Saturday, November 15, 2008
Zoo Babbling
This past Tuesday we had Veteran's Day off from school so I took the kids to the San Francisco Zoo.
Kevin met us there (he's a big zoo fan) and we all got to share in M's first day at the zoo. For her it was mostly watching the twins run around while she rolled along in the stroller. She didn't notice the animals much, but she did notice C and K. And spending the day with them and Dad was ultra-stimulating.
So much so, that she had a difficult time settling to go to sleep that night. We heard our first "mmmmahh mmmmahhh mmmmahhhhh mmmahhh".
This was a huge breakthrough for M. She's 13 and a half months and up until the other day she wasn't making many consonant sounds at all aside from a random 'g' here and there.
The next day all kinds of sounds came pouring out of M. It was like she discovered how to use the front of her mouth.
It was probably her day at the zoo, but I find it an odd coincidence that it was the SAME day that I was finally able to mail the Early Start application, as I was concerned about her speech delay.
I've been spending a lot more time on the floor with her this week and it also had really helped with her security. It's obvious that she has become very attached to Kevin. While I know that she likes me, she always preferred Kevin because he's the "Fun" dad. I'm okay with that, as she has to start somewhere. As the days pass I slowly discover new things about M as she opens up. And I have been teaching her what a hug and kiss are. When she retreats into her thumb-world, I've been giving her hugs and snuggles and she comes out. Her favorite toys are all the baby rattles that I saved from the twins. The louder ones are the best, and she will bang them on the floor and yell to make as much noise as possible. While it makes her happy, or at least occupies her time, she's not really developing from it and doesn't show interest in any other toys really so I've been playing with her with one toy at a time. You know which toys she likes the best? People!
I've finally figured out how to help her go to sleep during the day. When she's tired I can take her in my arms and rock her. After just a few minutes she can't fight the movement and she passes out. She even makes the arms to crib transition about 90% of the time without waking up. She's still sleeping through the night. We've moved her out of the portacrib in our room to the crib in K's room. Despite her good sleeping habits, she's still very easy to wake up.
We have our last soccer games today, as well as a Cub Scout book sale to work. K made the All-Star team so she has one more game on Monday. She's thrilled.
Also, we received both the twins report cards and they did exceptionally well this first trimester in school. It's their first time apart from each other and they are doing great!
Kevin met us there (he's a big zoo fan) and we all got to share in M's first day at the zoo. For her it was mostly watching the twins run around while she rolled along in the stroller. She didn't notice the animals much, but she did notice C and K. And spending the day with them and Dad was ultra-stimulating.
So much so, that she had a difficult time settling to go to sleep that night. We heard our first "mmmmahh mmmmahhh mmmmahhhhh mmmahhh".
This was a huge breakthrough for M. She's 13 and a half months and up until the other day she wasn't making many consonant sounds at all aside from a random 'g' here and there.
The next day all kinds of sounds came pouring out of M. It was like she discovered how to use the front of her mouth.
It was probably her day at the zoo, but I find it an odd coincidence that it was the SAME day that I was finally able to mail the Early Start application, as I was concerned about her speech delay.
I've been spending a lot more time on the floor with her this week and it also had really helped with her security. It's obvious that she has become very attached to Kevin. While I know that she likes me, she always preferred Kevin because he's the "Fun" dad. I'm okay with that, as she has to start somewhere. As the days pass I slowly discover new things about M as she opens up. And I have been teaching her what a hug and kiss are. When she retreats into her thumb-world, I've been giving her hugs and snuggles and she comes out. Her favorite toys are all the baby rattles that I saved from the twins. The louder ones are the best, and she will bang them on the floor and yell to make as much noise as possible. While it makes her happy, or at least occupies her time, she's not really developing from it and doesn't show interest in any other toys really so I've been playing with her with one toy at a time. You know which toys she likes the best? People!
I've finally figured out how to help her go to sleep during the day. When she's tired I can take her in my arms and rock her. After just a few minutes she can't fight the movement and she passes out. She even makes the arms to crib transition about 90% of the time without waking up. She's still sleeping through the night. We've moved her out of the portacrib in our room to the crib in K's room. Despite her good sleeping habits, she's still very easy to wake up.
We have our last soccer games today, as well as a Cub Scout book sale to work. K made the All-Star team so she has one more game on Monday. She's thrilled.
Also, we received both the twins report cards and they did exceptionally well this first trimester in school. It's their first time apart from each other and they are doing great!
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3 comments:
Joy, all the way around!!!
Looks like a fun day at the zoo. Zoos here are starting to shut down for the winter -- it's getting too cold for the animals.
It sounds like M is making some developmental and attachment progress. That's great. And it's so good that you're so intuitive about her needs. I remember when C went through his depression -- even in your own grief you were so good at noticing the little behaviors and recognizing the real needs underneath them. You're doing the same thing for M, now. You're really a wonderful mother.
wow what a great zoo! It is so interesting to read how M is more interested in watching C and K. That makes so much sense. She doesn't need giraffes and lions to be amazed!
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