On kisses and other displays of affection

You can imagine how delighted I was this week when my 13-month-old son kissed me for the first time. It was totally unexpected and spontaneously and at the beginning it took me aback. His sister might have been past 2,5 years when she learnt to kiss. I first thought it a coincidence but after three clear attempts at putting his lips on my cheek and making a little noise it was clear to me. In the previous weeks he had been doing some biting instead. I wonder now whether he was practicing. How sweet this little dude is!!

We like snuggling up and are all sort of loving but I clearly see differences between my children in this sense. Marina is pretty much her own and definitely introverted. She often refuses to be kissed, has very seldom kissed anyone but her parents, and we totally respect that. The fact that we don't encourage (let alone force) our children to kiss anyone, not even relatives, might be a bit of a contrast when we meet relatives who do, which happens once or twice a year. Someone may think we are raising unfriendly, unsociable children but I really believe it is a way to show them to trust themselves, their sense of safety and comfort. This is very important to me.
Marina's displays of affection tend to be shy so I had a secret feeling of joy the other day when matter-of-fact and out of the blue she declared "I like Cristina Coll, Irene (both friends of mine), you and Mazda (invented character) very much".

What's new: sense of humor, going extrovert, and new baby

It's been two weeks since baby A joined our family.
During these two weeks a lot has been going on at many levels. I still too feel weak to write a full post but I did want to share the news as well as the fact that M is undergoing great changes. She has suddenly become a big sister and shows interest in the baby specially in his needs. She has also been showing her peculiar sense of humor as of late, changing rhymes, for instance. It is fun to hear her recite "this piggy went to mercadona (local supermarket), this piggy went to Lidl (another supermarket)". The rest of the piggies cried... We have noticed she seems to have outgrown what I thought was her innate shyness. She is very talkative and even answers when someone she hardly know asks her something.
My best intentions of posting about our Advent's activities will remain just intentions, I am afraid. We had planned an activity for each day but we only got to the 5th. I hope we can go back to them next year...

I'd love to hear about you!! Are you in the midst of Christmas preparations?

What's new: adverbs everywhere

We've been quite busy doing Christmas related activities and baking as of late. Time goes by real fast and I don't know how much time we have until baby's arrival. I feel it closer these days, but who knows, the due date is Dec., 15th.
The figure of the gingerman has been ever present since I introduced it to M. She likes it so much we have it on a t-shirt, we make gingerbread cookies, use the cookie cutter to play with the play dough, and I have even made a gingerman hand puppet. Unfortunately this photo is the only one to share... I will try to make some pictures of the results of our activities but it turns out that M gets distracted by the camera if I want to photograph her while she is working so I have ended up taking very few pictures. Concentration is something we value highly around here.
We have rushed up our Christmas decorations this year and our house is already filled with toddler's art, just in case M's brother arrives and we don't have time for that. We hung up the Advent's calendar I made last year, made salt dough Christmas decoration painted with glitter, and filled the shelves with Christmasy things. The three finger puppets we got last year (Rulphus, the reindeer, Snowman, and Santa) are among M's favorites.
Hearing M talk is amazing these days. She speaks mostly Catalan, although she addresses me in English with very few exceptions. Most of the time she describes what is happening here, there and everywhere, sometimes mixing events from the past but never forgetting to sprinkle her sentences with adverbs. She has started using frequency adverbs, which is quite fun since they are not exactly "properly" used. When she repeats what she is told, you can get the impression she knows what "yesterday" or "tomorrow" means as in "Clara is coming tomorrow", but other times it is clear that she is adding the adverb just to make the sentence sound better, longer, or the like. She places them in the right position, though. Her use of connectors is also something. She can use the "because" to connect two sentences that have nothing to do one with the other. However, the more she uses it, the closer she gets to the correct use of it.
It is amazing how language is acquired through experience and repetition. In my opinion it is highly valuable to engage in one's children's language acquisition, since the more verbal they are, the less probabilities there are for tantrums.This is just my opinion, I repeat. However, I often see children whose inability to express what they want lead them to throw tantrums. These children's caretakers often can't understand what is going on.
Well, I feel I really need 1) to get some sleep, and 2) to devote some time to writing opinion articles... but for both I need time and I don't know where I am going to get it from...
Good night!!

