A couple evenings ago Charlotte was sitting on her potty as she likes to do and she asked me to join her. Sometimes she likes to chill on her potty with company and sometimes she likes to go solo. In fact she is really getting into the whole "going potty" thing... if you limit "going potty" to mean walking into the bathroom by yourself, closing the door until it latches, sitting on the potty for thirty seconds, and then crying for a parent to come let you out of the bathroom because you haven't figured out yet how to open the door.
So she has a lot of ostensible steps covered but is really missing those huge, all important, deeper steps of pulling your pants down and actually having some sort of substance evacuate your body.... and then knowing how to operate a basic door. She does enjoy hand washing, though, so at least we have that big step down.
Anyway, as I started out writing, a few nights ago she sat on her potty and asked me to join her. We look like two people sitting down to tea, as we just sit there on our respective seats looking at one another. So I sat on the toilet and she, on her potty, started talking to me. And the opening line was profound and deep.
Charlotte: Daddy sit down. Daddy go potty.
Me: Correct.
Charlotte: Correct. [Points to toilet paper roll next to me hanging from the wall]. That a napkin on the potty.
Me: Somewhat correct.
Charlotte: Somewhat correct.
And now I can't help but want to call toilet paper "potty napkins" all the time now. Fortunately for both me and my conversation parters, toilet paper does not really come up a lot in coversation.
January 30, 2013
January 27, 2013
Behind the Scenes
Charlotte has made another small jump outwardly in showing her view of all things remote and abstract. As Emily blogged yesterday her representational play is taking off, which is always nice for a parent to see because it rules out the last round of cognitive and learning delays or disorders someone like me has to worry about for awhile. She is talking about things from the past all the time. Suze still lives in Texas and tonight we were looking at a Richard Scarry book, as per usual, and she pointed to the fox or pig or dog or whoever was piloting a plane and said, "Suze!" That's right, my mom is some perpetually smiling zoo or farm animal that flies airplanes. I wanted to scold Charlotte so being so off-base but I decided to let it go.
So seeing what nuggets Charlotte pulls from the past continues to be fun but here are some bigger, although not all that huge, leaps she's made.
1. Out of nowhere on Friday she started talking about the zoo and then finally said, "Go zoo? Daddy go zoo? Charlotte go zoo? Mommy go zoo?" Maybe they talked about the zoo in her new school/daycare (Edgecumbe Montessori). I asked her what she wanted to see at the zoo and she said, "otters." Sure enough last month with Suze we went to the zoo and Charlotte saw the otters. I asked what she remembered about the otters and she said, "Otters funny. Otters swimming in a water."
Damnit, she nailed it. I had not choice but to oblige and yesterday we were at the zoo. We had just arrived, were one minute into thawing out near the indoor exhibits, when she insisted we go see the otters first.
A few of you reading this know that one of the many rants I have about Facebook right now is all the people bragging about how they went running in the cold. There is nothing easier to do outside in the winter than run. You have high tech gear on, you're doing this for leisure, and you are moving the entire time. It really is no big deal. And A LOT of people do it.
You know what is a big deal? You know what A LOT of people don't do? Stand out in the single digits, not moving at all for fifteen minutes, in what is essentially a wind tunnel, watching someone else watch otters. That activity is three times colder than going for a stupid run. Fifteen minutes we stood there. Love is funny that way. No one else could have made me agree to those fifteen minutes besides Charlotte and every minute was awesome (and she was plenty warm by the way... she got sick of my checking in on her).
2. She has also been talking about the museum (she only know the Children's Museum). After Physical Therapy on Friday we got into the car and she said, "Museum?" I don't know if that was a specific request so much as a comment that she really didn't want to go to her new daycare, because it's new, and man wouldn't it be nice if the two of us chilled at the Children's Museum. Anyway, per Emily. she spent a good chunk of the morning today lining her toy animals up to go the zoo (bus man's holiday) and then to the Children's Museum. So clearly that stayed with her or was always with her.
3. Tonight she randomly did something kind of cool. As we were going upstairs to bed, with no context whatsoever, she said, "Balloon, balloon!" and then acted like she was blowing up a balloon. The two of proceeded to mime blowing up balloons for five minutes or so and she thought it was hilarious. I have no idea where this came from. I assume she is picking up a few things from Montessori. Either way, it is fun to see the little brain of hers in action.
