Last night my dad was asking what new words Greyson has. We ran down the list of new and impressive pronunciations, including the adorable say he says lizard - my current favorite.
Later I realized the word he's been using the most lately is... NO! It's a little whiny, but soooo cute. And it's actually helpful in knowing what he does not want to do. But I'm sure it's just a hint of the battles and tantrums to come.
No has always been natural for Greyson. He has been shaking his head no for many many months. Probably since he started eating solid foods. That has been his indication that he's had enough or he doesn't like something, a simple shake of the head. I think it's funny because this is the exact opposite of little Veronica. She's a nodder. For as long as G has been shaking his head no, she's been nodding her approval. Seems to say something about their personalities, eh? I have been coaching Greyson on saying yes and nodding, but he hasn't mastered it yet. I have helped him to nod a few times, but it's a confused, circular nod. You can tell it's just not natural for him.
I'll have to get a good video of Grey saying "no" this weekend, it'll melt your little heart.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Friday, May 22, 2009
Sandhill Lunch
For Mother's Day we visited Moss Park, south of Orlando. Moss Park is a nesting ground for Wood Storks, and we saw plenty of those flying around over the lake. But we saw even more Sandhill Cranes. Greyson has seen some cranes at his Jo Grandma and Grandpop's house. He's definitely interested in the giant birds, but he's never gotten very close.
The cranes at Moss Park are obviously used to people. When we were playing on the playground before lunch we saw a pair of adult cranes with a chick wandering around the playground and picnic pavillion area. We stopped to watch them for a minute, the chick was less than a foot tall and very cute - like a giant yellow duckling. The crane family made its way over to the picnic pavillion where two people were starting to grill their lunch. We played for a while and explored the area and decided to have our picnic in the pavillion too. I wish we had gotten the camera out of the car!
The cranes cautiously made their way over to our table. Papa crane (I assume) came right inside the structure, making a distinctive clucking/purring noise in his gullet, begging for food. He got within a few feet of Greyson making Mama Rachel a little nervous. He quickly scooped up whatever Greyson dropped of his lunch onto the floor, and it's possible he got a few scraps of my lunch too. Mike was creeped out that this giant bird had a bite of Greyson's turkey sandwich, but hey - what'r ya gonna do? Greyson imitated the bird's noise, clearing his throat and sounding more like a pig than a bird. Then he decided to get up and check out the Mama and Baby bird, too. Grey took a few steps outside the pavillion towards the other birds and the adults both started making their loud trumpeting alarm call and flapping their wings a bit. Whoaaaa! You should have seen Greyson turn around and scurry back to our table. The birds didn't stay away for long, and soon returned with chick to scavenge some more.
We saw at least three other pairs of cranes at the park, plus one lone bird with what looked like a healed broken leg. I wanted to introduce him to the one legged duck at Lake Lily. We also saw a giant black squirrel that I first thought was a badger or a skunk running across the woods. My dad said it must have been a raccoon squirrel, which it turns out is a fox squirrel - a larger species than we're used to seeing around here. This was the best picture I could find of one on the Internet, and it doesn't do its size justice. It was seriously as big as a cat. Can't wait for Greyson to meet more wilderness creatures as we explore Florida with him.
The cranes at Moss Park are obviously used to people. When we were playing on the playground before lunch we saw a pair of adult cranes with a chick wandering around the playground and picnic pavillion area. We stopped to watch them for a minute, the chick was less than a foot tall and very cute - like a giant yellow duckling. The crane family made its way over to the picnic pavillion where two people were starting to grill their lunch. We played for a while and explored the area and decided to have our picnic in the pavillion too. I wish we had gotten the camera out of the car!