What's new: sharing

It's been two weeks since I last wrote a "what's new" post and I feel there are many new things to mention these days. To start with, M seems to be growing taller. On Monday, I noticed she couldn't reach the floor when trying to ride a motorbike some relatives gave her. Today, Thursday, she was able to tiptoe when straddling it in the same position. Her two friends have been about 2 inches taller than her for several months but today I noticed the difference is growing shorter. Although size is not my main worry and has never been, I am really happy she is growing up. I always used to be among the smallest of my peers -not that I am a big lady now anyway...- but being from May and quite an extrovert it was never a big issue. M seems to be a bit shy plus she was born at the end of the year, so we sometimes worry about her being so beyond the average in height and weight.

On the other hand, she is really verbal and can express most of her experiences and feelings. For quite a bit now, we have been working on how to express her feelings to other children instead of crying or just going away from the situation. This week it was the first time I heard her vocalize that she didn't want her friend (L) to take away a book she was about to open. The way she did it was in the third person, but we were all glad she talked to L herself and not to me saying that she didn't want L to take something away. This has been a step forward in a process that started with her first interactions with other children when she would cry when other children would approached her too much, take something off her hands, or the like. Fortunately, we have had very little to do with children who hit.

Concerning language, I know I am always repeating the same and I don't want to sound boastful but M amazes me everyday. Her constructions are more and more elaborate each day. Last week I wrote down sentences such as "mama has gone there far behind", "li ensenyarem el bebè a la iaia", "mama wants to put pigtail Marina". She announced on Monday that her friend L "was coming tomorrow", and the following day she said "L gone to the park today". I know at her age time is a very abstract notion but I guess she mimics my speech excellently 'cause both statements were right.
She often says "X is coming" to express that she would like to see that person, and she has started to associate people -and animal- with places. Thus, Clara is in Mataró, with the turtle, and other people who are there too.


Sharing from the heart is something I start to see. We have never told M that she "should" share her things. We believe this act has to come from the child's heart and not from obeying a rule grown-ups invent. However, we have neither told her that the objects she has at home or she plays with are exclusively "hers". Whenever a child comes home, she doesn't object to that child toying around with her things, except when she has the item in her hands at that moment. By sharing, though, I mean the pleasure of doing something together and that's what seemed to happen on the picture below. M and L were eating the same ice-cream in peace while the rest of us (5 adults and another toddler) were eating ours, and nobody seemed to notice except for the photographer...

Play dough and horses

The best of my intentions to keep an updated journal of our journey in homeschooling* is beaten once and again by a general lack of time and state of tiredness. At the beginning of the week I try to stay until late preparing activities and creating materials but these past evenings I have just fallen asleep while putting M to sleep. That's ok. We have been doing some activities that were not exactly planned but which thankfully turned out all right. 

Getting ready to make play dough: the process in itself was a nice activity

I sometimes feel a bit disappointed I am being unable to keep it all up but I guess that is what being pregnant of a second child while the first one is under 2 years means. Some days ago, my dear husband took M to the National Museum of Art to give me some time to rest. When I saw the photographs I just regretted I had not gone with them. The rest did me a lot of good, though. 

Here is M staring at some paintings at the MACBA

Fall seems to be creeping in. I hadn't really noticed it was getting cooler but after some rain last night it feels like autumn today. I even got my boots out and was happy to find that unlike my summer sandals, the boots still fit my feet. Am I the only pregnant woman out there whose feet seem to have grown? I have been wanting to set up an autumn tray but as of now we only have some pineapples, a tiny pumpkin and a butternut squash. My idea is to create a nice sensory tub for M to play with. We'll see if I get it before it is so cold we can call the season "winter". I still feel comfortable with the weather but I think summer is my favorite time of the year. However, I can admit there is a special beauty in Spring and Fall that other seasons may lack. And yet, funnily, my two children will be "winter kids".

Today we had the first meeting with one of the midwives that might assist us in our son's birth. I am finally starting to visualize this birth and we feel a delivery at home is the option that would suit us three best. One of the reasons I can't bring myself to picture a delivery in a hospital is that M would be left out of the experience and we would have to be separated for more time than we have ever been. As I feel it, this is an experience we don't want to have, if we can avoid it. 

