"Mama! I made a platypus footprint for you!" yells Miss 4 from the other room. She rounds the corner covered in blue and green watercolor paint which I know without looking is covering my dining room table, as well as the paper it was intended for. Her hair is in natty dreads embedded with peanut butter sandwich and paint. I am elbow-deep in dismantling a watermelon into child-sized pieces and covered in bits of melon mush and juice. At this moment Little One begins to scream from the area of the dining room. She, who had just been at my feet waiting for another piece of watermelon, had gone to explore the atelier, when lured by the siren song of watercolor paint, she had climbed into the chair, tipped it over and wedged her wee, tiny arm between the slats. I could not free her arm, and so, suspending her with one arm, and holding the chair up so that it wouldn't pull on her little arm until I could figure out how to get her loose, I walk into the kitchen to see a UPS delivery man standing at the door. Without batting an eyelash, he says "I have a package." drops the article at the door and saunters off.
What the hell has this man seen in his day, that our domestic horror-show didn't faze him?
Holy cow.
Another day in the life.
(P.S. The arm is fine. Once she relaxed her arm, and stopped screaming, it came right out of the chair-back. The paint on the other hand....)
Friday, June 17, 2011
Saturday, June 4, 2011
The wonder of words
Even as a professional specializing in speech development, I am awed by the rate at which babies/toddlers pick up new words. In a week's time my 19 month old daughter has blossomed from about 65 words I was absolutely sure of, to close to 100.
My favorite this week is "Gonkine" which is her version of penguin. Sure, there are people who would argue this is not a word, but let's looks at this carefully; she uses it consistently to mean the same thing, with the same intonation and inflection each time. In my book, that makes it a word.
Another wonder this week, has been the beginning of referencing herself by name. It is cute and we elicit it as many times as possible. She knows she has us captivated and is beginning to toy with the power of when and for whom she will perform.
At the same time that this is happening, I have been reading "Einstein Never Used Flashcards". http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Never-Used-Flash-Cards/dp/1579546951 The timing couldn't be more perfect. I needed a healthy dose of reality right about now. The research in this book reinforces the idea that children need time to play and follow the biological plan for development that cannot be improved upon by drill, flashcards and multi-lingual electronics. What kids need most from us right this very minute, is just that; more of us.
So, my friends, right now, I am going to go round up the Gonkine and my babies and play.
Happy Saturday to you!
My favorite this week is "Gonkine" which is her version of penguin. Sure, there are people who would argue this is not a word, but let's looks at this carefully; she uses it consistently to mean the same thing, with the same intonation and inflection each time. In my book, that makes it a word.
Another wonder this week, has been the beginning of referencing herself by name. It is cute and we elicit it as many times as possible. She knows she has us captivated and is beginning to toy with the power of when and for whom she will perform.
At the same time that this is happening, I have been reading "Einstein Never Used Flashcards". http://www.amazon.com/Einstein-Never-Used-Flash-Cards/dp/1579546951 The timing couldn't be more perfect. I needed a healthy dose of reality right about now. The research in this book reinforces the idea that children need time to play and follow the biological plan for development that cannot be improved upon by drill, flashcards and multi-lingual electronics. What kids need most from us right this very minute, is just that; more of us.
So, my friends, right now, I am going to go round up the Gonkine and my babies and play.
Happy Saturday to you!
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