Eluned G. Sharron Bethea » August 2009 Journal Entries » AboutMyBaby - online baby scrapbooks, photo albums, videos, birth and pregnancy announcements

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Sun, Aug 30, 2009 10:00 PM
Eluned's vocabulary is exploding; she picks up several new words a week. She still mimics what she hears, and she repeats words after we use them. When I say she has a new word, though, I mean Els has used it correctly and in context without hearing it from someone else. So at a friend's house the other evening, Els pointed to the pictures on the wall and said, "flower."

Els sometimes has to work on a word for a while before I understand what she's saying. During these phases she often repeats the word over and over. First it was "apu." We had at least a couple of weeks of "apu apu apu" before someone at Bertha's wondered aloud if Els was saying "apple;" she was. The next one was "bee." Rachel figured out that "bee" is any typical flying insect. The current one is "foofa." It has something to do with shoes, and something to do with feet.

"Apple" remains Els' default word; she frequently falls back on "apple" when she doesn't know the word she wants. One of the women I work with has a boy just a few weeks younger than Els named Max. His default word is "mango."

Els has an increasingly extensive vocabulary but she still speaks one word at a time. She has not started using two-word phrases yet. So a conversation with Els right now goes something like "apple banana apple cookie kitty meow meow shoe." I'm just starting to catch the beginnings of multiple word phrases: about a week ago Els said, "Daddy outside" (he was, taking out the trash or something), and today she said (to Will, in reference to my sandal) "shoe Mommy."

Comments:
Sarah: This child's gonna smack you upside a head onna these days with full sentence complete with dependant clause and full intonation. You just wait and see!

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Sat, Aug 29, 2009 5:00 PM
Eluned is starting to play with her dolls and stuffed animals. I don't know how much is her age and how much stems from watching Kantima and the family take care of baby Robin. Els carries her dolls around in her arms, feeds them from a little toy bottle and arranges them carefully in chairs.

Els will find a couple of cloths, spread one on the floor, lay her doll on it, gently cover the doll and say "Shh! sleep." She'll use any cloth; she was digging in to our baskets of napkins and placemats so I went and found her old swaddling blankets.

The dolls do not nurse. It hasn't occurred to Els to pretend to nurse them herself, and if I pretend to, the doll is summarily removed.

Els' favorites seem to be her talking baby doll, a wonderfully soft stuffed duck, and her cloth doll (not quite a rag doll but similar).

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Wed, Aug 26, 2009 9:00 PM
Will and Eluned have invented a game. Will turns on a flashlight and hands it to Els. She waves the beam of light at him and he reacts (overacts) as if he's been struck, hurling himself back or flinging himself down. Els thinks it's the funniest thing all day and waves the flashlight again.

The game started with a gesture. Els does the "stop! in the name of love" move -- complete with "stop" (but not the rest of the song). On a whim, Will reacted -- and a new game was born.

I'm not sure how the flashlight got worked in, but it helps define some boundaries for the game. Before that, for the first couple of weeks Els would wave randomly at Will; he mostly played along, but the timing wasn't always great. Plus, Els is interested in flashlights and the possibilities they offer.

Els likes their game so much she will go find a flashlight or occasionally just motion towards Will experimentally to see if he's in.

Comments:
Aunt Vic: Sounds like one great, involved Dad and one imaginative, smart baby girl to me!

Sarah: I could make some deep profound observation about the value of play...or I could just wonder how many children there are in your household....

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Thu, Aug 20, 2009 8:00 PM
Eluned's memory is improving.

Last weekend we went to a gardening store. Some of the plants there had attracted butterflies. We were able to get right up close to a huge beautiful one before it flew away. Then we followed a smaller butterfly up and down several rows, where it met up with another for a brief pas de deux. As we left, Els spotted the big butterfly up under the canopy.

Bertha's neighbor has some king of outdoor decorative element of a butterfly, hanging from a palm tree in their front yard.

Today is Thursday. We saw the butterflies on Sunday. We haven't seen, talked about, or anything else butterflies for more than 3 days.

This morning, Els noticed the neighbor's "butterfly" and said "'fly, 'fly." She remembered butterflies -- and a new word -- unprompted, for days.

Comments:
Sarah: Sorry I spelled Els incorrectly. Forgot to proof my message before saving it. Not only that, but I did it twice! You should see what I do with my own name: I'm constantly spelling it Saraj. Dyslexic fingers.

Sarah: How and why we develop long term memory is a fascinating subject. Some day, when Else is in her 20's, it will be interesting to ask her what her earliest memories are. In other words, when long-term memory tracks were laid down. Memory and deliberate memorization are both highly variable according to intent and practice. And Else is a very intent little girl. So it's not surprising that she'd remember the butterfly and the word. Memory is one of the criteria for intelligence evaluations.

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Tue, Aug 18, 2009 10:00 PM
Eluned loves "walk" because "walk" means "outside." Up until now her walks have been in the stroller, or sometimes the Ergo.

Tonight when we left Bertha's Els didn't even have shoes on; I thought we'd just hop in the car and go home. We all walked out together and then Bertha's granddaughters rode off on their bikes. Els, instead of going to the car, went after them. Bertha and I followed. The girls turned the corner at the end of the block. Els waved -- and kept going. When we reached the corner (with a little nudging), she turned too.