Other news:
1. She did indeed start a new daycare. She is now in a Montessori with a nice range of kids from infants on up to pre-schoolers. As expected, Emily had to deal with a lot of Charlotte's tears at drop-off time (well day one was more screaming per Emily and then when I picked her up the teacher said it took Charlotte half an hour to calm down after Emily left). She'll be fine. She is adjusting as quickly as we figured she would. She still talks about Paula (her previous day care provider) and the kids she played with there, so I think she misses that. But I predict by the end of the week she'll be all in with her new place. Like I told Emily, Charlotte is going to forget all of this in a year. We are the ones who remember it all. And once she is loving her new school we can always go back and see Paula and the kids Charlotte will remember from there.
2. Charlotte's Physical Therapist arranged for a therapy dog to come and help out with our sessions. So now Charlotte has a dog doing PT with her. I forgot it's name... Sandy? I keep asking Charlotte but she says something that could be Sandy but it could be ten other names. Regardless, that dog has really made a difference but not how you'd expect. Charlotte likes the dog, but is really so hung up with working through all the demands we are asking of her. So it is hard for her to let go and interact with the dog the same way she does our pets. The intent was for the dog was to relax the dynamic of "do this hard activity" and "do that activity you're uncertain about doing." But that hasn't played out. Instead what the PT and I have ended up doing is using the dog as a decoy to play off of Charlotte's work avoidance. So if Charlotte bulks at doing something, we just ignore Charlotte and have the dog do the thing we want Charlotte to do, heap attention and praise on the dog and all of a sudden Charlotte is doing it too. It's the oldest trick in the book, but I never would have thought of using the dog for such manipulation. I guess it's better than using a sibling. Speaking of which... Charlotte could use a sister, no?
So seeing what nuggets Charlotte pulls from the past continues to be fun but here are some bigger, although not all that huge, leaps she's made.
1. Out of nowhere on Friday she started talking about the zoo and then finally said, "Go zoo? Daddy go zoo? Charlotte go zoo? Mommy go zoo?" Maybe they talked about the zoo in her new school/daycare (Edgecumbe Montessori). I asked her what she wanted to see at the zoo and she said, "otters." Sure enough last month with Suze we went to the zoo and Charlotte saw the otters. I asked what she remembered about the otters and she said, "Otters funny. Otters swimming in a water."
Damnit, she nailed it. I had not choice but to oblige and yesterday we were at the zoo. We had just arrived, were one minute into thawing out near the indoor exhibits, when she insisted we go see the otters first.
A few of you reading this know that one of the many rants I have about Facebook right now is all the people bragging about how they went running in the cold. There is nothing easier to do outside in the winter than run. You have high tech gear on, you're doing this for leisure, and you are moving the entire time. It really is no big deal. And A LOT of people do it.
You know what is a big deal? You know what A LOT of people don't do? Stand out in the single digits, not moving at all for fifteen minutes, in what is essentially a wind tunnel, watching someone else watch otters. That activity is three times colder than going for a stupid run. Fifteen minutes we stood there. Love is funny that way. No one else could have made me agree to those fifteen minutes besides Charlotte and every minute was awesome (and she was plenty warm by the way... she got sick of my checking in on her).
2. She has also been talking about the museum (she only know the Children's Museum). After Physical Therapy on Friday we got into the car and she said, "Museum?" I don't know if that was a specific request so much as a comment that she really didn't want to go to her new daycare, because it's new, and man wouldn't it be nice if the two of us chilled at the Children's Museum. Anyway, per Emily. she spent a good chunk of the morning today lining her toy animals up to go the zoo (bus man's holiday) and then to the Children's Museum. So clearly that stayed with her or was always with her.
3. Tonight she randomly did something kind of cool. As we were going upstairs to bed, with no context whatsoever, she said, "Balloon, balloon!" and then acted like she was blowing up a balloon. The two of proceeded to mime blowing up balloons for five minutes or so and she thought it was hilarious. I have no idea where this came from. I assume she is picking up a few things from Montessori. Either way, it is fun to see the little brain of hers in action.
