Our tykes, Rebecca and Lucy: July 2009

Monday, July 27, 2009

Guess who wants to be a fairy for Hallowe'en this year

Three generations of accessories.
My crown.
My Mom's shoes.
My grandmother's purse.

If I'd let her, she would have ended up completely on the table.

She also can climb onto her change table in the time it takes you to say "she can climb onto her change table".

We need to buy her heavier shoes.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Lucy and her Daddy

Everyone in my house knows that Lucy has a very special attachment to her Daddy. Every single day she shows us how much he means to her.
This evening, while Greg was on a bike ride, I was reading a book with Lucy. Rebecca was merrily doing some solo imaginative play in her room, so Lucy had my full attention. We were reading Thumper counts to ten. Now, while Lucy has recently developed a very keen interest in books, she still can't sit through an entire book. Therefore, I was shocked when we actually reached number nine. On each page of the book, the numbers are represented by woodland creatures. Nine is quail. One big quail and a trail of eight baby quails. I told Lucy that these birds were called quail (although she still said "quack quack"), and look - it's a Mommy quail with her babies. At that point she pointed to the big quail (Lucy does a lot of pointing these days) and said "Daddy". It fascinated me that she interpreted the picture in this way. To me, it was a mommy and babies picture - I made the assumption, without even a nanosecond of thinking. Automatic processing. Probably accurate representation of what happens in nature. But to her, these parental scene does not just default to "Mommy". I don't want to overinterpret, but I would like to imagine that this might be a sign that by having Greg as the at-home parent, Lucy has the notion that a nurturing parent is not just limited to being a Mommy. As long as she doesn't think it's a role exclusive to Daddies, then I think it is a wonderful thing that might be happening in her brain.

Lucy and Rebecca mini-update

Lucy's language and cognitive abilities are advancing by leaps and bounds! It's crazy what she can learn in just one day! She adds new words to her vocabulary every day.
Lucy now uses some two-word sentences. Her favourite seems to be "Where's Daddy?" (not terribly surprising given the strength of her attachment). A new one I heard today was "go there" (declaring her intentions). Sadly, I must admit that another recent one was "single ladies". I think the blame for that one must lie squarely on Rebecca's shoulders, as it is no doubt her frequent rendition of Beyoncé hits, that put that phrase on Lucy's radar.
Lucy will now also execute simple commands. She will move objects as directed. The best application for this is that we can make her put her own diaper in the garbage. It is nice that she listens to what we say - if only it lasts!
Lucy was watching me sort laundry into piles. She brought me a sock from a laundry basket and I told her it was mine. So she tried to put it on my foot.
Rebecca is starting to make use of comparisons and similes on a regular basis. They are ones of her own devising, drawn from her own experiences or books she's had read to her. The other night, when she was reluctant to go to bed, she compared herself to the train from The Little Blue Engine that Could who repeats "I cannot".
Rebecca can't seem to tell the difference between the sound of me laughing and the sound of me crying. The girls are always doing humorous things, so I repeatedly have to assure Becca that I am o.k.