In Other Words

Lucy has started talking more recently. She's putting more words together. She's trying new words. She's occasionally repeating words. She's in no hurry, but it's fun to hear how she expresses herself. And it often takes some effort to piece together what she's saying. Sometimes it requires some interpretation.

The All-Purpose Preposition & Conjunction
Although "up" can be a preposition, Lucy never uses it that way. It's only an adverb to show where she or something else should go or has gone. And it can also mean "down." Lucy's one preposition is "a." It's like she's speaking French or Spanish. Where do you want to go? A mama. (To mama.) But Lucy's "a" can also mean "with" or "in." She goes to the pool "a mama" (with mama). Her stuffed cat sleeps "a beepbeep" (in the car). "A" is also what she says for "and." When I ask her if her mama loves her, she nods and says, "a dada" (and dada). I'm not sure if this means that Daddy also loves her or that Mama loves Daddy as well as Lucy, but it's pretty sweet.

Sounds Like
Many of Lucy's "words" are still onomatopoeia. A car or microwave is a "beep" or "beepbeep" because those are the sounds they make. Same with using "choo choo" for train. All animals other than ducks and bees are called by the sounds she thinks they make. Cows are "moos." Chickens are "doodle-doos." Monkeys are "oo-oos" or "oo-oo-ee-ees." Frogs are "bee-yoats" (her version of ribbit). Dogs are dogs, but she thinks that's what they say instead of woof or ruff or bark. Sleep is "oo-ee-oo-ee-oo," her impression of my fake snoring when we play. The other day she said, "Meow-meow a oo-oo oo-ee-oo-ee-oo a beepbeep." That's a six word sentence that means "Cat and monkey sleep in the car." Indeed, they do.

Acting Up
Sometimes Lucy mimes what she's trying to say, kind of like her own sign language. "Whistle" is putting her fingers to her lips and blowing as if she were blowing in a whistle. "Candle" is blowing out a candle. "Binoculars" is hands around her eyes. She uses these mostly when she is telling stories from Shaun the Sheep or Curious George. The dog on Shaun the Sheep blows a whistle. George blows out birthday candles and looks through binoculars when he sits in the lifeguard chair at the beach. However, she has also used the signs outside of the context of story telling.

Poetically Speaking
Other than calling food "num-nums," almost everything else she says is actually English. That doesn't mean you'll understand her. Her pronunciation is pretty good. "K" sounds are more like "T" sounds, "S" blends tend to drop the "S" (snow and star become 'no and 'tar), and R's are a little "W"-ish, but none of that is unusual for toddlers. The problem is that Lucy uses metonymy, a poetic device for when an associated thing is substituted for the thing itself, for example saying "the crown" to mean "the queen." If Lucy wants bubbles in the evening, she wants a bath. She probably wants there to be bubbles in that bath, but she's OK with a bubble-less bath. If she asks for "ice," she wants a drink. She may want hot tea. All beverages are "ice," probably because she learned to ask for Icees. Matt thinks that "tea" means any hot beverage, but she doesn't really like hot chocolate, so if she asks for tea, she probably wants hot tea. She may ask for "ice" and then specify "tea," which still means hot tea.

A Strange Vocabulary
I am often puzzled by which words Lucy chooses to say. Personally, "cookie" would be high on my list of words to learn. She has only just started saying cookie and only when referring to Cookie Monster, not when asking for cookies. She says bowl, stir, more, apple, zip, unzip, bird, bubble, ball, bat, no, stop, chee(se), noodles, pull, pool, shoe, seat, blue, red, sun, moon, star, snow, burp, toot, hello, bye, poop, peepee, knock, diaper, help, pillow, and two as well as about half the letters and quite a few body parts. The child can talk about heavenly bodies but can't request a cookie! Where are her priorities?

Putting It Together
I think the six word sentence about the cat and monkey sleeping in the car is her longest one to date. However, she often puts together phrases and stories. Today she requested more feta by saying, "A me, more chee(se) a bowl" (For me, more cheese in a bowl). When she's through sitting on her Elmo potty seat, she announces, "All done Elmo peepee." After she actually peed in the toilet last week, I flushed the toilet, and she said, "Bye bye, poopoo." She also likes to pretend that her cat has hurt it's ear and needs a doctor (as she has seen in one of her tablet games). She says, "Meow-meow ouch ear. Doc." And she likes to act out and talk about monkeys jumping on the bed who "ouch head."

