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Archives for November 2004

Mama Play Zin Zin Under Chin

Mama Play Zin Zin Under Chin

I swear this is what Katherine said to me the other day (Zin Zin = Violin). I asked her if she would like a little violin for Christmas. She said “Yes, Bow” then “Rosin.” Then she added, “Tata use Mama’s rosin.” I explained the bow and rosin would come with the violin, but that she could use mine if she wanted. This seemed to pacify her. She then explained to her care bear that the violin would go under it’s chin. ๐Ÿ™‚ Now, I’ve got to figure out where to get a small violin that she can’t take apart….I have saved my old half size violin for Katherine, but it’s just too large (and expensive) for her.

Nursery Rhymes

Katherine loves her Baby Lap Book, asking for nursery rhymes in the morning and evening. Her favorite rhymes are Baa Baa Black Sheep, Three Blind Mice, Humpty Dumpty, Itsy Bitsy Spider. Over the last two weeks, she’s started to say them – albeit not necessarily super coherently. So, she’ll start with ABCs, then move to Spider, then Twinkle followed by Sheep. Other times, she’ll say the rhymes straight through. She’ll flip through her book, trying to find a specific rhyme – and point to others “this one, this one.”

Oranges, a New Fruit Favorite

Katherine calls them “OJs” – and just started asking for them on a really regular basis. I bought a small box of satsuma madarin oranges at the local market, and she just mows them down. Not only are they consistently sweet, but they are just the right size to pop in her mouth!

Having Conversations

It’s pretty cool that we can have conversations with Katherine now. For instance, she informed me today that there was a “bee in house” and that dada got it with a tissue. She will wander around the house asking “Lambey, where are you?” or “Swifter, where are you?” She has names for all her books, asking tonight plaintively for another book (“Bear Hunt, real fast?”) as we were lowering her into her crib. Often we find that even when she appears not to be listening, she is. Tonight, she was playing with Mandy – her grandaunts golden – and her uncle mentioned that the dog’ts bone was broken. Katherine, who was busy playing with Mandy and the dog’s ball, then said “Dada, fix it” and then “tape.” After her uncle explained why the dog would choke on tape, Katherine said “no no” and gave it back to the dog.

 

More ABC progress

Ironically, Katherine had a big breakthrough with her ABCs with her Aunt Sharon…over the phone. I called Sharon, after Katherine said she wanted to talk to “Ayee.” Katherine promptly said her entire ABCs, excluding M and N. She said R, not forgetting TUV. I guess childraising is about small victories. I think we’ll have the ABCs down in a couple weeks – not bad for just 2 years old!!

Big Girl Potty

Katherine’s cousin, Kevin, visited yesterday afternoon. We had a small resource constraint when both children decided that they had to go “pee.” So, I put Katherine on her new potty seat on the “big potty” and told her not to go anywhere. I accompanied Kevin upstairs, unlocked the potty and made sure he washed his hands. As we headed downstairs, I heard a big bang and FLUSH. Katherine had gone pee, wiped herself, jumped off the potty, pulled off her little seat, dropped the toilet seat and then flushed everything. She’s growing up so quickly, and is starting to object to diapers – wanting instead to wear undies during the day and at night.

Horse Jackets and Fog

Katherine has amazing comprehension and retention these days. On the way home from the grandparents houses, we pass by a horse farm that often has the horses wrapped in blankets. We’ve talked about it, and Katherine understands that the horses get “cold” and need “jackets.” Today, as we buzzed down another road, I asked her what animals we would see at another farm. She said “horses in jackets.” We’ve also talked about fog and she explains that “foggy…hard to see.”

Katherine Turns Two!

Katherine has been looking forward to her birthday for days. On Saturday, we celebrated with a friends and then a family dinner gathering. She was a trooper, staying up until 9PM last night – exhausted but so excited to be “Two!” She is trying to form a V with her fingers, but so far the closest she gets are two intertwined fingers.

The best part about birthdays for Katherine is “chocolate cake.” She woke up from her nap right before Steve got home with the cake, balloons and party platters. We made the mistake of showing her the cake from Larry’s Market. Katherine must have said “try cake…pease!” at least 40 times before the party. She tried crying, she tried pleading, but we stayed firm telling her that we had to wait for her friends to arrive. As soon as her first guest, Sid, arrived she headed to the cake to eat.

What else did she eat before the party? A juice box, goldfish and crackers. The party was a hoot, with boys running around the house, the kids playing and coloring a large cardboard castle.

Katherine’s Vocabulary

Steve and I were debating tonight how many words Katherine has in her vocabulary. I would bet that she has 750 to 1000 words. Steve thinks she has over a thousand, maybe even two. Lately, her verbal skills have just blossomed to less everyday words. For instance, she helped us eat “Tacos” tonight, and played with her “Leap-pad.” She can describe just about everything and help us read books. I bought a book called “Truck in the Muck” last week. After only a couple times reading the book, she now follows along and helps me finish the sentences.

Her Favorite Songs

Thanks to Toby School, Katherine’s learned a handful of songs that she sings regularly. One is about fish swimming in the water. She says “fish shwimming in water, bubble…bubble pop!” and then starts in on ducks paddling. She also sings the main words to “ibby bibby spider” and also hokey pokey. She enjoys having me or Steve sing the hokey pokey; she’ll hold on to one of our hands to stick her foot out and also her hands waving them around – followed by a walk around in a circle. She loves being able to sing the songs and put them different parts of songs together. One minutes she’s singing her ABCs, the next she’s singing about spiders and fish.

ABCs

Katherine’s ABCs deserve a mention of their own because she’s made tremendous progress over the last month or so. Previously, she would say “ABC..Dada.” She heard Sid say his ABCs a month ago and pushed thru the Ds. Now she can say “ABCDE…H..GHIJKLOOOPQSTUVWXYZ now know ABCs sing with me!” She will sometimes skip T and then go straight to YZ, but if I say T!, she’ll fill in the rest of the letters. I think within the next 6-8 weeks, she’ll be able to say her entire ABCs without any issues.

Keeping Pooh Dry

Katherine loves potty training. She will run to her drawer, pull out a pair of Pooh undies and then attempt to stuff both legs into one leg hole. We’ve put her in her undies for up to several hours at a time. She’s done a great job, saying “peepee” and running to her little Baby Bjorn plastic potty in the downstairs or upstairs bathroom just in time to go bathroom. She tries to mimic us by using “paper towel” to wipe and then to flush the toilet. We just purchased today a Baby Bjorn formed plastic toilet seat that Katherine used to go to the bathroom on the “big potty.”

The End of an Era – or Decade

It’s the end of a long era. For the first time in 14 years, neither Steve nor I work for Microsoft. Wow! Friends have told us about this, but I wonder how I ever managed to work. We’ve been sooo busy this last month with family, appointments, Halloween, Katherine’s birthday…The list of things to do never seems to end.