The cranes cautiously made their way over to our table. Papa crane (I assume) came right inside the structure, making a distinctive clucking/purring noise in his gullet, begging for food. He got within a few feet of Greyson making Mama Rachel a little nervous. He quickly scooped up whatever Greyson dropped of his lunch onto the floor, and it's possible he got a few scraps of my lunch too. Mike was creeped out that this giant bird had a bite of Greyson's turkey sandwich, but hey - what'r ya gonna do? Greyson imitated the bird's noise, clearing his throat and sounding more like a pig than a bird. Then he decided to get up and check out the Mama and Baby bird, too. Grey took a few steps outside the pavillion towards the other birds and the adults both started making their loud trumpeting alarm call and flapping their wings a bit. Whoaaaa! You should have seen Greyson turn around and scurry back to our table. The birds didn't stay away for long, and soon returned with chick to scavenge some more.
We saw at least three other pairs of cranes at the park, plus one lone bird with what looked like a healed broken leg. I wanted to introduce him to the one legged duck at Lake Lily. We also saw a giant black squirrel that I first thought was a badger or a skunk running across the woods. My dad said it must have been a raccoon squirrel, which it turns out is a fox squirrel - a larger species than we're used to seeing around here. This was the best picture I could find of one on the Internet, and it doesn't do its size justice. It was seriously as big as a cat. Can't wait for Greyson to meet more wilderness creatures as we explore Florida with him.Friday, May 15, 2009
Little Reader
As a librarian, I can't tell you how happy it makes me to see Greyson developing a love for books. His collection started small, with a few classics given to me at my baby showers. It has grown with each birthday and holiday, and we now have a shelf of tales to choose from each evening. I hope to eventually fill the bookcase, but we'll start slowly.
Greyson's favorite book as a tiny tot was Mommy Loves, a sweet book about animal mommies and babies. In the beginning, it was the right size and shape for the Goose to chew on. It has remained a favorite of his because of the animals, and a favorite of mine because of the lovely and simple message. As we start reading he eagerly awaits the page with the doggies, turning the pages quickly looking for them.
Another favorite is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Inside the cover of the book, on the title page there are many small circles in typical Eric Carle style and color. For some reason when we started enjoying this book I would chant "circle, circle, dot, dot, look at all the pretty spots" before we launched into the story. To this day Greyson still says "dot dot dot" when we see certain circles or dots. Now he says "mmmmmm" (his word for orange) when we get to the page where the caterpillar eats through five oranges on Friday.
Nana gave Greyson a Curious George book for Christmas and that has become the Car Book. He reads it to and from school, the grocery store, the park, etc. It has a dog and cat and rabbit and squirrel and he likes to point all of these out as we make our way around town. Last week before school, he somehow got his book out of the car, took it with him down the driveway, and sat on the sidewalk re-reading one of his favorites. I guess it's a good thing kids like repetition.
His favorite category of books are the "touch and feel" animals, or "lift the flap" peek-a-boo books. Pat the Bunny taught Greyson to say "shhhh!" whenever he sees someone/something with their eyes closed (as in "shhh! Bunny is sleeping"), a trick I find endlessly amusing and adorable. He learned to say "lizard" after reading one of his touchy feely animal books. Unfortunately he's pretty rough on them, so some of the flaps need to be glued back into his Peek A Baby book.
Every night, we read Goodnight Moon together as a family, just before lights out. I don't think I read this book until I was an adult. Emily turned me on to it, and it always makes me think of her and Jordan and all of our sweet little babies, even though we're so far apart. I hope that Greyson will always remember it as his soothing bedtime ritual with Mama and Dada.
I guess we have a ways to go before I can really say we've instilled a love of reading in the boy, for now it's just a love of books. But for that, I'm grateful.
Greyson's favorite book as a tiny tot was Mommy Loves, a sweet book about animal mommies and babies. In the beginning, it was the right size and shape for the Goose to chew on. It has remained a favorite of his because of the animals, and a favorite of mine because of the lovely and simple message. As we start reading he eagerly awaits the page with the doggies, turning the pages quickly looking for them.
Another favorite is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Inside the cover of the book, on the title page there are many small circles in typical Eric Carle style and color. For some reason when we started enjoying this book I would chant "circle, circle, dot, dot, look at all the pretty spots" before we launched into the story. To this day Greyson still says "dot dot dot" when we see certain circles or dots. Now he says "mmmmmm" (his word for orange) when we get to the page where the caterpillar eats through five oranges on Friday.