Other Peculiarities of Communicating with Lucy
We've also learned that you have to ask the right question to get a helpful answer from Lucy. If you ask if she's pooped in her diaper, the answer is always no. If you ask if there is poop in her diaper (who knows how it got there), she may say yes. If you ask if she needs a new diaper, she'll probably run to her room for a diaper change. Or if you ask if she wants to go swimming, she says no. If you ask if she wants to go to the pool, she says yes. We're starting to figure out that if we get an unusual answer the first time we ask a question, we should rephrase it and see if we get a different answer.

Use Your Words
I've tried pushing her to say more. Of course, she understands much more than she says. Everyone's listening/reading vocabulary is larger than their speaking vocabulary. I try to intentionally teach her words. For example, I've tried getting her to say TV. She knows and says both the letter T and the letter V. I even got out her letter magnets and had her "read" TV, but she still won't say TV to mean television. Occasionally, I've tried withholding things to get her to use words. For example, you can have a cookie when you say cookie. It almost never works. She would rather go without than say what I want her to say. So I don't push often or hard because it does no good. I know that she is surrounded by language. She has parents who speak to her and around her and read her books. When she uses one of her not-quite-words to request something, I repeat what she's trying to say in English. If she asks for "ice," I say, "you want a drink." Eventually, she'll start using even more words and hopefully even words we and other people can understand.

Christmas 2015: Gifting Update

I've updated Lucy's Amazon list again. She didn't receive much from her list for her birthday, but I've found several things for her really cheaply on Ebay, so an update is in order.

Blocks

She's pretty good at putting Duplo bricks or bristle blocks together, and we've started making things, such as an ice cream choochoo, together. I'm still providing most of the imagination, but she's learning. I still think that Duplo sets that allow her to play while learning to build are a good idea. The Lego Duplo FirstPlayhouse and the Duplo First Farm have ready-made doors/rooms, which will make house building easier for her. 

Puzzles

She got several puzzles from my parents for her birthday, so she's in pretty good shape. She seems to do better with non-jigsaw puzzles, ones with pieces that aren't notched. We have an old Sesame Street puzzle with the same number of pieces as her jigsaw puzzles, but she can almost do the old puzzle herself. She'll eventually catch on to the jigsaw puzzles, but more like the old wooden puzzles would be nice. There is one puzzle on her wishlist like the old ones, the Deluxe Fire Truck Chunky Puzzle. The old Playskool puzzles are available on Ebay. 

Books

I found a couple of Curious George collections on Ebay for $2-3, so I got them. With those collections we have most of the Curious George stories. The stories we don't have are still on the wish list. We try to keep the collected volumes out of Lucy's reach and read them to her at bedtime, but she likes being able to pick up a George book and "read" it herself. We like that, too. So more individual CuriousGeorge paperbacks would be good. She would be thrilled to have her own copy to Curious George in the Snow. She LOVES that one and is kind of obsessed with snow because of it. She learned to say "snow" so she could request it. Another good option for Curious George books would be Kindle editions. We have Curious George Goes to the Beach on the Kindle, and it kept her happy while we waited at the doctor's office for more than an hour. More Curious George on Kindle could be very helpful. Don't bother with the collected volumes on Kindle. I got the one with Curious George in the Snow, and the pictures aren't on the same page as the text that goes with them. It's a little difficult to read them that way. 

I bought her BooBoo and Sheep in a Jeep on Ebay, too, in a buy 3 get 1 free sale. But she would still enjoy Sandra Boynton, Duck & Goose, Clifford, Gossie & Friends, and Sesame Street books.

Art Supplies

We have markers, crayons, and paints. She doesn't like Crayola Color Wonder. She doesn't really need coloring books. She enjoys her chalk board and dry erase board. She's getting an AquaDoodle from us for Christmas. She could use a full-size MagnaDoodle. She likes play dough, and I prefer homemade play dough because it doesn't stink. She would enjoy the Rollers, Cutters, and More set, which has scissors and some shape-making tubes, and small rolling pins that actually roll like real rolling pins. She has some extra large beads that she likes to string on a big shoelace (it's a Melissa & Doug set). She would probably like more beads. Honestly, the beads could be made by cutting dowel rods and drilling holes in them. The beads are about an inch in diameter.

Imaginative Play Toys

She has a kitchen with table and chairs and plenty of dishes and food. She has plenty of stuffed animals and dolls (in my opinion). She has bottles, diapers, changing table, cradle, and a stroller for her dolls. She also got 2 doctor's kits (which she loves). She probably doesn't need more of any of these things.  

She has a little hammer with nails that act like whack-a-mole, so she would probably enjoy a very basic tool set that lets her hammer and screw. I like that tools would develop her fine motor skills. She really likes playing with tape measures, but Matt doesn't want her to play with his. She could have her own.

