which you load up with whichever doll or animal is handy and roll around and around the house. You got three dolls. One of them, I asked what you wanted to name it, and I was being silly. "Brunhilda?" "Noooo." "Esmerelda?" "Noooo." "Hepzibah?" "Pepzibah!!" So we called her Pepzibah. Then you got a prairie girl doll from me and I threw out some flower names. "Rose?" "No." "Daisy?" "No." "Iris?" "Iris!" So her name is Iris. Then the third doll we named, from your Auntie Maryam, was a small cloth one with curly blond yarn hair. I decided to go with Greek names, and I started with Calliope. You loved that one right away. There was no more discussion. You also named your pig "Pigoboto," which cracks me up. Today we were singing "Mr. Roboto" with the lyrics changed to be about ham.
Possibly the biggest news right now is that you are potty training. Yep, one day at Grandma's, you just were dry every time she checked, and she asked if you wanted to use the potty, and you said yes every time. And you used it. It happened for two days in a row, so I tried it at home on the weekend, and you were still into it. You can't tell us before you poop, so you're still pooping in your panties or diaper, and we have been putting you in diapers when we go out and at night and naptime, but still, that's pretty good for a girl who's not even two! You have Elmo panties, Dora, Hello Kitty, and some other Sesame Street ones, and you do like to wear them. It seems like you're growing up so fast!
Daddy had a lot of time off this month, and you've been spending a lot more time with him. You two have a nice time together. He takes you to the park, takes you to get chicken nuggets, and you go on walks. In addition to it being so fun for both of you, it's a nice change for me, because I don't have to take you absolutely everywhere or hear you yelling "MAMA NO GO BYE-BYE!" when I leave the house.
Another wonderful thing that's changed is bedtime. We had gotten into a bad habit of me laying down with you to nurse you to sleep, then falling asleep with you. Then I would sneak back to my own bed, and in the middle of the night, if you'd cry again (which you did most nights), I would go lay down with you again. Neither one of us was getting enough sleep. So about three weeks ago, we told you the boobies went night-night, and started a very standard bedtime routine. We brush teeth and talk about your day. Then we read "I Love You as Much." Then we have hugs and kisses. Finally, I say "I love you little, I love you big, I love you like a little pig. Good night, sleep tight, and help Sweetpea get to sleep." Then I take off. For three nights, you really cried, but you slept through the night. Since then, you pretty much crash out as soon as I turn the light off, and you sleep all through the night almost every night. It's fantastic.
Okay, I'm tired. All for now. Today for the first time I told someone "She'll be two in three months."
You learned lots of words in Spanish at your Spanish class. Now we can ask "Donde esta los ojos?" and you'll point right to your eyes. You know several animals and some other facial features and some of the months and a few other things, too.
You still love ArtBeast (in fact, I think I'm going to get you a 1-year pass), and you also love the zoo and the park and, since Grant's 2nd birthday, BounceTown. In fact, practically every time we leave the house you announce that we're on our way to BounceTown.
You make little jokes. Your favorite is "One two boobies!" (You counted them once, carefully, while pointing at them, and it made me laugh, so now you do it all the time. If I don't laugh, you say "Mama, laugh!")
Christmas is over now, and you really enjoyed it. You got lots of new books and toys and some clothes. Your favorite, I think, is the doll stroller, which you load up with whichever doll or animal is handy and roll around and around the house. You got three dolls. One of them, I asked what you wanted to name it, and I was being silly. "Brunhilda?" "Noooo." "Esmerelda?" "Noooo." "Hepzibah?" "Pepzibah!!" So we called her Pepzibah. Then you got a prairie girl doll from me and I threw out some flower names. "Rose?" "No." "Daisy?" "No." "Iris?" "Iris!" So her name is Iris. Then the third doll we named, from your Auntie Maryam, was a small cloth one with curly blond yarn hair. I decided to go with Greek names, and I started with Calliope. You loved that one right away. There was no more discussion. You also named your pig "Pigoboto," which cracks me up. Today we were singing "Mr. Roboto" with the lyrics changed to be about ham.
Possibly the biggest news right now is that you are potty training. Yep, one day at Grandma's, you just were dry every time she checked, and she asked if you wanted to use the potty, and you said yes every time. And you used it. It happened for two days in a row, so I tried it at home on the weekend, and you were still into it. You can't tell us before you poop, so you're still pooping in your panties or diaper, and we have been putting you in diapers when we go out and at night and naptime, but still, that's pretty good for a girl who's not even two! You have Elmo panties, Dora, Hello Kitty, and some other Sesame Street ones, and you do like to wear them. It seems like you're growing up so fast!