On a weekend festival last week M got the chance to ride a horse for the first time, and a really tall mare it was (notice my husband's head peeping over the horse's withers. He is 1,83 m tall //around 6 feet). I was very excited and delighted to see that she wasn't a bit scared, she just enjoyed it.

Riding a horse for the very first time

In the language department, we have seen some qualitative changes in the way M expresses herself. She is able to construct longer sentences and surprises us with structures such as Subj+verb+object or with the correct use of conjugations (gos dorm // gatets dormen). She is good at describing what she sees. While in a park she told me the other day: "that moto(rbike) falling", and some other day "boy eating chocolate". She often uses sentences including "to" for purpose, specially when she wants to do something or to go someplace "to see papa", "to see Lila -her friend".

She is starting to use some adjectives as well as in "red shoes", "soft pillow" or "black glasses". Her use of connectors such as "because" is still a bit erratic but she surprised me the other day saying "because mama". I've heard her using "enough" and"like" for comparisons, which are also novelties. But the most incredible sentences, in my opinion, were "these girls jumping to eat sausage", "aquestes noies què fan?" qui és aquest bebè?", "meves sabates són aquí sota", and "petita Marina banyat la piscina" (6.9.2012). I wrote down the date 'cause I was really impressed. She seems to retain sentences she has heard and to repeat them afterwards. Her use of pronouns is upside down, "I" being "you" and the other way round. However confusing, I think we are managing to understand her most of the time.

* After some reflection, I have considered it necessary to clarify my use of the concept of "homeschooling". I wouldn't like to trigger a debate around schooling, unschooling, and so on, so I'd better explain myself. M is only 20 months old so it is not really accurate to refer to what we do as "homeschooling". I do it only out of a necessity to give a name to what we do and the thrill of being the one who cares for M development and education. It is truly uncommon where we live for a toddler of 20 months to stay home with a parent, so I have sometimes felt compelled to justify my position. This might be silly but being able to prove all we do makes me feel I am justifying a whole way of raising kids and showing people that staying home doesn't mean "doing nothing, or letting your kids watch TV all day". Well, we don't even own a TV set, ahem...

Summing up 19 month practical life

My dear girl turned 20 months yesterday and I am amazed at how much we've experienced together. Since she is going to have her second birthday around the time her brother is born, I wanted to throw a 20 month party in her honor, so I'll better start planning it carefully.
Today I will share a summary of M's accomplishments during her 19th month.
 * Potty learning completed both during day and night time. Rare accidents can occur if she is distracted or there is too much excitement around.
* Getting her shoes, t-shirt, and pants on. I don't know why she finds dresses more difficult to put on.
* Setting her part of the table using her placemat.
* Pouring her own glass of water.
* Taking care of plants.
* Helping with some housework such as mopping the floors, washing windows, or doing dishes. In truth she helps any time she is asked but we don't really have a routine and sometimes don't ask her to join. We need to improve this.

In terms of language, she amazes me all the time. Some structures and turns she uses are surprising, and she even makes fun of the language sometimes. The other day when we were in the changing rooms of the community pool, she told me "like it no" to refer to the noise the hand-dryers make, and later on the same day she told me "no like it, lake it", when I asked her about a book we were reading. Another day she surprised us using a German expression she got from a German book her father reads to her when they are in the toilet. We were shown some cute puppies the neighbor's dog had delivered some days before and she exclaimed "wie süss" (how sweet!). She is also picking up some Spanish and she has amused us tonight when out of the blue she has half stood on her chair and said "Menina, por favor".

Regarding gross motor skills she has started to be interested in physical activities such as running, climbing, and shooting or throwing balls. On the other hand, in terms of fine motor skills, she is really into sorting pom-poms into ice trays.

Artistically speaking, her delight are "colors" and she often asks us to draw or paint something for her. For this reason, I've made some "kind of" rock crayons for her. I could not find rock crayons in Spain but don't worry 'cause I used some very old crayons -from my husband and his brother's childhood- to make brand-new round crayons. And although the result is far from perfect, M loves them.

The old crayons just before going into the oven

What's new: the toilet is my friend!

