March has come and gone and my e-book, Thriving Babies, was supposed to be finished already. Well, it's mostly done, if that counts for anything. I still need a few more pictures and I need to finish my website. Maybe April will be more promising.
Just a few quick notes about Arianna's language. I love the little mistakes she makes due to overgeneralizing the rules. Like saying, "Anna throwed it," because "threw" just isn't there yet. She sometimes says "him" instead of "her," but I am very surprised that she is learning how pronouns are related to gender. Maybe it's just mimicking, but she's giving it a try. My speech-delayed brother still called everyone a "him" until he was at least 5 or 6 years old.
The other thing I love observing is Arianna's memory development. We have read her SO many nursery rhymes and listened over and over again to the CD that cleverly puts them to music, that she often recites them during pauses in our conversation.
Tonight we went shopping for her cousins' birthday presents (twin boys who are going to be 13!). I was holding her in the sling and she blurts out, "1,2,3,4, Mary at cottage door." I finished the rest of it for her (5, 6, 7,8, eating cherries off a plate), but she doesn't seem to enjoy chiming in with me. She's FAR too independent for that, apparently. She often recites parts of 1,2, buckle my shoe and the Tony Chestnut song.
Last week I caught her "reading" the 3 little kittens book to herself and doing an excellent job (okay, proud reading teacher mom coming out here).
If she's not singing, she is usually making a specific request for one of us to sing to her. "Daddy, sing 'Kitty Song," (a.k.a. The 3 little kittens) or, 'Daddy Song' (Bye Baby Bunting). Once in awhile she throws us a curve ball, like, "Sing bunny song." Well, we don't know any, or at least, none that we have sung to her before. Thank goodness for "Peter Cottontail." Is she purposefully trying to stump us, or just trying to squeeze some new songs out?
Before we go to bed, we usually recap the day's events for her. She loves listening to HER story. Tonight, for the first time, she started filling in pieces that we forgot (come on, how could you forget going to the library to see Tony Chestnut?). All that fatty breastmilk is helping those little brain cells grow and make connections.
A quick side note while we are on the subject of milk and libraries. The last time we were at the library, Arianna saw another baby crying. She looked up at me and said, rather loudly, "Mommy hug her," implying that this is what the girl's mother should be doing. The mom took the hint and carried her daughter over to a quiet corner of the room. Arianna thought she knew just what was going on and shouted, "Mommy milkies."
Things are quite simple in her little world. If you cry, you get a hug and milkies and, presto -- Problem solved!
Man, I've gotta' drink some more milk...
Maybe it would help me write faster.
Rebecca
http://ThrivingBabies.com