- Ruby really likes the new M.I.A. album, Kala. We listen to it in the car, and she asks for several of the songs by a word or sound in the song. In fact, she usually insists we play that CD instead of anything else.
- She also has a CD player in the playroom on a shelf she can reach. She has four CDs that she is able to take in and out, and can press play. (She hasn’t yet figured out how to skip tracks.) While she has a copy of Kala there, she often chooses something else.
- She now knows hundreds and hundreds of words, and often puts them together in two- or three-word combinations. It’s still pretty rudimentary grammar, but she can get her point across. I can have conversations with her in past, present, and future tenses.
- As she moves more and more into the verbal realm, she’s dropping her sign language. I haven’t really seen her sign in a while. Occasionally she’ll sign “please” (for extra emphasis) or “pooping” (because she finds the sign amusing).
- I have to repeat back almost every word she says (so she knows I heard correctly). If I don’t do this, she’ll repeat the word over and over until I acknowledge it.
- She is learning discipline. Prohibitions that have been in place a long time (such as not touching computers) are very solid, and she usually says “No touch” when near one to remind herself, and remind us that she remembers. Newer prohibitions take some reinforcement. These days we are trying to reinforce the idea that she must listen and obey when we tell her to do something (like put away her shoes, or come here). Once in a while she decides to rebel, gets a funny defiant downcast look on her face, and ignores the instruction. Then, she gets a time out. She’s surprisingly good at taking a time out – it doesn’t upset her, and she sits quietly waiting for the timer to beep.
- Current favorite foods include: edamame, ketchup, bread, crackers, bananas, nori, cheese.
- Current favorite toys: her play kitchen (and related utensils), books, CDs.
- Her memory sometimes astounds me. For example, one Friday we went to a local community center’s play gym and I mentioned in passing that it is the same place where I play racquetball. Then, four days later when I was leaving for racquetball, she said “play gym!”.
- On the other hand, she has trouble keeping her colors straight, even with much repetition. I’ll ask her what color something is, and there’s maybe a 25% chance she’ll get it right. She’ll always guess a color name (rather than another word), but is still working on which is which.
- She has one nap a day, which goes from about 2-4pm (give or take). Not all that time is sleeping, but I leave her up there for the full two hours as a quiet time. When she wakes up, she hangs out in her crib, reading a book and talking to herself.
- She is a slow eater! More accurately, she starts out eating at a good pace, but slows down as she gets more full. She insists that she is not done for a while, and nibbles slowly.
- She has not yet had a temper tantrum (knock on wood).
- When we go out, I usually don’t bring a carrier or stroller. She walks around well now, and will go where we direct her while holding someone’s hand. If we are going somewhere like the zoo that requires a lot of walking, I’ll bring either the beco carrier or the umbrella stroller (depending on my mood and the health of my back).
- When we go to a playground, she enjoys playing in the gravel or sand the best. Extra points if the sandbox has a bucket and shovel. She also likes swings (she requests lots of underdogs) and hanging from bars. She’ll climb up on the equipment but rarely goes down slides anymore. Those riding/rocking toys that are mounted on a giant spring are among her favorites.
- We still haven’t figured out what is causing the rash on her cheeks. By eliminating it for a week, we ruled out dairy as the cause. Other ideas are fruit or wheat, but we haven’t taken the time to try eliminating those.
- She really likes animals, especially cats and kittens. When we go to the zoo, she requests some animals by name: gorillas, elephants, lizard, monkeys, penguins.
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Now that I’m spending a lot of time with a two year old, I’m even MORE interested in reading these state of the kid things. It’s remarkable how much of it is stuff I’ve said about Juliet. In particular, I, too, am astounded by her memory. The other day when we were at her daycare, I pulled out the stuff I had to bring home (daily activity sheet, dishes, etc.). She started saying “BABY BABY BABY BABY!” I dug around in her cubby and discovered a baby doll in there. When I told her parents about this, they marvelled that it was not (as I’d assumed) that she’d remembered it from that morning. On Friday she’d left it there, over the weekend her parents had figured out that it was still at daycare and mentioned she could get it on Monday, but on Monday she stayed home sick. So Tuesday night, Juliet was totally on the ball and requested her long-lost baby that she’d been thinking about since Friday night. Blew my freakin mind.
I don’t know if she likes MIA, but she sure enjoys the TMBG songs I sing her as lullabyes (note: just regular TMBG songs sung quietly and a little slower).