  I just come from the toilet, where for the hundredth time today we've spent quite a while, which ended in success. I am so happy M is already doing most of her pees and poops in the toilet. While doing the laundry today, I have realized I had less work than usually and that's because there are very few diapers to wash. Over a period of a month or so, M has gone from asking for the potty when she had already gone on her pants to asking for the toilet or potty depending on the moment to asking for the toilet even if we are outside, at other people's places and the like. It is true that we started EC when she was around 10 months (only a pity I had not read about it before, or followed my instinct), by changing diapers in the bathroom where there was always a potty and offering her the potty several times a day. It is also a fact that cloth diapers, used since M was a bit more than 1 months, have also  helped. Not less true is that our doing, quite reasonable according to Montessori and what she called "Sensitive period for toiletting", has not been seen as a normal thing to be done at M's age by some people around us. It happened to me for instance when shopping for a potty with M that the shop assistant self-assuredly stated "it is too early, this girl is very young". There seems to be this costume in Spain to keep toddlers diapered until it is -in my humble opinion- too late, just on time to enter kindergarten (between 2,5-3). I don't want to be rude, though, and in the same way I just smiled to the shop assistant and answered "I think I know my daughter and I try to follow her needs", not listening to her words at all, I can smile now at the fact that aged 19 months M is diaper free. As it happens with the witnessing of every other achievement, this makes me feel really happy.      

We have seen changes in other departments as of late. She asks for the things she is more into, like piano playing and coloring several times a day, she is more willing to scrub her table, put on a bob-pin or clean her face. Although we haven't been able to keep a good teeth brushing routine yet. She loves painting and colors, hence the several related activities we've been doing.
We also spend lots of time in the pool, where she has gone from being totally scared of the water to asking to jump in, do some "dancing, splashing" as she calls it, or simply walk on her own.                      

What's new? A room of "her" own

Whenever I find myself trying to escape writing I know the time has come when I most need it. The feeling sick and tired is sometimes an excuse, the need to look for interesting ideas to do with my toddler is often another excuse. But I know M really deserves my keeping trace of all the new things she's doing and the changes that occur in her life.
We have done a great deal of socializing lately, spent time with the extended family, visited friends with kids, held play dates. Of all her relations with other children, M seems to prefer older girls and I wonder where does she draw the line. Does she see a 3-y-o girl as an equal, a 6 y-o? Today the lady who helps us with the cleaning came with her daughter and she and M spent the morning playing. Her ways were sensible and girly at the same time, and although she is only 11, she is almost taller than me, and certainly taller than her mum. I wonder what's that to M? Is a very tall girl still an equal, or a very small adult still an adult? Does a toddler care at all? Isn't the way they feel treated the most important thing? It might have been that the girl felt a bit shy but I've seen her treating M very respectfully, not pushing her to do things or reprimanding anything. And M must have felt very comfortable 'cause she has told her she wanted to use the potty, which she has successfully done, not a common thing when she is with strangers. 
My girl surprises me almost every day. Upon hearing the sound of eggs being whisked from a distance she started shouting "egg, egg" -one of her favorite foods-, and although she had already had supper, nobody could convince her of going to bed without having an omelette first.
There are several things that get her excited and that's so nice to witness; she loves hearing bells striking, which doesn't happen often since we don't have a bell tower nearby. 

She loves her colors, which she asks for several times a day, her pom-poms, for which I really need more ideas if I don't want to have them spread all over once and again, making castles of blocks, a brand-new thing. She also enjoys playing in the sandbox from time to time but to my surprise it is no favorite of hers.

At the beginning of the summer she seemed to be scared of big pools but after several afternoons of pool time, she shyly likes what she calls "jumpin', dancin', splashin'" in water.
But of all the novelties, the new bedroom is perhaps the biggest change. After seeing her face lighten up when entering a friend's own bedroom, I thought it might be the time she would like to have a bedroom of her own. Without any pressure from our part for her to use it, we set up a simple room with a beautiful hand-painted wooden bed, lots of cushions, another mattress on the floor -just in case-, an improvised bedside table with a lamp, and her rocking duck. We also moved there her bedtime basket, which includes several bedtime books, a stuffed moon her aunt made, and a music box. This was about a month ago and she has been sleeping there just fine. She really seems to love her bedroom and can be found there sometimes, often rocking on her duck.
I will post some pictures when I've learnt how to upload them from my cell phone...
I think the change was definitely more difficult for me than for her, specially since bedtime is spent with her dad since "we" weaned. But I am finding ways to get our cuddling moments. Several nights I have been able to get her to sleep laying by her side and singing lullabies, and I often move to her mattress on the floor after my 5.30-6 a.m. visit to the toilet, so we can wake up together. I am just grateful for those moments. She usually awakens very well-rested and contented and loves hugging me and saying her "maahmaa" in a sweet tone.