Daddy had a lot of time off this month, and you've been spending a lot more time with him. You two have a nice time together. He takes you to the park, takes you to get chicken nuggets, and you go on walks. In addition to it being so fun for both of you, it's a nice change for me, because I don't have to take you absolutely everywhere or hear you yelling "MAMA NO GO BYE-BYE!" when I leave the house.
Another wonderful thing that's changed is bedtime. We had gotten into a bad habit of me laying down with you to nurse you to sleep, then falling asleep with you. Then I would sneak back to my own bed, and in the middle of the night, if you'd cry again (which you did most nights), I would go lay down with you again. Neither one of us was getting enough sleep. So about three weeks ago, we told you the boobies went night-night, and started a very standard bedtime routine. We brush teeth and talk about your day. Then we read "I Love You as Much." Then we have hugs and kisses. Finally, I say "I love you little, I love you big, I love you like a little pig. Good night, sleep tight, and help Sweetpea get to sleep." Then I take off. For three nights, you really cried, but you slept through the night. Since then, you pretty much crash out as soon as I turn the light off, and you sleep all through the night almost every night. It's fantastic.
Okay, I'm tired. All for now. Today for the first time I told someone "She'll be two in three months."
Monday, November 30, 2009
20 months
It's the holiday season, so I'm pressed for time, but here's a short update:
I'm going to have to stop counting the words in your sentences, as they just get longer and longer. The other day you said "Zadie reads a book while I change your diaper." Okay, you didn't have the pronouns quite right, but that's a subordinate clause! Also, you tell little stories. Like the other day, you said, "I was born in a hospital. I had a thingie in my nose."
You are also really into nursery rhymes, and can say parts of many of them. You really like Humpty Dumpty, Hickory Dickory Dock, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and a few others. You also really understand stories. The other day, we were reading a Frog and Toad story, and Toad was gathering things to go help Frog. He opened the door and you yelled "Frog! I'm coming to help you!"
You have this little trick -- it's a rhetorical trick that is very effective. You know how parents tend to expand on what their kids say? For example, a kid would say "diaper" and the parent would say "Oh, you need your diaper changed?" Well, you have completely tricked me several times. You'll say "Grapes." I'll say "Oh, you want to eat some grapes?" And you'll say "okay!" I was just clarifying, but you act as if I've offered. It's very sneaky.
You have the funniest little devil laugh. It's a really deep, throaty laugh. I have a phone game that allows you to record your voice and play it back at high speed so it sounds like a chipmunk. You LOVE this, and will play for a long time, but usually you start out speaking ("Daddy is sleeping") and end up just laughing and laughing.
You can finally jump and get air. Also, you saw a girl in a ballet outfit and decided you like ballet. You dragged out two books about ballerinas, and I bought you the Nutcracker DVD. You have also declared that not only do you paint, but you are "an artist." You play the piano and say that it is "beautiful music." You're a real renaissance girl.
You exclusively sleep in your big girl bed. In fact, we have Christmas presents stored in the crib.
Your favorite food right now is eggs, and you would eat them at every meal if you could. The other day I made you THREE scrambled eggs, and you ate them all.
I also have to add, you get the colors right about 75% of the time now, you consistently count from one to thirteen, and you can say the entire alphabet without prompting. When we give you a crayon or pen, you scribble, then point at it, saying "I writed my name!" You have also said "I'm drawing Mommy."
When people ask "How are you?" you sometimes answer "Fine, how are you?" but more often than not, you say "I'm wearing socks!" or some other non sequitur.
The other night you had some nightmares, and when I asked you what they had been about, you said, among other things "My coat fell" and "fuzzy rocks."
Okay, lots of things to do, but you're great fun, and I love you more than ever.
Love,
Mommy
I'm going to have to stop counting the words in your sentences, as they just get longer and longer. The other day you said "Zadie reads a book while I change your diaper." Okay, you didn't have the pronouns quite right, but that's a subordinate clause! Also, you tell little stories. Like the other day, you said, "I was born in a hospital. I had a thingie in my nose."