Nana gave Greyson a Curious George book for Christmas and that has become the Car Book. He reads it to and from school, the grocery store, the park, etc. It has a dog and cat and rabbit and squirrel and he likes to point all of these out as we make our way around town. Last week before school, he somehow got his book out of the car, took it with him down the driveway, and sat on the sidewalk re-reading one of his favorites. I guess it's a good thing kids like repetition.
His favorite category of books are the "touch and feel" animals, or "lift the flap" peek-a-boo books. Pat the Bunny taught Greyson to say "shhhh!" whenever he sees someone/something with their eyes closed (as in "shhh! Bunny is sleeping"), a trick I find endlessly amusing and adorable. He learned to say "lizard" after reading one of his touchy feely animal books. Unfortunately he's pretty rough on them, so some of the flaps need to be glued back into his Peek A Baby book.
Every night, we read Goodnight Moon together as a family, just before lights out. I don't think I read this book until I was an adult. Emily turned me on to it, and it always makes me think of her and Jordan and all of our sweet little babies, even though we're so far apart. I hope that Greyson will always remember it as his soothing bedtime ritual with Mama and Dada.
I guess we have a ways to go before I can really say we've instilled a love of reading in the boy, for now it's just a love of books. But for that, I'm grateful.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Check Up
Greyson was checked out, weighed, assessed, measured, poked and prodded at his 18 month visit to the doctor yesterday. We have settled on a doctor we love at our large pediatricians' office (10 doctors plus nurse practitioners!). Dr. Trout is young and sweet and Greyson loves her, even smiles as she examines him (until she tries to look in his mouth at his teeth). She was willing to bend over and peek into his mouth as Mike held Greyson upside down - the best way to get a good look at the chompers.
Greyson is still super tall and average weight. He hasn't hit 27 pounds yet... he just keeps getting taller and barely gaining weight. Grey has now achieved 53% of my height, 46% of his father's.
Greyson is still super tall and average weight. He hasn't hit 27 pounds yet... he just keeps getting taller and barely gaining weight. Grey has now achieved 53% of my height, 46% of his father's.
He "passed" all of his developmental assessments, the ones that had us fretting. We worried because the questionnaire asked if he was putting two words together. The doctor assured us that they expect kids to score low on the communication part, and as long as he's got 5-6 words he's ok. Ha! I should cound his words, they are many and varied. But that would be bragging, and I'm trying not to be that mom. (Geez, what am I doing blogging if not bragging???)
We're gearing up for another big weekend. One of our friends is entering his 40's - the first of our group to do so. It'll be a nice opportunity to celebrate and get together. My folks were willing to come babysit so we could attend our very adult (read OLD) friend's party without baby in tow. My father vows that he'll have Greyson pedalling his new big wheel by the end of the weekend. You should see the little big wheel... it's soooo tiny and cute!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Water, Water, Everywhere
Greyson has been enjoying the water this year... I'm sure that will continue through this long hot Florida summer. I'll be stocking up on waterproof sunblock and UPF swim shirts.
We spent a long weekend in Venice for Jo Grandma's birthday earlier this month. Greyson went to the beach and put his toes in the water but that was about it. He enjoyed the shore with his Grandpops, but it was a bit cool for swimming. What he really enjoyed was the splash water park with dancing water fountains. After about five minutes he was chilled from the water, but kept playing... teeth chattering all the while. He filled his bucket with water, even copied me after I tried to "levitate" the bucket on the jets of water. The splash park will definitely be a priority on our visits to Venice for years to come.
For Mother's Day, Greyson and Mike planned a trip to Moss Park, just across Orlando. It's a lovely park with camping, picnic pavillions, natures trails, and a swimming beach on Lake Mary Jane. The water is quite cola-colored, not too strange for us Florida near-natives used to the tannins in the local rivers. The water in the swimming area is shallow, even in the "deep end" I could still stand. In the shallow waters, Greyson could sit and splash and people watch. He had a great time, even getting splashed and pushed around by the boater's "waves."