She likes puppets and finger puppets. She's been playing with magnets on the refrigerator lately, and her chalkboard is magnetic, so magnets that she can use to tell stories would be good. We have two scarecrow magnets that she calls mama and dada, and I've told her the T-Rex is her, so she likes to play family with the scarecrows and dinosaur. 

She has quite a few cars and trains. She could probably use a couple of vintage Little People vehicles. She has people and a house but nothing to put in the little garage.

Active Toys

Lucy is very active. Active toys like a slide or tricycle are right up her alley. 

Dress-Up Clothes

Dress-up clothes and accessories are always welcome. I got several hats and capes at Dollar Tree before Halloween. She really enjoys dressing herself and her parents.

Music

I got several CDs at Dollar General's 50% off clearance sale. I think we're in pretty good shape now. I think she would like a music source that she can control. She still loves her musical birthday card, which will wear out eventually. She has played with wind-up toy TVs and radios and likes those. The old Fisher Price wind-up record player would be good. I'd prefer the old one that uses a music box rather than the new ones that use computer chips. I think music boxes fire scientific imagination and understanding of sound as vibration better than computer chips do. I've also learned that there are a couple of Sesame Street records for those old players because there was a Sesame Street edition of the record player.

Clothes

Lucy could probably use a few more 24 month long sleeve shirts and pants. We tend to like knit pants in solid colors--black, brown, navy--or the ones that look like jeans. If you find long sleeve pajamas (one- or two-piece) with any of the following characters, she will be happy: Elmo from Sesame Street, Curious George, Spiderman, Shaun the Sheep (perhaps will be available because of the movie last summer), pretty much any superhero.

Matt & Natalie

Matt and I also have Amazon wish lists that we try to keep up-to-date. Mine doesn't have much on it. Matt and I are both happy to receive money as a gift. I'd like to buy a new mattress for our bed, but I don't expect anyone to buy me a mattress for Christmas. Donations toward a mattress, however, would be appreciated.

Lucy's 2nd Birthday

Lucy's birthday events were spread over a week, from the first card in the mail until the 2-year check up with the pediatrician. Here's how we celebrated Lucy.

Monday, Sept. 14
Lucy received a card from Gram and Papa (my parents) that plays the Pointer Sisters' "I'm So Excited." The card also has a cardboard cut-out of a dog that twirls around during the song. Lucy LOVES that card. She plays the song over and over and dances, sometimes with her dolls. Lucy's word for music is "doo doo," which makes sense if you sing "doo doo doo," but she doesn't sing it. She is starting to put words together and calls her singing card her "dog doo doo." So thanks Gram and Papa for the "dog doo doo." :)

Tuesday, Sept. 15
The local bouncy house play space is free for kids under two, so we went one more time while she was still free. There were no other kids that morning, so I jumped and climbed and slid with her. She had a good time.

Wednesday, Sept. 16
On Lucy's birthday I tried to do things she wanted to do. I took her for a pastry at the local coffee shop. I let her pick a seat, and she picked one right next to a man that may be homeless. He didn't look dangerous, so we say there. I still haven't figured out how she judges people. Some people cause her to hide and run, but this man was someone to sit next to. I must admit I was kind of proud. Lucy refused to eat either pastry I bought, but she agreed to drink a little chocolate milk. Then we went swimming at the university pool. Lucy has been refusing to wear a flotation device in the pool, but she agreed to try a pool noodle. And she swam well with just a pool noodle. Since then she's started using a smaller noodle and has even tried swimming without support. She went under water and I had to pull her up, but she's brave and will keep trying. After we went swimming, I asked what she wanted for lunch, and she responded enthusiastically for chicken strips, so we went to Dairy Queen. There she discovered the white gravy that comes with chicken strips, and dipped her french fries (and her fingers) in the gravy. She refused to eat the chicken strips. [Have I mentioned that she turned 2?] She randomly decides what she will or won't eat at any given meal. She still likes a wide variety of foods, but she's likely to declare something she likes is "blech" at every meal. When Matt got home from school, we let Lucy open her gifts from family members. Ashley got her cute clothes. Grammie and Papa (Matt's parents) sent a card with money, which she was very excited about. Rick, Cathy, Drew, and Katie got her a couple of Curious George books, for which Matt was also grateful since he reads at least one Curious George book every night. Gram and Papa got Lucy some puzzles, which she likes but is still growing into. Grandma Tanner made Lucy a princess play dress that velcros so that Lucy can put it on and fasten it herself. Matt and I gave her a package of reusable doll diapers to go with a combo doll changing table/cradle/bathtub that I got at the Peddler's Mall. I am happy to report that when the two naked babies received diapers, they also wanted clothes, and they have remained diapered and clothed for a week now. If only I had known what the formerly naked babies really wanted, I would have gotten diapers sooner. We ended the birthday with ice cream at Baskin-Robbins with Shawn and Susie. It was a good day.

