Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Development Update

Ok, so I haven't written anaything for AGES! I know, I know, in fact I really don't feel like writing anything right now but I have been through all the blogs I read and no-one's posting anything on the Photography thread so I guess no more procrastination, it's time to write.

Last night we started writing a brief list of the things I needed to talk about in here and it is soooo long. And that's just stuff about Harry, we didn't write down anything about what we've actually been doing. So this could take a while. Settle in, grab a coffee and try to get through it all. Ohand let me know if I repeat myself, sometimes I forget what I've written in here because I never read back over it once it's out there.

Zero - Lately there is a big interest in the concept of zero. For example, Harry will pick all the stickers off one thing and put them somewhere else. When they're all gone she'll rub her hand over where they were and say "Noooooo" in an approximation of us saying "None". Then she'll point to where the stickers now are and she'll say "Yes!". If she has no top on she'll rub her belly and say "Nooooo" or if we don't have our shoes on or if something has been moved from where it was, etc. and then she tries to rectify it. But she still loves to think about where there is nothing. I've been thinking about making her next bedtime book 'The Semiotics of Zero', a fascinating read but perhaps not for the under-2s.

Two - While we're on the topic of numbers, she also loves the number two. If she has two of something in her hands, say crackers or some textas, she'll show me and loudly proclaim "Doo!". If , however, she has more than two, she will drop the appropriate number to make up two and then show me and again proudly let me know that she has "Doo!". So she's working on her addition and subtraction well enough. James is going to give her a calculus textbook for her birthday.

Poo and Wee - I've written a bit about it before but now when Harry is about to do a poo or wee, we get a loud "Poo!" or "Wee!". She'll then squat down and give it a good old go . It is often quite easily audible anyway, and the forewarning not really that necessary. The best part about it is that she does a wee that comes out in a perfect arc just as if she were a boy. Keeps the feet nice and dry that way.

Tall - Apparently Harry is tall. Just ask her. If she stands on a chair she reaches her arms up above her head and tells me "Doorrrllll" quite seriously. Other times it can be hysterically funny and she will give a giggle as she realises just how tall she is. One of the best ones is when she stands up and walks across the bed - she loves to show me how tall she is then and of course because she's on the bed she loses her balance, falls over and then has a good laugh about it.

Big - I was reading a book about Montessori theory (actually I'm still reading it) and there was a section where the woman was talking about how when the three year olds work out the concept of big-bigger-biggest, basically comparative size. And I thought to myself, 'Hang on, Harry already knows that'. And just to be sure we showed her a few different things that we hadn't talked about before (which was pretty easy because we were at Nana and Grandpa's house) and asked her which was the 'big' one. She got it right every time! She loves things of different size such as her stacking cups and her bath ducks, and she'll find the biggest one, call that 'big' and then all the others are little. But the whole comparative size thing, well she's got that down pat.

Tunnels - Inspired by the most adorable video ever of a little girl (the relationship on how I know her mother is more complicated than to worry about here), when we went for our recent trip up to Maitland we pointed out all the tunnels when we went through them to Harriet. Man oh man was that a hit! Luckily there are heaps of tunnels in quick succession on the way between our house and Nth Sydney, so she was in heaven. I had to draw tunnels afterwards too and considering how inept my drawing skills are, I am making a point of not point out anything in the future I can't adequately represent in a pictorial fashion.

Crawl - for some reason she loves to randomly yell out "Crawl!" and get down on all fours and start crawling aorund the place. She did it today on Missenden Rd, in a cow paddock during the holiday, in the playroom, well just about anywhere really. Can't really see the attraction myself, especially as she never crawled when it was developmentally expected of her (these darn children never do what you think/expect). But we just keep an eye out for anything likely to stab her through the palm and steer her gently away. It only lasts a couple fo metres though before she gives up on the inefficient method and stands up to 'run' (Harriet-style entails arms akimbo and straight-legged Fuhrer style gait) on ahead.

Singing Songs - Ok so this girl loves her songs. When we go to Lennox House for playgroup some mornings she loves to go inside for the story. Well so I thought. But *really* what she wants are the songs before and after the book. Anything involving actions is doubly awesome. Her latest faves are Dingle Dangle Scarecrow because we have to jump up and then shake our bodies all about, and Ring-A-Ring-of-Roses which involves her jumping on me when we "all fall down" and then she says "Mama!" because she loves it when I say "When the Mama calls us we all jump...UP!". Her sign for songs is to wave her wrists above her head (not quite sure where this came from!) but her sign for balloon is very similar so sometimes it can be a bit difficult to work out which is which.

Babies in Strollers - No matter what, if we see a baby in a stroller, Harry is in love. She has to tell me all about it, saying "Baby" over and over and doing the sign for baby and having agood ole look at the bub. The funny thing about it is when there is a child in there who is obviously as old or older than she is and it is still "Baby!". Sometimes the odd 2-3yr old can get a bit miffed by that.

Pour - Oh the pouring. Pouring water, pouring lentils, pouring pasta - you name it, this girl will pour it. Outside we have a couple of different sized bowls (Oh yes, one is "big!" and the other is little which is signed by her putting her two index fingers very close together) and when she wants to play "Water", we have some water in one bowl and she loves to pour it from one to another with a cup. Then when the little bowl is full she picks it up and pours it all back into the big bowl. Or with the lentils she loves to pour it into the Tupperware lettuce spinner we have and then pour it back into the container it came from. She is remarkably dextrous with this actually and over time has learnt to pour with very little spillage at all. But to be on the safe side we still do the water game outside. Also all that water pouring can encourage a wee, so it's a lot easier on the grass than on the floor.