Other news:
1. She did indeed start a new daycare. She is now in a Montessori with a nice range of kids from infants on up to pre-schoolers. As expected, Emily had to deal with a lot of Charlotte's tears at drop-off time (well day one was more screaming per Emily and then when I picked her up the teacher said it took Charlotte half an hour to calm down after Emily left). She'll be fine. She is adjusting as quickly as we figured she would. She still talks about Paula (her previous day care provider) and the kids she played with there, so I think she misses that. But I predict by the end of the week she'll be all in with her new place. Like I told Emily, Charlotte is going to forget all of this in a year. We are the ones who remember it all. And once she is loving her new school we can always go back and see Paula and the kids Charlotte will remember from there.
2. Charlotte's Physical Therapist arranged for a therapy dog to come and help out with our sessions. So now Charlotte has a dog doing PT with her. I forgot it's name... Sandy? I keep asking Charlotte but she says something that could be Sandy but it could be ten other names. Regardless, that dog has really made a difference but not how you'd expect. Charlotte likes the dog, but is really so hung up with working through all the demands we are asking of her. So it is hard for her to let go and interact with the dog the same way she does our pets. The intent was for the dog was to relax the dynamic of "do this hard activity" and "do that activity you're uncertain about doing." But that hasn't played out. Instead what the PT and I have ended up doing is using the dog as a decoy to play off of Charlotte's work avoidance. So if Charlotte bulks at doing something, we just ignore Charlotte and have the dog do the thing we want Charlotte to do, heap attention and praise on the dog and all of a sudden Charlotte is doing it too. It's the oldest trick in the book, but I never would have thought of using the dog for such manipulation. I guess it's better than using a sibling. Speaking of which... Charlotte could use a sister, no?
January 26, 2013
January 22, 2013
A Watched Toaster Never Toasts
For the last three days, Charlotte has insisted her day start out the exact same way: watching the toast in the toaster. I am sure she will be bored by this soon, but this waching the toaster routine has already lasted three days longer than I would have expected.
You will note the plate next to the toaster. She is locked and loaded and ready for her toast. She makes sure the jelly and peanut butter are also nearby. And once the plate and spreads are in place she is ready to sit in front of the toaster and watch it non-stop until the toast pops up.
Also, she is wearing a sticker from the Children's Museum from like two weeks ago. We put any sticker she gets from Physical Therapy, museums, or voting up on her wall by the changing table at the end of the day. Polka dotted masking tape is also a sticker in her world. Periodically she will insist that today is the day she HAS to re-wear a certain sticker, or she HAS to wear a certain sticker to bed. Evidently yesterday was the day she insisted on re-visiting the Children's Museum sticker. For some reason she hasn't touched the I VOTED stickers which is awesome because every time I point to them she says, "I voted" and then I say, "Really? For whom?" And she says, "Barack Obama." We may have needed a voter ID law afterall.
January 21, 2013
Conversation with Charlotte #6738218
As mentioned below, Charlotte and I dined at Smashburger today with a gift card Emily got Charlotte and me for Christmas. Charlotte had a hot dog, French fries, and milk... and ate all of it except a few fries. And this is the conversation carousel we were on:
Charlotte (after smiling for five seconds): Smashburgerrrrrrrrrr.
Me: Indeed.
Charlotte: Charlotte's bread (hot dog bun). Charlotte's milk. Charlotte's fries. Charlotte's hot dog. Daddy's hot dog (it was a hamburger). Daddy's milk (it was Dr. Pepper). Daddy's French fries."
Me: Yep.
Charlotte: Smashburgerrrrrrrr.
Then we eat quietly for five minutes and start all over again. Repeat four times.
As an aside, the last two to three weeks have been a lot of fun because Charlotte has begun talking about remote topics or past events. Of course the conversation above would suggest the exact opposite. But she will now tell us what she did earlier in the day if we ask, with good accuracy. Yesterday Emily went shopping with her cousin Cait (Oscar's mom... married to Zach). Emily left right before Charlotte's nap time and told Charlotte she was going to see Oscar's mom.