Saturday, Sept. 19

 We had Lucy's Curious George birthday party at the church. Several friends came, so Lucy had plenty of kids to play with. Susie painted Curious George for us. Other than that our decorations were plastic table covers and some Dollar Tree balloons, but it looked like a party. I splurge on a huge George balloon on Ebay, which you can see near the presents. It's almost as big as Lucy. We ate a sub sandwich from Wal-Mart again this year with chips and veggies.

Lucy doesn't like it when groups of people sing, and she doesn't like the "Happy Birthday" in particular, so we didn't sing. (Oddly enough, she's fine if I sing the church "O Happy Birthday to You" that I grew up with.) And she refused to blow out the candles on the Curious George cake I made, so Matt blew them out. [Have I mentioned she's two?] She got a lot of nice gifts, including a puzzle, Play-Doh, a doctor's kit, clothes, sidewalk chalk, a Marvel story collection, and a Curious George story collection.

I had gotten a pinata on clearance at Dollar General the week before, so we ended the party with that. It took amazing effort to open an already-banged-up clearance pinata.

Eventually, it did open, and the candy, bracelets, fruit snacks, stickers, and whistles inside were enjoyed by about 10 kids.

Monday, Sept. 21
Lucy's check up went pretty well. We had to wait for about an hour for our appointment. Lucy seemed to think the fun people were all in the "sick" side of the waiting room, where she wanted to crawl and roll on the floor. At times I had to hold her upside-down and swing her to keep her entertained. She played a few games on the Kindle, but what worked best was reading her a Curious George book on the Kindle. She sat still for the whole thing. She did not sit still for her exam. She resisted everything they did to her. I had to hold her and twist her this way and that so that the nurse could take her temperature and the doctor could feel her belly and listen to her heart. [Seriously, can she be any more of a two year old?] But as soon as the doctor was done and her clothes were back on, she started smiling and waving at him in the hall. She actually likes Dr. Mike from a distance. :) Her growth and development are on track. She is now 34.5 inches tall (76th percentile) and weighs 26 pounds, 7 ounces (47th percentile).

It was a good birthday week. Lucy seems to learn something new everyday. She's repeating words and putting words together.

Lucy's Summer in Adorable Photographs

I haven't blogged recently as much as I had hoped. To make up for it, here is a photographic record of Lucy's extreme cuteness this summer.

Tea parties with Oo-Oo (monkey) 

Playing outside after her first finger painting (also outside)

Posing with Daddy before graduation

Bathing in a plastic tote in a shower on vacation

Diving into a barrel of dice at a game store

Brushing TEETH in new Elmo PJ's and coordinating necklace

Drinking by herself

Building sandcastles

Chasing fireflies

Interest in the potty and pigtails

General cuteness in pigtails

Combing her beard with Daddy's comb just like Daddy does

Sliding at Burger King on a Mommy/Lucy lunch date

Playing educational apps while sitting on her Elmo potty seat

Using a screwdriver to help Daddy put together her new slide

Sliding down the huge slide at Bounce (Kidwise)

Trying out the smallest bicycle at Wal-Mart

She put shirt on by herself (inside out)

Getting ready to go to the pool

Climbing a ladder over Mommy's head to get to the slide at the park

Just hanging out by the slide

See-sawing with a new friend

Sitting in the recliner with Mommy and playing on the tablet

Wow, she's good (and so grown-up-looking)

Helping Mommy water the garden

Entertaining Mommy and the entire store with her choice of headgear

Putting on Mommy's sports bra all by herself

Gifts for Lucy

It's August. Lucy turns 2 next month! I've started thinking about her birthday party. And Christmas is just a few months later. So I've updated Lucy's Amazon list. It's over 100 items. And I've left a lot of things on it that are great but would probably not be her first choice, so here are a few suggestions. 

Lucy loves Sesame Street, Elmo, Curious George, Shaun the Sheep, Daniel Tiger, books, vintage Fisher Price Little People, playgrounds and slides, babies, toilets, bubbles in and out of the bathtub, frogs, sheep, dogs, cats, ducks, monkeys, and elephants. That's what I can think of off the top of my head. She enjoys drawing/writing, playing with play dough, playing dress up, playing kitchen, building with blocks, and doing puzzles. Anything that combines anything she likes and loves will be a hit.