With the girls long gone, Els started to explore. She walked on the different kinds of grass and plants that people put in their sidewalk strips. Then she ventured on to people's lawns -- until she stepped on to a neglected lawn that had been taken over by burr plants. It took Bertha and I a moment to realize that Els needed help, and then I picked her up while Bertha cleaned off her feet.

Back on the sidewalk, I offered to carry Els but she wanted to get down and keep walking. She went 3/4 of the way around the block by herself before she wanted a lift. And she chattered the rest of way back to Bertha's.

Comments:
Sarah: Textures, tickles, smells. All good (except the burrs). Sounds like a lovely adventure.

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Mon, Aug 17, 2009 10:00 PM
I was sitting on the floor this evening when Eluned came up behind me and wrapped her arms around me. I love her hugs, and I told her so.

She kept coming back, though, and really squeezing me, so I had to figure out what she was trying to do. I leaned forward so that I lifted her up a little bit and on to my back. Well, now I was on to something. This was definitely closer to what Els had in mind. The next time she came around I moved her arms up over my shoulders. I didn't even have to place her legs -- Els wrapped them right around my waist.

This was it! She was up on my back like a little monkey. We rocked and bounced as much as I could, and Els cried when I needed to stop.

My little girl is now big enough and strong enough to ride on my back.

Comments:
Kate: With the help of the Ergo carrier I am. I love that thing.

Sarah: Ah, but are you strong enough to tote her around? She's getting to be a big girl now. (Hard to believe!)

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Sun, Aug 16, 2009 10:00 PM
My sister Rachel, the baseball fan, had a glove wrapped around a bright yellow softball on the coffee table at my parents'. Eluned loves all things "ball," so of course this new yellow ball was a big hit.

We were all sitting around nearby when Els walked over to the glove and asked, "ball? ball?" I told her that the ball was in the glove. Els just looked at me. I tried explaining it in different ways, for example, "the brown glove on the table" or "the yellow ball inside the glove." Els understands a lot, and I wasn't sure which word or words she didn't know yet. No matter what I said, though, Els would come back to us and ask for the ball.

Finally my sister walked over to the table. The ball was not in the glove. (It was under the table or something.) Poor kid. Els had been right all along.

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Sat, Aug 15, 2009 7:00 PM
I was surprised to learn that Eluned is protective of me. At 2 1/2 feet tall and 25 pounds there isn't a whole lot she can do about it yet; mostly fuss at the perceived threat. But she will.

I discovered this during a visit to my parents'. I was teasing my Aunt Ginny. She responded by half tickling, half poking me, so I shied away. Els got very upset. She clearly didn't understand that it was all in fun. We all had to reassure her that everything was fine.

Comments:
Sarah: Being fiercely protective is part of the mutual relationship. It's one reason parental disagreements are so deeply upsetting to children (and dogs). As single-minded as Els is, no one better mess with her momma (or poppa)!

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Fri, Aug 14, 2009 8:00 PM
Eluned has taken to yelling "ow ow ow" when she doesn't like something. The first few times Will and I hustled to figure out what was hurting her (of course). Now we know better.

We don't know where Els picked this up, but the two preschoolers at daycare are obvious suspects. Besides Nathan, Bertha now watches a 3-year-old girl named Olivia.

I'm almost certain that Els does not know what "ow" means to the rest of us; she is not trying to mislead us. I imagine she observed the reaction when Nathan and/or Olivia said it, decided to try it out herself, and finds the response is working for her.

We have not read her "the boy who cried wolf" -- yet.

Comments:
Ann: You think it's her way of saying "No"? Although I imagine she knows THAT word already, huh? :)

Sarah: Goodness, that child is bright. You think you have your hands full now...just wait! I'm going to enjoy watching someone else deal with a gifted child ;-)

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Wed, Aug 12, 2009 10:00 PM
Someone brought lollipops to a meeting at work. Knowing that Eluned and I were flying up north that night (and because no one at work seemed to want them), I took a whole handful. I thought the bright colors and crinkly wrappers might entertain Els for a little while during the flight.

I fished out the first lollipop during take-off. Els didn't want to sit on my lap, but it's a safety issue.

I underestimated this kid. Els was not distracted by color, crinkle, or anything else. She immediately tried to take the wrapper off and then fussed until I did it for her.

The lollipop did work, although not the way I planned. Candy in hand, or in mouth rather, Els was calm and happy for the rest of take-off.

Once the candy was eaten, the stick proved to be the big hit of the evening. Els waved it around, "drew" with it, poked everything around her (including me) with it, and used it to explore the new environment of the airplane.

Els' other favorite toy from the flight? The cocktail napkin that came with our juice.

Comments:
Sarah: You just never know what is going to be the most interesting thing. I once gave a toy car and truck set to my nephew, wrapped in gaudy paper. The hit of the evening? The roll of scotch tape I used to secure the wrapping paper. You just never know. Everything in sight was taped, folded, and taped again. Needless to say, his mother was less than happy. Els seems a lot more self-contained than my nephew.

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