Bambina Update

Sigh.  I know my baby is not a baby anymore, and here is why:  When she was a baby, she hated being held in a way that confined her limbs and rocked and sung to.  Instead, she insisted on being held up, facing me and singing along.  (It took me ages to figure this out, too, because Nat had loved--still does, really--to snuggle up to me and surrender all control while I sang and rocked.)

But now she loves to play "baby" in which I rock her, cradle-style in my arms and sing "My baby, Selina, my little baby, Selina!"  She still sings along though--"baby Seena, baby Seena!" with a huge grin.  It's a sure sign she isn't really a baby anymore.

I stopped looking at developmental milestone charts as soon as it seemed that Selina was A) done with the preemie delays and B) shaping up mentally and physically within typical perimeters.  But recently someone raised the question of her language development, suggesting that the fact she's very difficult to understand may indicate she is lagging in language development.  (I understand her about 75% of the time, Cole and babysitter J understand her about 50% of the time and everyone else is in the dark--except, come to think of it, Nat, who understands her most of the time, I think.)

My immediate instinct was the opposite--that her language is ahead of the curve and that her funny baby speech is a matter of her tongue being on a more normal trajectory and her brain being ahead of it.  (Not that I won't keep a sharp ear on her speech and take her for help if it ever does seem she has a slight impediment, mind you.)  So I checked the book we all love to hate and according to those perimeters, she is indeed quite a few months ahead in language development--at least as far as what she is trying to say, even if we don't always understand.

For example, she's all over the prepositional phrases.  "Sit down right here!" is a favorite of hers (it tends to be the rocking chair and it tends to be part of a demand to read books).  "Over there" "up the stairs" "into" the room, the car, the bathtub, etc. are favorites.  Instead of "look" or "what?" she points to things that impress her and says "right there!" (I know that's not a prepositional phrase, but anyhow).  She also regularly strings two, three or four words together in phrases or sentences.  After being happy with "have that!" for a few months, I have moved on to encourage "may I have that please?" and she usually gets it after one reminder.

She has reached the age of loving books.  She knows all of her favorites by title and asks for them accordingly.  "Panda Bear What See?" "Every Babies" "Happy Baby ABC" (actually the correct title), "Counting Book" "Welcome Presh" "Head-Toe" "Big Red Barn" are some of her greatest hits.  She likes to take a book to bed and if I let her, will play and read for a good 20-30 minutes alone after waking up.  (Yes!)  I will say she has quite an obsession with balls and hats, and these days, reading books is all about finding the balls and hats on any given page.

She knows about 80% of the capital ABCs and all the ASL letter signs.  She points out the ones she finds herself and tries to sign them (and usually fails--her fingers aren't that nimble yet). For instance, this morning, the clock hands on a dial clock were crossed in an X pattern and she pointed, declared "x!" excitedly and tried to make the sign for X.

She is a bit ahead of the curve in certain gross motor skills too.  She's been "kicking a ball forward" and "jumping up" for some time.  In fact, she climbs up on the sofa in the playroom and jumps off of it to a pile a cushions below on a fairly regular basis.  Nat doesn't like to do that sort of thing, but wants to join (and best) her, so Selina actually has Nat engaging a bit more with her body than she would ever choose to do on her own.  As I recall, Nat was still a long way from walking up a single stair at Selina's age, and here, Selina has hit the "do it myself" stage and will fight me to let her climb three floors when we arrive home from somewhere.  I'm glad, frankly, as my back is more than happy to have the break, even if it takes three times as long to plod along behind, spotting Selina on the stairs.  Really, she and Nat can get up them at about the same pace, though Selina's short little bow legs can't step up very well, she scrambles up using her hands to assist, now and then, while Nat is still working on the every-other stair climb technique.

Selina still loves music and singing and has a great sense of rhythm.  At the moment, she has a thing for Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and will just bust out with it from time to time when the mood strikes her.  She isn't pitch-perfect, but she is quite melodic for her age.  She and Nat also perform duets on the toy piano and toy guitar and sing the ABC song or Twinkle, Twinkle to their own accompaniment.

Selina informs us about 25% of the time when she needs a diaper change.  Since Nat is still refusing to poop on the potty (save two big events), I am hoping that God's reward to us for potty-training (or not, as the case may be) the hugely resistant Nat, will be one of those kids who just does it herself at two and a half.  Fingers crossed.

Selina's favorite person at this point is still baby sitter, J, whose name she shrieks with delight upon seeing him, or hearing that he's coming to see her.  She has, at least, stopped asking for him in the morning when I go in to get her, though.  Really it was sad, like, "sorry kid, it's just your mother."

She was also a big Uncle Jeremy fan when he came to visit and asked for him after he was gone too.  Both my kids do love them some uncles.  If you can put a kid on your shoulders and sing tenor, you're golden around here.

And that is Selina, about one week shy of 22 months old!

Comments

[Jenn (dish)]

My Gabe, who is nearly 4, is still not potty trained. His sister, 18mo, tells us when she goes and will sometimes sit on the pot (but doesn't produce...yet). I'm hoping that *my* reward is that they train together and we have a big "get rid of the diapers" party. :-)

Love the kid updates!

[Beth]

Aaaw. She's obviously a genius too. Knows letters?!? Reads books in bed?!? Seriously. Way ahead of the curve.

[Kate]

I thought I'd be in your shoes with the pooping. My son is 3+ and showed no interest whatsoever. Then I pinched his you-know-what with my fingernail by mistake while pulling up his diaper...and drew blood! Talk about bad mom. After that I told him that we'd just HAVE to poop on the potty to keep his owie clean. And he did. And has ever since.

I'm not recommending it, or anything, but it sure was effective...

[caro]

My older daughter (almost 4) won't poop on the potty yet either. Got any great ideas for me?

[mijk]

I think in laguage the big sister is to blame ;). My oldest always understood his sister. whatever hesuggested clamed her. I remembewr him coming dopwnstairs with a lcean diaper and wipes because she 'asked for it when she was 1,5. And she wasn't smelly... There was no reason for her to work on pronouncation.. She is allright now though..