About twenty minutes later Charlotte and I were in the last stage of her naptime routine, saying "night night" to all people and animals in the house. We said our good nights to the animals and looked out the window where the garage could be seen and she said, "Bye bye mommy. Mommy with Zach."
"Actually she is with Cait, but pretty close," I said. And Charlotte said, "Mommy with Cake," which made me happy.
The novelty will wear off soon but for now it is a lot of fun to hear Charlotte talking about and see how much she has tied together, like the basic Keenan-Longley family tree, or to hear just what from the day she can talk about.
Charlotte (after smiling for five seconds): Smashburgerrrrrrrrrr.
Me: Indeed.
Charlotte: Charlotte's bread (hot dog bun). Charlotte's milk. Charlotte's fries. Charlotte's hot dog. Daddy's hot dog (it was a hamburger). Daddy's milk (it was Dr. Pepper). Daddy's French fries."
Me: Yep.
Charlotte: Smashburgerrrrrrrr.
Then we eat quietly for five minutes and start all over again. Repeat four times.
As an aside, the last two to three weeks have been a lot of fun because Charlotte has begun talking about remote topics or past events. Of course the conversation above would suggest the exact opposite. But she will now tell us what she did earlier in the day if we ask, with good accuracy. Yesterday Emily went shopping with her cousin Cait (Oscar's mom... married to Zach). Emily left right before Charlotte's nap time and told Charlotte she was going to see Oscar's mom.
About twenty minutes later Charlotte and I were in the last stage of her naptime routine, saying "night night" to all people and animals in the house. We said our good nights to the animals and looked out the window where the garage could be seen and she said, "Bye bye mommy. Mommy with Zach."
"Actually she is with Cait, but pretty close," I said. And Charlotte said, "Mommy with Cake," which made me happy.
The novelty will wear off soon but for now it is a lot of fun to hear Charlotte talking about and see how much she has tied together, like the basic Keenan-Longley family tree, or to hear just what from the day she can talk about.
Charlotte Is Unimpressed...
...with winter.
Charlotte and I ran a few errands today, ate at Smashburger, and baked a cake to reflect on Martin Luther King's legacy. On the way in from our errands and Smashburger, I looked back and saw Charlotte had decided today was a great day to play in the backyard.
Ten below zero? Dog poop and dog toys frozen to the ground? Big deal. She wanted to play in the backyard. I let this nonsense go on for a few minutes before going out to get her. She protested mildly but then when we got inside she said, "Brrrrrr! Cold outside!" I think she saw the logic of coming inside.
Charlotte and I ran a few errands today, ate at Smashburger, and baked a cake to reflect on Martin Luther King's legacy. On the way in from our errands and Smashburger, I looked back and saw Charlotte had decided today was a great day to play in the backyard.
Ten below zero? Dog poop and dog toys frozen to the ground? Big deal. She wanted to play in the backyard. I let this nonsense go on for a few minutes before going out to get her. She protested mildly but then when we got inside she said, "Brrrrrr! Cold outside!" I think she saw the logic of coming inside.
January 18, 2013
Charlotte and Suze
Last weekend we went to the Garvin's for a playdate with all the cousins. Ben took these lovely photos of Charlotte and Suze.
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| Charlotte is either telling Suze a secret or giving her a kiss |
Fashion Plate
There is a lot going on here. Obviously using baby wipes as socks, a jacket, and a hood is worth noting, as is bleeding the family budget on wipes dry by using 20 wipes for this project. And you may think this is a weekend morning, given the pajamas. But this is around 4:30 two days ago on a Wednesday afternoon. We got home from work/daycare and before we even had time to put our coats, hats, and gloves away, Charlotte was asking to change into her pajamas. When Emily came home later she wasn't surprised. She said Charlotte was lobbying very strongly (in her best two year old way) that morning that she wear her pajamas all day and not change into regular clothes. Clearly this stayed with her all day and she got home with pajamas on the brain.
January 16, 2013
Jesus: Found.... And Apparently He Needs a Nap
Much like a bottemless cup of wine, the Baby Jesus in front of our neighbor Mary's house is the gift that keeps on giving.