A reminder that we are fine with used gifts in good condition. At this age she doesn't know the difference, especially because most of the toys and books we buy her are used. If you can get a good deal, go for it. If a good deals means that you can afford to get her more, hurray! :)

Blocks
She's just starting to put Duplo bricks or bristle blocks together. She hasn't started imagining things to build yet, but she likes playing with figures and houses (like her Little People house), so Duplo sets that allow her to play while learning to build are a good idea. Lego Duplo First Playhouse is great because it has doors to open and a slide. And the Duplo First Farm has doors and a sheep. 

Puzzles
Most of the puzzles she has are very easy and teach matching. She's ready to work on putting pieces together. If you're into Ebay, you can find vintage wooden Playskool puzzles like the ones I grew up with. 

Books
There are a lot of books on the wish list. Some are from recommended reading lists I've found online. She requests that we read Sandra Boynton, Duck & Goose, Curious George, and Sesame Street, so more of those would be good. I think she'd also like Sheep in a Jeep. Our library doesn't have a copy of it. The Olivier Dunrea books are nice, too.

Videos
Videos are not a high priority. We have Amazon Prime and Netflix, which supplies plenty of Sesame Street, Daniel Tiger, Curious George, and Shaun the Sheep, most of which are also available on PBS. 

Music & Instruments
I don't know where to begin looking for good kids music, but I think she needs some. I grew up listening to a lot of music and would like for Lucy to also live surrounded by music. We try to introduce her to many styles of music through radio, Spotify, and Pandora (all free sources). I sing a lot of kids songs to her: I'm a Little Tea Pot, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Ring Around the Rosie, etc. I also sing her the Sunday School/Children's Church songs that I remember as well as hymns, praise songs, and scripture songs. I'd like some CDs to sing along with. As for instruments, she has several, mostly percussion, which she plays with sporadically. Sometimes she's really into them, and sometimes she forgets them. They aren't a high priority, but she'd enjoy them.

Art Supplies
We have markers, crayons, and paints. She doesn't like the Color Wonder stuff because of the lag between touching the marker to the paper and the appearance of the line of color. I don't blame her. It's frustrating, even though I like that it's mess-free. She could use a MagnaDoodle. That would be mess-free and not frustrating. She doesn't really need coloring books. I easily made her one batch of play dough months ago that she still uses. What she could use are tools to use with the dough. She has a roller and some cutters, but the Rollers, Cutters, and More set has scissors and some shape-making tubes. I've also put a set of small rolling pins on the list that actually roll like real rolling pins. The one she has is solid and so can't roll if you just hold the handles.

Dress-Up Clothes
She has some hats and bead necklaces that she loves to wear and put on Matt and me. I have put more hats on her wish list, but they are expensive. If you come across anything cheaper that could be used for dress up, for example Halloween clearance items, she'll probably like it.

Imaginative Play Toys
She has a kitchen with plenty of dishes and food. She has plenty of stuffed animals and dolls (in my opinion). She could use some accessories for her dolls. She has bottles and a stroller. She would probably like diapers. These diapers from her wishlist are cloth and fit many sizes of doll. This brand comes in other styles. If they are cheaper, buy the cheaper style. I've bought some clothes so that her cheap plastic naked babies aren't naked by necessity--I can't help if they are naked by choice--but they could use some diapers. She would also enjoy tool sets or doctor kits. We would prefer doctors' kits that don't make noises. She also likes puppets and finger puppets.

Active Toys
Lucy is physically gifted. She moves like a much older child. She slides on the biggest slides at the bouncy house place, hangs and swings on bars at the playground, and climbs ladders wherever she finds them. Active toys like a slide or tricycle are right up her alley. And she's almost able to somersault by herself, so a cushy mat would be helpful.

Clothes
I still need to inventory Lucy's 24 month and 2T clothes to see what she needs. I put a few Curious George shirts on her wish list. I do know that if you find long sleeve pajamas (one- or two-piece) with any of the following characters, she will be happy: Elmo from Sesame Street, Curious George, Spiderman, Shaun the Sheep (perhaps will be available because of the movie coming out this month), pretty much any superhero.

Those Summer Nights

We have turned our back porch into a play space for Lucy. She has a box with sand and a little wading pool. A few nights ago she decided to build sandcastles before bath time.

Here she's signing and saying "more" to let me know she wants me to take more pictures of her.

Chasing fireflies is one of her favorite things to do. This night one landed on her nose, and she liked it so much she invited every firefly she saw to perch on her nose.