(no subject)

[rivka]

So glad to be in the office today. Michael's trip (6.5 days down, 2.5 days to go!) has unfortunately coincided with our nanny's illness, resulting in a grueling 136-hour stretch in which, except for a 1.5-hour break for the church part of a wedding (thanks, wcg), I was completely responsible for Alex's care and supervision every moment of the day and night. She's a charming little girl, but sheesh.

Because I still have 2.5 days to go, I'm going to take a moment here to evoke the charming:

Pretend play is really blossoming. She's developed a strong attachment to a stuffed dachshund geekchick gave her - she carries it around, hugs and kisses it, offers it food, gives it drinks from her sippy cup, lies it down and tells it "night night," wipes its nose with a handkerchief, and takes it for rides in the back of her dump truck. Most notably, the other day she took it into the bathroom, held it over the toilet, and said, "Pee!" Afterward, she offered it a piece of toilet paper. Doggy is involved in more pretend play than anything else, but she also loves to pretend that she is going to sleep herself - flopping down on her belly, grinning at me, and saying "night" or "sleep." Once, during dinner, she even put her silverware to bed: laid it face down, patted it, and said "night night!"

The other thing that's blossoming is the traditional toddler fascination with "helping" and imitating adult activities. One of her favorite playthings is a whisk broom and dustpan. We went to the grocery store on Monday, and when we got home she took things out of the grocery bags, one piece at a time, and handed them to me so I could put them away. She helps me get ready for her bath by tipping the rubber mat into the tub and adding the toys, and then she loves to take the washcloth and wash different parts of her body at my direction. She checks the mailbox every time we come home. She tries, with great dedication and complete ineffectualness, to put her socks on. She can get food into her mouth with a fork and a spoon, although it's a slow, messy, and inefficient process. At the library last week, I gave her a little pamphlet to read while I looked for books, and when we got to the checkout counter she insisted on handing it to the librarian for "checkout." Once the librarian held it and handed it back, she was perfectly content to play with it again.

We take a lot of walks. Alex is not fond of being cooped up inside, and usually starts clawing at the doorknob shortly after breakfast. She loves to trot up and down the sidewalk - now running full tilt, now stopping to investigate the fascinating architectural details one gets in 150-year-old neighborhoods. Carriage steps! Cellar doors! Elaborate wrought-iron grates! Ornamental concrete newels! Each of them needs to be closely examined and, probably, fondled. She climbs up on a carriage step and squats there, grinning up at me. She pokes her fingers into treewells, picking up bits of dirt and pressing them into the tree trunks. She has learned to identify trash; instead of leaving it alone, which is what I had hoped she would do when I taught her about it, she picks it up and hands it to me, exclaiming "trash! trash!" I usually come home from our walks with a pocketful of cigarette butts.

For the past couple of months, she has occasionally said things that sounded like correctly-applied color words while playing with her toys. I've just dismissed it, thinking that there was no way she could possibly be naming colors at this age. But in the last week, it's become indisputably clear that she can spontaneously label red, green, and blue. She's done it with poker chips (a new favorite toy), duplo blocks, and plastic rings - all things where she could not possibly have memorized the color labels. She can also identify (and mostly name) just about all of her body parts, including things like cheek, chin, and back. She says nearly 150 words spontaneously. (Of course, she also eats dirt, so I hesitate to call her brilliant.)

Okay. Now I'm ready to jump back in for another dose of Alex time. This worked well.

Edited to add one more thing: We went to the Science Center on Tuesday. When we cruised through the dinosaur section, Alex had one comment, frequently repeated: "Teeth! Teeth!"

Comments

[saoba.livejournal.com]

(Of course, she also eats dirt, so I hesitate to call her brilliant.)


Actual conversation I overheard in a grocery store.

Our players: Very Active Wriggly Toddler, Toddler's Weary Mother, Toddler's Grandmother. During this entire conversation, Toddler is bouncing off of things in the store like a pinball. TWM is near tears, TG is quietly corralling and distracting kid.

TWM: I feel like such a failure. You were always so calm and there were three of us. I have just him and I feel like I'm losing my mind.

TG: You're not a failure. You're fine. He's fine. I wasn't calm, I was exhausted.

TWM: I can't even figure out how to keep him from eating out of the dog's dish! What would you do?

TG: (after a reflective pause) Make sure I was buying a premium dog food.

[jerusha.livejournal.com]

My brother grew up on Cycle 1 (we had a puppy in the house when he was crawling). It doesn't seem to have done him any harm.

[king-tirian.livejournal.com]

(Of course, she also eats dirt, so I hesitate to call her brilliant.)

We all have to eat a peck of dirt in our lives. She's wise to get it out of the way early.

[almeda.livejournal.com]

I used to eat small coins. Mom would retrieve them when they came out the other end, wash them, and put them in a jar. When I turned six, and was grownup enough to be horrified at the thought that I once ate dirt, she gave them to me, with a ribbon tied around the jar.

There were over three dollars in there ... and everything was smaller than a quarter. :->

[pixel.livejournal.com]

She has learned to identify trash; instead of leaving it alone, which is what I had hoped she would do when I taught her about it, she picks it up and hands it to me, exclaiming "trash! trash!" I usually come home from our walks with a pocketful of cigarette butts.