What's new: much in terms of language acquisition

It's been three months since I last posted about this passion of mine: seeing how my beloved daughter acquires language. In these months I've been adding words to the list of words she regularly uses but I guess now it's time for me to stop. Just let me update it before I quit writing down words.
English: ball, chair, more, teeth, knee, fork (po), spoon (pun), egg, kiwi, avocado, pigtail (piteil), blue, giraffe, moon, bob pin, headband, colors, car, ants, hat, keys, iogurt (blu), pitcher, pepper, cookies, pants, pit, potty, cherry (xouxou), pocket, floor, girl, pinwheel, pasta, lid, plate, sandals, pool, raining, dancing, painting, red, bottle, tail, gloves, ladybug (vacala).
Catalan: pedra, sabó, taronja (nanana), foc, cuc, peix, llibre (bitlle), bé, galeta, do, sol, cotxe, pipi, caca, nens, això, aquest, arbre, fum, plat, cargol, nespre (eppe), bici, piscina, tro, bolquer, cua, pota, sorra (xolla).
And well, many others skip my mind right now.
The time has come when she gets several new words every day, so from now onwards I will try to keep trace of the new grammar rules she seems to be internalizing.

Well, my dear daughter, you are talkative... oh boy, are you!
At the beginning of May you added another preposition to your vocabulary: "off", and you've been asking to take off your clothes ever since (it was really warm over here). Now, you also use "on".  Prepositions are used in a different way in Catalan so up to now you prefer to use just English for that.
You have also been using "no" and "yes" -in the fashion of "nah" and "heep"- showing clearly that you mean them. The "no" is very clear. The "yes" sometimes seems to be a bit more random, but most of the time you mean it when you say it.
In terms of adjectives, you have a good command of the "cold" vs. "hot". My shoes are "big" and an old bunnet from last summer is "small". You say the dog we are babysitting is "content" when he moves his tail, and answer you are "bé" when asked if you are ok.
As regards adverbs: you seem to like bossing around and you give orders of the kind "teddy aquí (here)", "mama aquí"... An addition I specially like is "back" since it helps to keep things in order. You keep repeating "back" while putting things away. Well, unfortunately this doesn't always work when I ask you to help tidy up.
I don't know why but most of the verbs you use are in Catalan: nem (let's go), vine (come), punxa (prick), pesa (it is heavy). I guess "open" is one of the few exceptions.
You've changed the generic noun "aya" for the name of the girls that used to be called so: your aunt Iris and cousin Clara, and you also call your friends "Lila" and "Mariona". Some other names of people and relatives are: Pepe (uncle), abu (granpa), pille (grandad), yaya (both granmas), Bhabha (the dog), Carles (neighbor)...
Some words you've been using for many months have suffered some changes as of late. The cat -originally "pah" has got its name right "cat", contrarily, the teddy, word you pronounced correctly has become "teia", I don't know why.
One of the most amazing improvements is the use of plurals. Whenever there is more than one item, you add an "s" to the noun, hence expressing multiplicity. The funniest thing is that you make really sure the "s" sounds. When pronouncing "ants", for instance, no letter is left aside, they all sound.
We are delighted by how attentive to things you seem to be and how you express this by using language. As daddy pointed out the other day, you pay attention to size, temperature, weight, number, and taste.
I am very happy for you 'cause this command of language enables you to voice many things and reduces frustration a great deal.

What's new: latest creations, acquisitions, and activities

After M turned 15 months at the end of March, I thought it appropriate to start introducing the concept of setting a table and I found the placemat was a simple way to do it. On my wishlist there was a beautiful cloth placemat but having realized M could perfectly be 3 by the time I learned how to sew and made my ideal mat, I have asked my mum to make it for us. This means we won't have it immediately. In the meantime, we are using a provisional one, I made by tracing plate and cutlery with a permanent marker, as you can see here.

