Monday, March 31, 2014

Mama! Tweet! Tweet! Nana!

Friday mornings, Amelia attends a Spanish class at her preschool.  Last week, when I went to drop Amelia off, I walked and and saw all the children gathered around one of the teachers.  The teacher was holding a bird on her hand (perhaps a macaw? or parrot?).  The kids were fascinated.  I organized Amelia (backpack, jacket, kisses, etc) and in the process, Gemma noticed the bird.  I can tell you the exact SECOND she noticed because her whole body jumped.  From that moment on, she turned and wriggled and contorted herself in order to see the bird every moment.


Once Amelia had joined the group, I brought Gemma closer over to see the bird.  We stood back behind the group of preschoolers and admired the bird.  It was only then I noticed that the bird was perched on the teacher's wrist and the teacher was holding a banana in her hand.  The bird was eating a banana*.  Gemma was speechless.  She kept pointing at the bird and telling me "Tweet, tweet, **" almost in disbelief.

When we left, Gemma and I had a conversation that just about melted my poor heart.  We walked out of the classroom and into the hallway.  I wasn't two steps into the hallway when Gemma grabbed my face between her two hands and turned my face so I was looking directly into her eyes.

"MAMA!"
"Tweet, tweet!!!"
"NANA"

This was so adorable.  The best translation I can come up with is:

"Mom!  There was a bird and it was eating a BANANA!  Unbelievable!"

My response:

"Did you see the bird eating a banana?"

Her response:

A big belly laugh.  It is so much fun to have your words understood!

*Although the bird was eating the banana, it was also not a very neat eater.  The kids closest were all squealing and laughing as the bird tossed/threw/dropped tiny chunks of banana every time it took a bite.

** At this point, Gemma calls all animals by their sounds or calls.  Most animal sounds are easier to pronouce than the actual names.  So around here, a "neigh neigh" is a horse and a "meow" is a cat.

Sweet Amelia

Today was Amelia's birthday (well, yesterday now).  She had a wonderful birthday weekend celebrating with all kind of fun activities.  I'll tell you more about it later (or I'll forget and won't tell you), but for now I want to share this sweet conversation I overheard tonight between Amelia and her Great Grandma Gerry.

GranGerry: Happy birthday Amelia!
Amelia: (giggles) Thank you!

(generalized birthday chat)

GranGerry: Did you open a gift from North Dakota?
Amelia: (puzzled look) Yes!  Yes I did!  It was so perfect and I LOVE it!*
GranGerry: Yeah?
Amelia: YEAH!
GranGerry: What shape was it in?  I couldn't tell from the box.  I picked it because it was purple and pink.

Amelia: It is a SEAL and it is WONDERFUL!  I thought I wanted to have the special unicorn Glowy Pillow until I saw this one.  I didn't know how much I would love the seal pillow.  This one is my favorite now because YOU picked it out for me.

Grandma: A seal?  Wow.  I'm glad you like it!





*Several months ago, Amelia mentioned to Grandma that she wanted a pillow pet that glows.  They sell them a variety of places and come in a variety of shapes and colors.  Apprently, Grandma had a little trouble tracking down the Glowy PIllow (as Amelia calls it).  She finally happened across it at the store when she was looking for something else.

Friday, March 28, 2014

Amelia funny

At lunch, I was helping attempting to help Gemma with her cup.  She was insisting on doing it herself and making a giant mess.  While I was trying to prevent milk from coating every single surface in the kitchen, Amelia had this conversation with me:

Amelia: Mom! Mom!
Mom: Whaaa... Gah!  Gemma!  No! Stop! Here!  Let me helppp...argh! No! Let! GO! Blech! (wipes face).  Sorry.  What did you need Amelia?
Amelia: I just finished drinking my juice.  It was delicious.
Mama: Oh?  GEMMA! Wait!  Stop!  Here, I'll hold.....fine.  Do it yourself.  Yes that's right....NO. STOP!  You can't....well.  You just did.
Amelia: Now I'll say it in English so you can understand me (she says this to me like we are having a normal everyday conversation and I am not wrestling with a giant, slippery, stubborn, shrieking, desiring independence type octopus).