Perhaps, if she is going to do it anyway you could bring along a small bag. Then you don't have to mess up your pockets with it and can conviniently dump it when you get home?

If you want ot get subversive about it. If you see someone drop trash while you are out with her, have her pick it up and give it back to the person who dropped it. Nothing like getting morally spanked by a toddler to mess with someone's head.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

If you want ot get subversive about it. If you see someone drop trash while you are out with her, have her pick it up and give it back to the person who dropped it. Nothing like getting morally spanked by a toddler to mess with someone's head.

*SNORT*

I am SO going to teach that to my son.

[pixel.livejournal.com]

I took the insperation from an SO of mine's child raising tactics, and this Something Postitive strip.

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

instead of leaving it alone, which is what I had hoped she would do when I taught her about it, she picks it up and hands it to me, exclaiming "trash! trash!" I usually come home from our walks with a pocketful of cigarette butts.

*laugh*. a budding environmentalist! even eating dirt!

[eeyorerin]

There is a picture in my baby book of me when I was about Alex's age. The caption is: "Erin discovers dirt, callling it chocolate."

I was eclipsed, though, by one of my brothers, who would have eaten an entire beach's worth of sand if left to his own devices.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

When I was 3 and first brother was 1, I must have already learned the role of being caretaker. The story is that I ran to the back door to tell Mum urgently "[Brother] is eating a June bug!" What I remember is Mum running outside and dragging this huge bug out of his mouth.

[redbird]

When we cruised through the dinosaur section, Alex had one comment, frequently repeated: "Teeth! Teeth!"

She seems to have the basics of dinosaurs down already, which is an argument in favor of calling her brilliant.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I thought that was pretty cool.

They very sensibly had one of the model T. Rex skeletons posed so that it was bending down, head at small-child level. Alex got to reach out and touch the teeth. She was thrilled.

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

Your daughter is a delight even to those of us who only get doses of her second-hand. Thank you.

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

(Of course, she also eats dirt, so I hesitate to call her brilliant.)


Nope. Can't fool us. She's brilliant. :-D

[zanawake.livejournal.com]

That was a beautiful post. Thanks.

[minnaleigh.livejournal.com]

Of course, she also eats dirt, so I hesitate to call her brilliant.

Your child recognizes the need to expose her fledging immune system to the right kind of antigens so she'll be healthier later in life?!? She *is* brilliant! ;-)

She really is delightful. At least, in less than 136 hour doses!

[rivka.livejournal.com]

Your child recognizes the need to expose her fledging immune system to the right kind of antigens so she'll be healthier later in life?!?

Before I had Alex, I thought this was an interesting theory. Now I am its most fervent proponent. I have to be - it's the only way to cope with all the things I see her put in her mouth.

Seriously, though, we have some serious autoimmune problems in our family - mostly Crohn's disease. If letting her dig in the dirt with bare fingers, and smear dirt all over her face, and eat dirt and sand, has a chance of preventing that, I'm all for it.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

I used to worry a bit about the semi "3rd world conditions" my nephews lived in on their dairy farm, but then I realized that if whatever filth they ran across didn't kill them, then they'd take over the world.

(I'm also reminded of my youngest nephew, Cole, taking me 'n my boyfriend at the time on a tour of them farm. He proudly walked up to a heap of tree branches and stuff, saying, "Unca' David, LOOK!"

So, of course, I asked, "Cole, what is that?" To which he proudly replied, "It's A Pile!"

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

(Of course, she also eats dirt, so I hesitate to call her brilliant.)

LOL. You are wise!

[iamjw.livejournal.com]

She tries, with great dedication and complete ineffectualness, to put her socks on.

For some reason, in the midst of all this cuteness, that one image evoked a heartfelt "Awwwwwwwwwwww".

[almeda.livejournal.com]

For some reason it reminded me of my beagle ... he thinks socks are a great toy, but once they go on human feet they are clearly Not Something You Bite, which disappoints me. He'll see me starting to unbundle my socks and desperately try to convince me to play instead of 'ruining' them. :->

[thette.livejournal.com]

My nephew was a very wise child when he was two. He sat picking up small stones, and said (or quoted) "Stones, not candy".

[shadopanther.livejournal.com]

A long time ago I saw a television show on PBS about a man who would eat (clean) dirt. He'd sprinkle (carefully selected varieties) on his salad. I've forgotten what qualities he was saying doing so added to his diet.

*waves hello* I found your LJ via sinboy's link to your Respectful of Otters journal and recognized the name from WomBAT. (I am actually still subscribed to wombat, I just don't poke my head in on the list very much.)

-- Shadopanther (aka Lynx)
(local to dryadgrl)

Take care

[(Anonymous)]

Take care, if she is actually mouthing older, painted surfaces, and putting dirt that has been exposed to lots of traffic into her mouth. A lot of lead-based paints still exist, and chip, as safer overcoats of paint flake away from surfaces. Dirt in city areas can contain high lead-levels, as well.

In no way am I a germ-phobe, but I have seen enough kids with above-normal lead levels in their blood to be cautious.

(Maybe I am a bit of a germ-phobe, too. Having baby picking up strangers' cigarette butts from the street on a walk would be a no-no, for me.)