A little background here. Let me go waaaaay back with this background. All the way back to one of my favorite movie scenes ever. The first 30 seconds of this clip I could watch everyday, if I had the time.
A little background here. Let me go waaaaay back with this background. All the way back to one of my favorite movie scenes ever. The first 30 seconds of this clip I could watch everyday, if I had the time.
Emily and I once toyed with making lists like this for ourselves. But we found it was too hard to do because the small soothing things we like are so embedded in our day-to-day life, it is impossible to tease them out. But when I made my list I came up with the following:
new, warm socks
turning north onto River Road off of 42nd street at the start of a run
the first drink of beer after the first bite of a quality hamburger
maps, anywhere, anytime
found objects
I have a need to look at all found objects on walks. About five years ago I was walking Pancho by Mary's house and I found a piece of notebook paper in front of her street. It turns out someone had stolen their baby Jesus (mean). Mary's daughter was seven-ish at that time and made a LOST sign for Jesus, the same way we make signs for our lost pets, complete with a description and picture of the missing Jesus. So it just said, "LOST: JESUS" followed by a blurb about how he was two feet all and made of plastic, and then the rest of the paper was devoted to a giant drawing of what the plastic Jesus looked like, as best as a 7 year-old can draw it with a #2 pencil. I imagine she pinned it to the telephone pole by their house, but did a crappy 7 year-old job of doing so. As a result it ended up in the street and then in my possession.
"LOST: JESUS" in the midst of the commercialized Christmas season. It was brilliant.
Well, Mary (the neighbor) never found Jesus. Instead Mary the neighbor just bought another Biblical Mary, only Mary the neighbor's new Biblical Mary is holding the Jesus, and it's all one molded piece. And for some reason the type of guy who wants to steal a baby Jesus has no interest in stealing a Mary holding Jesus. And this is good for me and Charlotte, Jesus, as tired as he must be in Charlotte's world, remains unstolen and in our life.
Today as we were driving home (Baby Jesus now gets drive-by shoutouts in addition to all the attention we give him on our walks) Charlotte said, "Oh nooooo! Baby Jesus crying. Baby Jesus go night-night. Night night Baby Jesus."
The plastic Baby Jesus on 45th Ave S and 42nd Street: bringing laughter and joy to the Nawrocki household since 2004.
Where Suze?
In a flash my mom's most recent visit to Charlotte has come and gone. It was great to see Charlotte truly bond and connect with my mom and they fast became good friends. I take Charlotte to physical therapy (PT) every Friday morning for a 7 a.m. appointment when it's still dark out (this detail will come into play soon). My mom wanted to go along to see what PT is about.
So we went together the first week with mixed results. It was the least compliant I had ever seen Charlotte. It's important to remember that as fun as PT seems (climbing, running, crawling...) for Charlotte it can be stressful because she is being asked to do the exact thing that is extremely hard for her AND she knows it's hard for her AND we are pushing her to the breaking point. It is no different than when I worked with kids her age for speech and language. And a good clinician doesn't fear the breaking point, and knows when and how to push kids to the limit and when to pull back, give them a break, and decompress mid-session. Our physical therapist is very good at this. But since we are dancing to and from Charlotte's breaking point thoughout a session, it is very possible that simply having another person in the room can make the session rougher on Charlotte. So although she showed no outward signs of it during the session, there was a chance having both my mom and me in the session with Charlotte's physical therapist was too much for Charlotte, hence more than typical resistance from her.
So the next week I decided I would drop my mom off with Charlotte for her PT appoitment and "go get coffee" (I just drove around the block and then sat in my car in the parking lot for 10 minutes). Charlotte didn't fuss at all during the session and did a great job with my mom while I waitied first in my car and then the waiting room.
Anyway, when I parked my car in the parking lot just after 7 a.m. it was still dark outside, meaning I could see right into the PT clinic waiting room. I could see Charlotte take her jacket off with my mom and wait for the physical therapist to greet them. I saw them walk back to the PT room together. And I don't know why, but it was super cool to see Charlotte go in with her grandma as if she were going back with me, as happy as can be. I don't get mamy moments where I can see that Charlotte is a person whose life and relationships are bigger than me and Emily and it is special to see those moments even though in a blink of an eye this will be the rule, not the exception. At least it better be.