Another of M's grandma's creations is this cute woolen satchel. M likes it and is almost able to get her arms through the straps on her own. It has proved to be useful and been a great hit among relatives and friends.

 

In order to welcome spring, which seems to have gone away for the past two or three weeks, we made a Spring felt board. It's really simple to make and makes a beautiful open-ended activity. M seems to like it, although she waits for me to make up the picture. 

Last week we gave sorting by color a shot. It didn't really engage M, but there it was suggested.

One of the things on my to-do list is homemade painting... I have several recipes and have been wanting to try one for a long time. In the meantime, we decided to paint the balcony and this is how M helped:

Some words must be added to the growing list of vocabulary. As it couldn't be otherwise, due to the amount of time we seem to be spending handling cutlery and dinner sets, one of the new acquisitions is "po" for "fork". Others are "pedra" (stone), which you say amazingly clear; "boo" for "ball", and "bó" for "sabó" (soap); "teeth", "knee", "chair", and the star of the week: up, up, up. Seeing you tell yourself "up" when you fall down cheers my soul up.

One more week, I am linking up to Melissa's Vibrant Wanderings.

What have we been up to lately?

Some unexpected events and other expected ones have kept me busy and a bit tired as of late. I regret not having posted oftener and have a bit of a feeling of hopelessness. However, I will try to make up for this absence by sharing some pics of interesting outings.
As you can imagine, M has been having a great time.

On Good Friday we went for a walk downtown and she enjoyed strolling hither and thither. I realized it was her first time walking down a pedestrian walkway and I loved to see her self-confident and joyful. It was a delightful picture to watch.

After the walk we met some friends in a nice child-friendly café and M felt at home. She found at least two teddies. It is incredible how much she loves teddy bears.

 

At the weekend we went to visit a nearby farm and that's what we found; baaaa.

There are quite a few words and concepts M has picked up and been using as of late. One that fascinates us is "aya". First she took to calling her cousin "aya". We wondered why, 'cause she also called her "kiakia", something closer to her real name "Clara". Then she started using "aya" when pointing at girls in the street, the market or  anywhere. They were mostly beautiful girls with long hair. She also uses "aya" for her aunt Iris, whose hair is very long and very black, and most of the time she exclaims "aya" happily, almost as happy as when she calls her teddies. She really fancies "ayas".

Another concept she has picked recently is "up" and I am amazed at how clearly she says it. It is probably the first word, apart from "mama" and "papa" she utters completely and fine. "Up" she tells herself when she falls down. "Up" when she wants to climb to bed. "Up" asking me to pick her up.

Some other words she has started using are "pedra" (stone in Catalan), "more", "ham", "chair", "ball". We also notice a bit of syntax sneaking in, for instance when she says "papa nyam nyam" while attempting to feed her dad, or "nena psss" while sitting a doll on the potty.

I love how she talks to herself or to her teddies and the way she has taken to reading books aloud. She oftentimes comes to me with a book wanting me to read it to her, which I am always willing to do. It is not seldom that she wants me to skip to her favorite page. She seems to have a favorite page in every book. 

Some of the activities I set up for her these past weeks have caught her attention, others have been a flop. Those which didn't appeal to her made me think it was due to the way they were suggested, too abstractly maybe. She would simply ignore them. After pondering it over, I ended up deciding that we desperately need a nice wooden tray. In the meantime I have tried to suggest activities in a clearer way simulating tray-contained activities and this has proved to be a success.

I left a mini-basket with kiwis and a mold for cupcakes on the rug last night for her to discover this morning and she headed for it still in her pajamas. 

Quite a hit were the small foam squares I clipped for her to stick to the window. Of course the water included had something to do with the activity being successful. There you can see her sticking wet foam squares to the window (please ignore the spots on the glass... it's been raining most of the week:-)

Something new we have finally organized in the kitchen is a low cabinet for M to get snacks whenever she feels hungry. I have been wanting to do this for ages but only managed to do it today and it took less than ten minutes... However, I start noticing that she is able to ask for something she is not seeing. It used to happen only with "water", "teddy" or "papa", but she is now able to say "banana", for instance, if she is hungry. Or more frequently "more" pointing towards the place she ate something before.