We also got a silly splashing caterpillar sprinkler for the yard. It's a bit frenetic and scares Grey a little bit, but I'm sure we'll get plenty of use out of it this summer. I'm keeping my eyes out for a water table on Craigslist, so we should have a splashy good time for the next few months. Maybe we can just move bathtime outdoors...
We spent a long weekend in Venice for Jo Grandma's birthday earlier this month. Greyson went to the beach and put his toes in the water but that was about it. He enjoyed the shore with his Grandpops, but it was a bit cool for swimming. What he really enjoyed was the splash water park with dancing water fountains. After about five minutes he was chilled from the water, but kept playing... teeth chattering all the while. He filled his bucket with water, even copied me after I tried to "levitate" the bucket on the jets of water. The splash park will definitely be a priority on our visits to Venice for years to come.
For Mother's Day, Greyson and Mike planned a trip to Moss Park, just across Orlando. It's a lovely park with camping, picnic pavillions, natures trails, and a swimming beach on Lake Mary Jane. The water is quite cola-colored, not too strange for us Florida near-natives used to the tannins in the local rivers. The water in the swimming area is shallow, even in the "deep end" I could still stand. In the shallow waters, Greyson could sit and splash and people watch. He had a great time, even getting splashed and pushed around by the boater's "waves."
We also got a silly splashing caterpillar sprinkler for the yard. It's a bit frenetic and scares Grey a little bit, but I'm sure we'll get plenty of use out of it this summer. I'm keeping my eyes out for a water table on Craigslist, so we should have a splashy good time for the next few months. Maybe we can just move bathtime outdoors...
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Animals
Greyson loves animals. It started with dogs and cats. Those were some of his first words, although they started out as "do..." and "laaa" (his word for cat... he has used it consistently for months!). We visit lots of dogs and cats around our neighborhood. Every morning when he wakes up and joins us in our bed for a few minutes, he asks for the dog and cat (Aunt Linda gave us books about Dewey the library cat, and stories about bad dogs for Christmas). He takes his books and looks at the covers and pictures of his beloved animals before finally rousing us out of bed for the day. His pronunciation of cat has advanced recently and now sounds a bit like... well, "liaou" or "leeee-aaah-ooow." Dog still sounds about the same, as Greyson is great at the beginnings of words but not so good with follow-through. More on that later...
Recently the Goose has added the animal's sounds to his repertoire. We can ask what the doggie says and are treated to a little "arf arf!" - or he will echo it right back to the dogs on our evening walk. Kitties say "liao" - very similar to their name but said in a sweet cute little baby animal voice. Pigs say "chhhh chhhh" (insert clearing throat noises), cows say "mmmmmmmmmmmm" and I think he was trying to say "neigh" last night as we walked past a neighbor's house and saw a decorative iron horse on their planter.
Lately we've noticed that Grey is trying to add the endings to some of his words - the K or T sounds at the end of hat, brick, crocks are a little tough for him. It comes out really cute, like his favorite shoes, crocs are cwah-kuh's. Hot is sometimes haaah-kuh. Brick is biiih-kuh. That word ending takes a lot of effort!
The cutest things are when he is learning to apply his new labels to the world. We saw a few snakes on our trip to visit Grandpops and Jo last weekend. He loved the word "nay" or "nake" and decided that was the appropriate word for the worms in our driveway too! Or he takes "moooo" which is the moose stuffed animal in our room and applies that to the photo of Winston that we keep on the fridge. Winston the dog wearing his Christmas antlers! So even though he's not stringing multiple words together, we're pretty proud of how Greyson is using his words.
Recently the Goose has added the animal's sounds to his repertoire. We can ask what the doggie says and are treated to a little "arf arf!" - or he will echo it right back to the dogs on our evening walk. Kitties say "liao" - very similar to their name but said in a sweet cute little baby animal voice. Pigs say "chhhh chhhh" (insert clearing throat noises), cows say "mmmmmmmmmmmm" and I think he was trying to say "neigh" last night as we walked past a neighbor's house and saw a decorative iron horse on their planter.