So clearly Suze made an impact on Charlotte's life. One morning Charlotte woke up and Emily brought her downstairs and my mom was in the shower and right away Charlotte asked, "Where Suze?" And since my mom has gone Charlotte has on many occasions said, "Suze gone on airplane. Texas." I hope this memory sticks. Two nights ago Charlotte started labling everything by who it belongs to. "That a daddy's chair. That a daddy's fork. That a daddy's napkin. That a mommy's chair. That a mommy's fork. That a mommy's napkin." And then she pointed to where Suze usually sat and there with this long pregnant pause, and then she just said, "That a that a that a.... chair." I don't know if she missed my mom at that moment but I sure did.
So we went together the first week with mixed results. It was the least compliant I had ever seen Charlotte. It's important to remember that as fun as PT seems (climbing, running, crawling...) for Charlotte it can be stressful because she is being asked to do the exact thing that is extremely hard for her AND she knows it's hard for her AND we are pushing her to the breaking point. It is no different than when I worked with kids her age for speech and language. And a good clinician doesn't fear the breaking point, and knows when and how to push kids to the limit and when to pull back, give them a break, and decompress mid-session. Our physical therapist is very good at this. But since we are dancing to and from Charlotte's breaking point thoughout a session, it is very possible that simply having another person in the room can make the session rougher on Charlotte. So although she showed no outward signs of it during the session, there was a chance having both my mom and me in the session with Charlotte's physical therapist was too much for Charlotte, hence more than typical resistance from her.
So the next week I decided I would drop my mom off with Charlotte for her PT appoitment and "go get coffee" (I just drove around the block and then sat in my car in the parking lot for 10 minutes). Charlotte didn't fuss at all during the session and did a great job with my mom while I waitied first in my car and then the waiting room.
Anyway, when I parked my car in the parking lot just after 7 a.m. it was still dark outside, meaning I could see right into the PT clinic waiting room. I could see Charlotte take her jacket off with my mom and wait for the physical therapist to greet them. I saw them walk back to the PT room together. And I don't know why, but it was super cool to see Charlotte go in with her grandma as if she were going back with me, as happy as can be. I don't get mamy moments where I can see that Charlotte is a person whose life and relationships are bigger than me and Emily and it is special to see those moments even though in a blink of an eye this will be the rule, not the exception. At least it better be.
So clearly Suze made an impact on Charlotte's life. One morning Charlotte woke up and Emily brought her downstairs and my mom was in the shower and right away Charlotte asked, "Where Suze?" And since my mom has gone Charlotte has on many occasions said, "Suze gone on airplane. Texas." I hope this memory sticks. Two nights ago Charlotte started labling everything by who it belongs to. "That a daddy's chair. That a daddy's fork. That a daddy's napkin. That a mommy's chair. That a mommy's fork. That a mommy's napkin." And then she pointed to where Suze usually sat and there with this long pregnant pause, and then she just said, "That a that a that a.... chair." I don't know if she missed my mom at that moment but I sure did.
January 15, 2013
January 08, 2013
Language Post
If I had to do it all over, I would probably keep my job as it is. But if someone said I had to get a new job, I would get a job where I spend the bulk of my day outdoors. If I had to stay in the realm of speech and langauge, maybe I would go all in on the linguistics front and studied normal child language and phonology acquistition and be an academic. I love my job but even at the middle and high school level I don't really get to work with language as much as I want to, so much as fix language skills that aren't there, or teach kids how to work around the missing skills. I do a hell of a lot more than that, but in terms of language that is what I do. It's a totally different experience than watching a kid's language organically and uniquely evolve. Not better or worse, just different.
So with Charlotte I am taking extra pleasure in watching her language develop and trying to find the deeper meaning to the simple things she says. Since the toddlers I worked with had no language, all of this is extra fun. One of my favorites is when she is ready to go home after an outing. Her eyes show fatigue but her spirits are still up. She doesn't use "I want" yet and she doesn't use the word "home." What she will do instead is just rattle off what she wants (i.e. "hot cereral, blueberry, squash?"). And what she wants in this case is the quiet comfort of our home. So to express that she will just rattle off the names of all of our pets. "Nacho Pancho Toonces." She says it as sweetly as possible but it is clear that more than anything else on earth she just wants to be chilling at home.
