Family,
And a good evening to you from the Queen City, where the Bull and Striker are taking it easy after a
wonderful weekend with the Sneetch. As always, plenty to discuss - so let's get amongst it, shall we?
First off, K's vocabulary continues to grow at an exponential rate. Some of the highlights:
1. "Read! Now!" So there is no doubt about it, ladies and gentlemen - we have a bibliophile. This girl officially LOVES books. Now granted, we've always started the morning and the time after her nap with books, and usually I read to her both when I get home and before bed (we read some before nap time as well). However, to date, it's typically been "parent led." This week, however, K has started demanding us to read, following it with "now!" She will say please (or "Pees" in her irresistibly cute voice) once prompted, but NOW has taken its place as the follow-on from the "read" command to her parents. When she wakes up and we go into her room now, she'll immediately look up, smile, and then point to the chair and say "Read." Also, twice this week she screamed at bedtime (and once at nap time) because she wanted more books. Don't get me wrong - a love of literature is a good thing. But so is a healthy appreciation for sleep. :-)
2. "Oop!" We checked out "The Sleepy Little Alphabet" again from the library a few weeks back (my favorite story we have in her arsenal), and we've been reading that to her lately at night. She's really enjoying it, and in particular she now loves two pages. The first is for the letters O and P. They knock over the potty, and the page says "Oops!" at the top. Well, K knows that when she sees the M and N page it's next, and she'll bounce on my lap and say "OOP!" When I turn the page and look at her, the smile on her face is a mile wide. Incidentally the other page is where "r and s read something funny," as she does a fake laugh. What's funny is that she did this a couple of months ago, but I didn't realize she was remembering that page and anticipating it. It wasn't until I read about this anticipation in the Baby Whisperer that I learned another development item for kids is their ability to predict what happens next in stories. Apparently this ability to remember and predict is an important one (so says the unnamed doctor) and is the reason why kids enjoy the same stories over and over. She's also doing this with "5 Little Monkeys," as she's now tapping her head when "one fell off and bumped his head." Again, the smile is priceless, and I LOVE watching her facial expressions.3. "Hat!" I mean, I'm trying to turn her into a tomboy, but there's no doubt about it - this girl loves her accessories. She loves bracelets, bead necklaces, shoes, and hats - most especially her beanie. She's actually been really good about keeping beanies on when it's cold, and I'm thinking we'll be good to go if we can just get through this winter with her still enjoying being stylish.
4. "Football!" I mean seriously - do I need to say anything more? Brainwashed - check.
5. "Jump!" And let me tell you - this kid is LOVING jumping right now. She's getting better and more confident every day...even if it still has the appearance of a person losing their balance during an earthquake. What's cute is that, when she first started, she would get really low like she was about to
squat 400 lbs and then be completely unable to lift herself. Now she's gotten much smarter and does more of a gallop. She's not getting both feet off the ground at the same time all the time, but it's definitely half the time or better, and she seems to be really enjoying it. She's starting to try and jump onto the couch, into her seat, you name it.
6. "Cow!" This one was a big one, as she's moved from saying "moo" when she sees a cow to actually saying its name. She doesn't do it every time, but she definitely knows the animal by name as well as sound now. Interestingly enough, she "milked" a cow at DPK the other day, and now she points to the utters every time she sees one in a book.
7. "Tic-tac-toe" - there is a set at the playground, and she called it by name this week before going over to play with it.
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| Next stop: the uneven bars. |
9. "Tea" - My mom got her a little tea set, and she can now say it as she pours me and JT endless cups of Darjeeling. It's amazing, I've played more kitchen, swaddled more plastic babies, and had more cups of fake tea than I EVER thought possible, but she's just too darn cute to say no. Now granted, I often try to shift the focus back to "playing ball," but let's be honest - Sammy the Bull will spend a lot of time with stuffed animals and doll houses in the coming years.
10. "Oh my!" Because, well, let's face it - you can never teach a kid too many random expressions that sound adorable when repeated continuously for no apparent reason.
In terms of other development items, we definitely watched K turn the dial more and more this week. For starters, she REALLY wants to put on her clothes now - specifically her pajamas. She's had some success with the bottoms - the key is getting her to put the right leg in with the tag behind her (which is much tougher than one might think). She can put her arms in her top once you get the shirt over her head, but at this point she's not quite at the point she can dress herself. But I"m in no rush, as I love how she holds/hugs us while we try and get her situated for bed.
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| Every scholar needs a quiet cubicle - literally in this case. |
There's also no question that she's getting stronger - especially in her arms. She's starting to hang from playground furniture, and she keeps trying to pull herself into the crib at night (just like Busy Timmy). I've noticed her strength with the fan in her room, as this week marked the first time she was consistently able to turn the fan on (you have to push a button). She can only apply enough pressure when using her thumb, but she's definitely capable now.
Another big milestone is her progress with the 2 shape sorters in the house, as she's REALLY improved at that. Each day last week saw her putting the correct shapes in faster and getting frustrated less. She still has a bit of trouble remembering to keep the sides flush as she slides them in, but there's no question she understands the concept and can get every single piece into the sorter - really cool to watch.
Lastly, K's starting to buckle herself in now. She can finally open the clasp on the baby stroller, and with help she can clip herself into her high seat and car seat. The next phase of the evolution is proper alignment of the clasp, as that continues to prove elusive. I think it must be something with toddler depth perception, as she always wants to overshoot with blocks as well. She can still stack a pretty good tower, but more often than not it collapses because none of the blocks are directly on top of each other.
In terms of other activities, JT and K discovered a new playground in Highland Creek this week - the Clarke Creek playground. JT said it's geared more for her age, and apparently she was a monster on the climbing ropes this week! I definitely want to get down there and see her in action, as she and Jenny spent TWO HOURS there Wednesday morning - nice!Aside from climbing and exploring her arm muscles, K is starting to practice a lot of new motor skills. For starters, she's walking backwards a lot now. She's also spinning around (and around and around and around...) until she's so dizzy that she staggers as if she's just pounded a fifth of Grey Goose. She's doing this before nap and bed some, too - running around her room in a tight circle and then running in a (semi) straight line toward the chair for reading time. Her other big running activity right now is running naked to and from the bathtub. We strip her down, ask her what's left (she says "dipe dipe"), take that off, and then send her running into the bathroom. I simply must get the Go Pro out one of these nights to video it - HILARIOUS!
Lastly, she is LOVING "This little piggy" with daddy during dinner. Honestly, I bet I've done it a hundred times this week, probably 15-20 times in one sitting! When you grab her big toe, her little smirk will pop out, and by the time you've wiggled through her toes and gone "wee wee wee all the way home," she's got a full on smile blooming - LOVE THIS KID!
Lastly, Team Taylor watched "Elmo Potty Time" for the first time on Sunday. We're not potty training K yet, but we figured there was no harm in introducing the concept to her. The video is really pretty cute, so I'll be curious to see what K thinks of it after a few more viewings (provided we can cut down on Mickey and Peppa).
Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print. Chat next week!
Love,
Sam and Jenny
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