Mama: Sure.
Amelia: I just finished drinking my juice.  It was delicious.  See?  Now you can understand me because I told you the words in English. You didn't understand me before because I was speaking in Spanish.
Mama: You were?
Amelia: I WAS!  Isn't that great?
Mama: It was (I have no option but to agree here because while I am certain she was speaking English both times, I was so distracted, I have no idea what else was said or what I missed in wrangling Gemma.).

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Backwards Facing Navigational System

This is a compilation of a few things I have been noticing recently that I haven't had a chance to write down yet.  Better late than never, right?


1.  Background: This was in January.  On Fridays, Amelia attends a Spanish class at her preschool for an hour.  We drop her off and then pick her up just a short while later.  Usually I drop Amelia at preschool on a Tues/Thursday and then bring Gemma to our sitter's house.


Gemma and I walked out of the preschool and I juggle her around in my arms to unlock the car.

Gemma: Baby?
Mama: Baby? (I look and do not see any babies around.  The door is open and I start buckling Gemma in her carseat).
Gemma: Go! Go! Baby! (Points out the window).

Suddenly, I realize Gemma is referencing our sitter's granddaughter, whom Gemma refers to as "baby".   Unfortunately, we don't have plans to see them today and Gemma is now quivering with excitement about seeing her baby friend.  I try to explain to her we aren't going there, but it isn't sinking in.

It doesn't sink in until we leave the preschool and turn right instead of left.  The instant we turn right (to go home) instead of left (to go to the sitters house), she is screaming and crying : "NO!  NO!"  "NO!  GO BABY! NO!"

This is crazy to me that at 19 months while sitting in a carseat facing the rear of a vehicle, Gemma can determine the direction we are driving.  Absolutely crazy.



2.  We go to the library a lot.  Once a month the local library has a baby story time in which one of our favorite librarians reads books, leads some rhymes, and sings a few songs.   One of the songs we do every single time is called "Shake and Stop".  The whole group of kiddos are given little tiny maracas.  The song starts and tells the kids to shake their instruments in different ways.  Then it tells them to stop.  Which is totally hilarious to observe.  The parents are trying to stop the noisy shakers and the kids just want to keep on making noise.  The silence only lasts for a few beats and then the shaking starts up again, a pattern which is repeated several times before the song is over.

When we went to story time in January, I noticed that Gemma was able to stop shaking on her own.  I figured it out by accident as I had Amelia and William with me.  I was distracted by something and couldn't get to Gemma in time to quiet her shakers.  But, she did it on her own.

This might not sound like a big deal, but this is HUGE.  This is massively huge because this is the first sign that Gemma is starting to exhibit self control and regulation.  A whole lotta exciting child development has to happen before self regulation occurs.  And it IS exciting.  This child will someday be able to control her impulse to climb the refrigerator and resist eating toothpaste.  It won't be today or even this month (year?), but it is coming.

As the second pause in the song approached, I held my breath to see what would happen.  I was surprised and proud : Gemma held her shakers close to her chest to quiet them.

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Uh oh

We learned several new things over our spring break trip to Minnesota:

1. Amelia has grown a lot this winter. I knew she was bigger, but none of her swimsuits from last summer fit her at all. Of course, that is all we had with us to swim! She didn't seem to be bothered by the snugness of the suit, but on my list of things to do is pack away the too small ones and locate the ones I got on clearance last fall.

2. Who knows what was supposed to go here?

3. Gemma can crawl out of her crib. With her sleep sack on (it doesn't have legs. That should make it harder to climb anything. Anywhere). I should clarify here: I have noticed for awhile now that Gemma has been CAPABLE of crawling out of her crib. She scales the couch and all kids of equipment at the park. I knew she could climb out of her crib. She hadn't until this week. I heard a noise and when I went to check on my sleeping baby, I was greeted by her smiling face instead.


Update: huge relief as this skill doesn't seem to have transferred to her crib here at home.

William and his buddy

We went to Quarry Hill to check out their new dinosaur exhibit. On the way in, we were greeted by some very friendly stick bugs. I was very shocked when William agreed to hold one on his jacket. He was careful and gentle, not at all nervous. He is so surprising sometimes! We are very proud!