The other thing that is interesting is her understanding of my mom's visit here. I think she understands it is a temporary visist. I have no way of knowing this, but it is a hunch. What is kind of cool is a week before Suze came, I said to Charlotte "Your Suze is coming" and mentioned that she would be coming in on an airplane. Outside of a 100 First Words book and the Richard Scarry books, Charlotte has no exposure to airplanes. The day before Suze's arrival (six days after I mentioned the plane) I told Charlotte Suze would be here the next day. And she said, "Suze coming plane." And then she did it again two days ago when we said Suze would be leaving in a few days.
Crazy. What I really want to know is what in the hell does the word plane mean to her? There is no way she understands what an airplane is, geography is, flight.... yet she has attached this word to the comings and goings of a very important visitor. Who knows? My best guess is she is attaching a person who is not permanant to her daily routine. I have no clue other than it has some meaning of some sort.
So with Charlotte I am taking extra pleasure in watching her language develop and trying to find the deeper meaning to the simple things she says. Since the toddlers I worked with had no language, all of this is extra fun. One of my favorites is when she is ready to go home after an outing. Her eyes show fatigue but her spirits are still up. She doesn't use "I want" yet and she doesn't use the word "home." What she will do instead is just rattle off what she wants (i.e. "hot cereral, blueberry, squash?"). And what she wants in this case is the quiet comfort of our home. So to express that she will just rattle off the names of all of our pets. "Nacho Pancho Toonces." She says it as sweetly as possible but it is clear that more than anything else on earth she just wants to be chilling at home.
The other thing that is interesting is her understanding of my mom's visit here. I think she understands it is a temporary visist. I have no way of knowing this, but it is a hunch. What is kind of cool is a week before Suze came, I said to Charlotte "Your Suze is coming" and mentioned that she would be coming in on an airplane. Outside of a 100 First Words book and the Richard Scarry books, Charlotte has no exposure to airplanes. The day before Suze's arrival (six days after I mentioned the plane) I told Charlotte Suze would be here the next day. And she said, "Suze coming plane." And then she did it again two days ago when we said Suze would be leaving in a few days.
Crazy. What I really want to know is what in the hell does the word plane mean to her? There is no way she understands what an airplane is, geography is, flight.... yet she has attached this word to the comings and goings of a very important visitor. Who knows? My best guess is she is attaching a person who is not permanant to her daily routine. I have no clue other than it has some meaning of some sort.
Conversation with Charlotte #3890
Nothing brings out the back and forth in Charlotte like seeing the manger scene around the corner on 45th avenue (the same one I referenced before). Charlotte and I took Pancho for a night walk last week and again we had to stop to talk about baby Jesus.
Charlotte: Stops and waves, "Hi baby Jesus."
Me: There is another Baby Jesus in town called Joe Mauer.
Charlotte: Joe Mauer.
Me: Okay we need to get going.
Charlotte: Night night baby Jesus.
Me: Night night baby Jesus.
Charlotte: Need a pacifier.
Me: A pacifier is going to be the least of his concerns. Plus I don't think they had pacifiers in year zero,
Long pregnant, awkward pause.
Charlotte: Night night baby Jesus.
Charlotte: Stops and waves, "Hi baby Jesus."
Me: There is another Baby Jesus in town called Joe Mauer.
Charlotte: Joe Mauer.
Me: Okay we need to get going.
Charlotte: Night night baby Jesus.
Me: Night night baby Jesus.
Charlotte: Need a pacifier.
Me: A pacifier is going to be the least of his concerns. Plus I don't think they had pacifiers in year zero,
Long pregnant, awkward pause.
Charlotte: Night night baby Jesus.
January 01, 2013
Charlotte's Third Joke
Pretty simple formula.
1. Grab any object that is not a hat and put it on your head.
2. Say, "funny hat."
3. Smile.
END SCENE
1. Grab any object that is not a hat and put it on your head.
2. Say, "funny hat."
3. Smile.
END SCENE
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