You are also really into nursery rhymes, and can say parts of many of them. You really like Humpty Dumpty, Hickory Dickory Dock, Baa Baa Black Sheep, and a few others. You also really understand stories. The other day, we were reading a Frog and Toad story, and Toad was gathering things to go help Frog. He opened the door and you yelled "Frog! I'm coming to help you!"
You have this little trick -- it's a rhetorical trick that is very effective. You know how parents tend to expand on what their kids say? For example, a kid would say "diaper" and the parent would say "Oh, you need your diaper changed?" Well, you have completely tricked me several times. You'll say "Grapes." I'll say "Oh, you want to eat some grapes?" And you'll say "okay!" I was just clarifying, but you act as if I've offered. It's very sneaky.
You have the funniest little devil laugh. It's a really deep, throaty laugh. I have a phone game that allows you to record your voice and play it back at high speed so it sounds like a chipmunk. You LOVE this, and will play for a long time, but usually you start out speaking ("Daddy is sleeping") and end up just laughing and laughing.
You can finally jump and get air. Also, you saw a girl in a ballet outfit and decided you like ballet. You dragged out two books about ballerinas, and I bought you the Nutcracker DVD. You have also declared that not only do you paint, but you are "an artist." You play the piano and say that it is "beautiful music." You're a real renaissance girl.
You exclusively sleep in your big girl bed. In fact, we have Christmas presents stored in the crib.
Your favorite food right now is eggs, and you would eat them at every meal if you could. The other day I made you THREE scrambled eggs, and you ate them all.
I also have to add, you get the colors right about 75% of the time now, you consistently count from one to thirteen, and you can say the entire alphabet without prompting. When we give you a crayon or pen, you scribble, then point at it, saying "I writed my name!" You have also said "I'm drawing Mommy."
When people ask "How are you?" you sometimes answer "Fine, how are you?" but more often than not, you say "I'm wearing socks!" or some other non sequitur.
The other night you had some nightmares, and when I asked you what they had been about, you said, among other things "My coat fell" and "fuzzy rocks."
Okay, lots of things to do, but you're great fun, and I love you more than ever.
Love,
Mommy
Saturday, October 24, 2009
19 months
Hi, my sugar plum fairy.
Tomorrow you will be 19 months old. At this point, I think we start to drop the months and call you "a year and a half." You are so amazing. A few months ago, I think I wrote about how it was great that you could talk so well because I was really getting to know your personality. I had no idea then how much we would learn about you as you got even more verbal! Back then it was all peanut butter vs. hummus. Now I know what you find funny, what you love, and what you want to do. You ask to go swimming, to go to ArtBeast, to go to the playground, to see Dylan... You told me that Daddy was funny, that Boompah is funny, that you like my teddy bear, and he's funny because he sticks his tongue out... You like to tell us that the rooms in the house are beautiful, that the park is beautiful, that Mommy is beautiful... Yesterday for the first time you said "I love music." You are very proud of yourself when you paint, and you tell us how beautiful your paintings are.
You also talk almost constantly. People comment on it all the time, even though you are often shy in public compared to at home. Yesterday a grocery clerk asked how you were, and you said "Fine, how are you?" You also speak clearly. There are a few words that sound a little funny, though, and I thought I'd record them here. For example, I think when you hear "Hip hip hooray," you think the "P" is attached to "Hooray," so when you're excited, you say "Pooray!" You also love to ask for ArtBeast, but you call it Arse Beat, which makes your daddy and me laugh.
Today at ArtBeast, you were in the play room and another dad and 21 month old boy were there. For about five minutes, you went on like this: "Zadie standing! Zadie upside-down. I'm walking. I'm bouncing. Boom on the butt. I'm okay. I'm crawling." Finally, the other dad asked me how old you were, and said you were a good talker. For five more minutes, you said "Micky Mouse, Donald Duck, high, high, high... Elmo kisses the baby every day. I'm bouncing. I'm booming. Mama's a woman." Then the dad looked at his kid, who had been silent the whole time, and said "Jordan, do you have anything to say?" He didn't.
You eat like a mighty beast. Some days it seems like you never stop eating, from breakfast, to snacks, to lunch, to snacks, to dinner... The other day Grandma made you two scrambled eggs with cheese, then left the room for a minute. When she came back, she asked Boompah "What happened to her eggs?" What happened was you had eaten them!