Lately we've noticed that Grey is trying to add the endings to some of his words - the K or T sounds at the end of hat, brick, crocks are a little tough for him. It comes out really cute, like his favorite shoes, crocs are cwah-kuh's. Hot is sometimes haaah-kuh. Brick is biiih-kuh. That word ending takes a lot of effort!
The cutest things are when he is learning to apply his new labels to the world. We saw a few snakes on our trip to visit Grandpops and Jo last weekend. He loved the word "nay" or "nake" and decided that was the appropriate word for the worms in our driveway too! Or he takes "moooo" which is the moose stuffed animal in our room and applies that to the photo of Winston that we keep on the fridge. Winston the dog wearing his Christmas antlers! So even though he's not stringing multiple words together, we're pretty proud of how Greyson is using his words.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Language
I've been thinking a lot about Greyson's language skills lately. Partly because they are emerging rapidly and amusing us, partly because his 18 month doctor visit is this week and we have a questionnaire to complete, with a section on language.
It is hard as a mother, especially a first-timer, to avoid the trap of comparing your child to others. It's mostly a benchmark, to make sure they're on the right track. But it sometimes turns into a competition. We hope that Greyson is incredibly smart, we would be happy to have a genius on our hands. And of course we're amazed daily by the things he says and does. A doctor might not see the signs of brilliance yet, but as his parents, we do! Of course in the end, we just want him to be happy, genius or not.
So this questionnaire is for 18-month olds, part of a developmental assessment they do to keep an eye out for autism, etc. I am trying to answer everything honestly, but it's hard not to try to get the answers "right!" Some of the questions are about things he does every day, has been doing for months. Others are about things we have not yet tried with him, or things he's not very interested in. So we tried to make it a point this weekend to try things out. Put a few raisins in a baby bottle and see if he can figure out how to get them out... See if he can draw a straight line with a crayon after he sees me do it... See if he can repeat a two-word phrase... and that's where we got stuck. Greyson does 90% of the things on the list, but he does not repeat or initiate two-word phrases. It's got us aflutter, egging him on and listening to his every word. Can other kids his age do this??? Is he behind?
And then I stop myself, think about his latest words, accomplishments, triumphs, and let it all go. We met a little girl in the neighborhood last week. She is 16 months old and a little behind developmentally. She had a lung transplant that set her back a bit. She cannot go to daycare, to the mall, to the park. She has to avoid germs because she's on anti-rejection medications that supress her immune system. Her mom was eager for her to be able to run, like she saw Greyson doing. So a little perspective was gained. Whevever he gets there, we'll be proud.
It is hard as a mother, especially a first-timer, to avoid the trap of comparing your child to others. It's mostly a benchmark, to make sure they're on the right track. But it sometimes turns into a competition. We hope that Greyson is incredibly smart, we would be happy to have a genius on our hands. And of course we're amazed daily by the things he says and does. A doctor might not see the signs of brilliance yet, but as his parents, we do! Of course in the end, we just want him to be happy, genius or not.
So this questionnaire is for 18-month olds, part of a developmental assessment they do to keep an eye out for autism, etc. I am trying to answer everything honestly, but it's hard not to try to get the answers "right!" Some of the questions are about things he does every day, has been doing for months. Others are about things we have not yet tried with him, or things he's not very interested in. So we tried to make it a point this weekend to try things out. Put a few raisins in a baby bottle and see if he can figure out how to get them out... See if he can draw a straight line with a crayon after he sees me do it... See if he can repeat a two-word phrase... and that's where we got stuck. Greyson does 90% of the things on the list, but he does not repeat or initiate two-word phrases. It's got us aflutter, egging him on and listening to his every word. Can other kids his age do this??? Is he behind?
And then I stop myself, think about his latest words, accomplishments, triumphs, and let it all go. We met a little girl in the neighborhood last week. She is 16 months old and a little behind developmentally. She had a lung transplant that set her back a bit. She cannot go to daycare, to the mall, to the park. She has to avoid germs because she's on anti-rejection medications that supress her immune system. Her mom was eager for her to be able to run, like she saw Greyson doing. So a little perspective was gained. Whevever he gets there, we'll be proud.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