Pyjamas - Lottie bought Harry this cool set of pyjamas for her birthday last year. They are a size 2 and we thought that they still looked a little too big for her. However because we were going up the coast for the Easter break and it was going to be quite cool as a last minute thing I popped them in the bag. Well Harry fits them perfectly and not only that, she LOVES them! She points to Dora (they are lime green with little Doras all over) and says "Doh-ah" and she even told me that they were all snuggly and made her feel like a baby (through a combiantion of words and signs)! Very cute. She is quite reluctant to take them off for her day clothes, but we grabbed our opportunity when changing her nappy. Plus she loves to try and put them on herself because they're a little looser than her normal clothes. I love them too - when she first put them on I couldn't believe how OLD she looked! Like a right toddler! Oh whoops...she is a toddler.

Clothes and Shoes - Speaking of clothes, Harriet is obssessed with independently putting on her clothes and shoes at all times now. The mornings can take a little while to get going because she'll spend quite a bit of time trying to work out how to put her arms through the arm holes when the top is already over her head. It's pretty tricky and she gets quite close but I usually have to step in and help out. Which she hates. In fact often I get pushed aside and a very strong "No!" in order to let me know that no help is warranted or desired. Where on earth did she get this stubborn, independent streak I wonder?

Marmee and Mamia - A few weeks ago Harry worked out how to put the "ee" sound on the end of words. Overnight everything suddenly became a new word. I was "Marmee" and Papa was "Pahpee", "Nanee", et cetera. But then came the hybrid - Mamia. Don't ask me, it's her word and she's sticking to it. So now I respond to three different desperate calls for attention. This is usually accompanied by a firm hand on the head and my face is pushed in the direction of Harriet's. Once I am looking her in the eye she will repeat what she wants. I tell you, I am really REALLY looking forward to the end of this face-grabbing stage.

Gran-na and Nan-pa - Speaking of hybrids, the duopoly of Nana and Grandpa has now become more succinct. When referring to the fossilised ones, they are now a single linguistic unit - the "Grannas" or the "Nanpas". These are usually strung together in a single, long, name calling exercise whenever anything potentially involving them is mentioned. She *loves* to say this new word!

Cheese - Another new word, corresponding with her increased love of the food. When we were in the car just heading out of Maitland on the way home yesterday, Harriet suddenly yelled out "Cheese!". It became more and more insistent until we realised that if we didn't stop for cheese, well, let's just say that the trip wouldn't be that pleasant. So we stopped and cheese was bought and all was good in the world (well within the car anyway).


No Harriet - But with all of these new words and names, funnily enough something Harriet still refuses to even try and say is her own name. Funny poppet. She just will not say Harry or Harriet or Hazza or any permutation thereof. Last nigth we asked what my name is and what Jimbo's name is and when we got to her name she just smiled and smiled. We eventually got out of her a "Huh-ha" but that was it. And only once.


Ok, I'm going to leave this post here and start another one so that you're not scrolling down the screen for ages in an attempt to read through what seems like a tome in the writing.

4 comments:

Kristie said...

8 hours between posts... your next one must be *really* long! ;)

I must admit I am quite amazed at the developmental differences between Harry and Tara - even though there is an age difference - seeing how far tara *could* get in her development is amazing.

It is funny how you mention the clothing stuff. Today tara found a cloth nappy (she was in a disposable at the time) placed it on the floor and sat down on it trying to work out how to do it up.

She finds a sock, and she will try and put it on. She finds a shoe, tries to put it on. Finds trousers, tries to put them on. She hasn't managed any of them yet haha - but she understands which I find facinating.

I *really* need to (as I mentioned to you the other day) concentrate on doing more signs with Tara. I am really lax with books (because Tara does not want to sit still to look at them for over 1 mintute).. and teaching her sounds, or recognition of things.

I really need to go to Lennox House more.

To be honest Cass, I'd love to spend a day with you and Harry talking about stuff such as learning/not learning/approaches to things as I find everything very inspiring with you and Harry. Maybe we could do this in the near future (and talk camera stuff and other non-child things too!)...

Which reminds me... I have some pics of Harry ;) Do you have MSN? I should add you if you do..

Anyways, Tara is sweeping up the cat... so I've got to run...

Rebecca said...

Bronte is the SAME about her name! We go through the whole family, Finnlay, Jonah, Mummy, Daddy...and we get to 'Bronte' and she smiles and says "Mummy!".

2 year olds are such funny little creatures...

No one said...

Hi Kristie, so funny to see you here (waves!)!!!

Ok, just WOW! Bryn and Harriet are the same age, and he has no concept of numbers that I'm aware of at all... He also has no concept of BIG or little that I'm aware of either! What a clever girl!

Love the cheese story, can just see you looking for a place to find cheese for Harry, rofl!

Bryn is obsessed with hats (but only inside the house, once we're outside they're quickly discarded), and shoes... He understands how socks and pants work, but can't quite co-ordinate himself to get them ON. He thinks tops slip over the back of his head, and hasn't discovered putting his head through the holey bit...

Kristie said...

Hi Sif..... I actually found Cass through your blog, only to click when she came to our SAP group :P