You are not a big fan of other kids sometimes, but you are usually kind to them. For example, when you are alone on the playground, if another kid approaches you'll say "No! I don't! I don't! No touch Zadie!" I'll assure you that no one will touch you if you don't want them to, and then you'll often go back to playing. Yesterday you rode the airplane with another little boy, and afterwards you said "We shared, we shared!"
You helped me decorate Halloween cookies today. That is absolutely one of the things I had most looked forward to about having a child, and I have to say, I loved it as much as I thought I would. Being there in the kitchen together, working together on a product, making you feel like you are helping (which you love), and then sampling our cookies and giving them to other people... it was just a very nice experience. We'll have to do more of it.
You still love nursing. You ask (loudly) for "booby time!" which sometimes gets shortened to "boo-time!" I am still thinking that we'll stop when you're ready, but you aren't really showing signs of being ready yet. It will be bittersweet when we stop. It's been nice to have our close cuddle-time several times a day, especially before bed. I can't imagine you will consent to get cuddled for half an hour at a time after you stop nursing.
That's about all for now. I could go on and on about you, and sometimes I do.
I love you tremendously,
Mom
Tomorrow you will be 19 months old. At this point, I think we start to drop the months and call you "a year and a half." You are so amazing. A few months ago, I think I wrote about how it was great that you could talk so well because I was really getting to know your personality. I had no idea then how much we would learn about you as you got even more verbal! Back then it was all peanut butter vs. hummus. Now I know what you find funny, what you love, and what you want to do. You ask to go swimming, to go to ArtBeast, to go to the playground, to see Dylan... You told me that Daddy was funny, that Boompah is funny, that you like my teddy bear, and he's funny because he sticks his tongue out... You like to tell us that the rooms in the house are beautiful, that the park is beautiful, that Mommy is beautiful... Yesterday for the first time you said "I love music." You are very proud of yourself when you paint, and you tell us how beautiful your paintings are.
You also talk almost constantly. People comment on it all the time, even though you are often shy in public compared to at home. Yesterday a grocery clerk asked how you were, and you said "Fine, how are you?" You also speak clearly. There are a few words that sound a little funny, though, and I thought I'd record them here. For example, I think when you hear "Hip hip hooray," you think the "P" is attached to "Hooray," so when you're excited, you say "Pooray!" You also love to ask for ArtBeast, but you call it Arse Beat, which makes your daddy and me laugh.
Today at ArtBeast, you were in the play room and another dad and 21 month old boy were there. For about five minutes, you went on like this: "Zadie standing! Zadie upside-down. I'm walking. I'm bouncing. Boom on the butt. I'm okay. I'm crawling." Finally, the other dad asked me how old you were, and said you were a good talker. For five more minutes, you said "Micky Mouse, Donald Duck, high, high, high... Elmo kisses the baby every day. I'm bouncing. I'm booming. Mama's a woman." Then the dad looked at his kid, who had been silent the whole time, and said "Jordan, do you have anything to say?" He didn't.
You eat like a mighty beast. Some days it seems like you never stop eating, from breakfast, to snacks, to lunch, to snacks, to dinner... The other day Grandma made you two scrambled eggs with cheese, then left the room for a minute. When she came back, she asked Boompah "What happened to her eggs?" What happened was you had eaten them!
You are not a big fan of other kids sometimes, but you are usually kind to them. For example, when you are alone on the playground, if another kid approaches you'll say "No! I don't! I don't! No touch Zadie!" I'll assure you that no one will touch you if you don't want them to, and then you'll often go back to playing. Yesterday you rode the airplane with another little boy, and afterwards you said "We shared, we shared!"
You helped me decorate Halloween cookies today. That is absolutely one of the things I had most looked forward to about having a child, and I have to say, I loved it as much as I thought I would. Being there in the kitchen together, working together on a product, making you feel like you are helping (which you love), and then sampling our cookies and giving them to other people... it was just a very nice experience. We'll have to do more of it.
You still love nursing. You ask (loudly) for "booby time!" which sometimes gets shortened to "boo-time!" I am still thinking that we'll stop when you're ready, but you aren't really showing signs of being ready yet. It will be bittersweet when we stop. It's been nice to have our close cuddle-time several times a day, especially before bed. I can't imagine you will consent to get cuddled for half an hour at a time after you stop nursing.
That's about all for now. I could go on and on about you, and sometimes I do.
I love you tremendously,
Mom
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