Another milestone that took place today was M putting her pants half on. She has been attempting to get dressed many times, masters hats and scarves, headbands and necklaces, but pants... this is news!!

 

I am linking up to Vibrant Wanderings right away before the midnight clock strikes twelve and my precious computer turns into a pumpkin:-)

Thanks for reading!!!

What's new: total autonomy, mopping, and "more"

We've been having lots of fun since M turned 15 months and started walking -real walking. Montessori was so right when she stressed the importance of the liberation of the hands. For a toddler it is a landmark to stand up and start walking. This leaves her hands free to explore, manipulate, transport, while being able to move around at the same time.*
Now that M doesn't need her hands to crawl, a completely new perspective opens up for her to explore and she seems to be thriving on it. One of the activities she has been enjoying recently is mopping the floor. Water is of course included and she never misses an opportunity to be near water. It has been pretty sunny here lately so most mornings we actually go outside and play with water and I love to see how M reports our doings to her father when he gets home.

May it be due to the change of position or to the 15 months, she is now willing to do everything by herself and imitation has become a great motivation. She wants to get dressed by herself, feed herself without any help, and spends some time putting on hats, headbands or necklaces and then peeping at the mirror.
She has picked up some new words, which she oftentimes uses (cheese, toes, sí, no, més, and pedra) and I am specially amazed by the logic of some terms she uses for more than one object or person. "Eyes" was one of the first words she started using while pointing at my eyes right away after waking up in the morning. However, later she has started using the same term for light and for glasses. I thought at first that the resemblance between the sounds /lait/ and /ais/ was the origin of such a fusion but what a silly girl must have I been. She is not that careless. There is some logic hidden in that selection. We see with the eyes, thanks to the light and with the help of glasses (in my case). She has always been very interested in glasses and long long ago I left an old pair in one of her discovery baskets for her to explore. It is not seldom that she reaches for my glasses before I have even gotten up from bed and waits for me to hand them to me, as if they were my crutches. Well, they unfortunately are...
Some other terms she uses in a very specific way are "aya" and "yaya". I mentioned the use of the latter in another post. The former was originally the name she gave her cousin -and sometimes babysitter- Clara, but later she has started using "aya" for young girls with long hair.
Another word she picked up lately was "més" (Catalan word for "more"). It took me a bit to see this, 'cause she would say "mémé" and it sounded similar to "mama" but rackink my brains I noticed she said it mostly when eating and I realized it had been her father's influence always asking if she wanted more (més). Interestingly enough "més" stands for "more", "again", and "the other one". When she is eating something she specially likes, she will keep telling you "més", "més". Then, recalling she played with water outside, she will peep through the balcony's door and proclaim "més".
Other activities we have been enjoying this week are baking and cooking. It was delightful to have such an enthusiastic kitchen assistant...

A complete novelty around here was painting with paint and brushes. I wanted to decorate Easter eggs and give painting a shot so I got down to work. When I set up the activity, I didn't really think M would be interested in painting with a brush, so I used fingerpaint and prepared myself for any kind of initiative. Much to my surprise, M took the brush and that's what she did:

Toilet brushing has also featured daily in our morning "program". Yes, I know what you are thinking. Yuk. She never had an interest in the toilet brush before but now that she does, I'd rather encourage her motivation for practical life activities than prevent them from taking place.

Although a bit late, I am now linking up to Melissa's Vibrant Wanderings. I owe her the inspiration for these updates in M's progress. I hope you enjoyed reading us. I wish you all a very nice Easter break!!!


* "By the time the child is fifteen months old, the early mission of hand and brain development is complete: the intellect, guided by information supplied by the hand, is developing, and the hand is now an effective tool" (...) "the child has accomplished an extraordinary feat: he has gotten himself ready for activities directed toward work with structured materials--in other words, for human activity". Lillard P.P. & Lillard Jessen L, Montessori from the start, p. 58.

Walking, dressing up, and helping around

I always look forward to reading "what's new babe" post updates by Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings, and plan to link up with our latest news but up to now I have never done it for one reason or another.
As I've read Melissa's wonderful news today and the wise sentences sprinkled in whatever she writes, I've told myself I really had to sit down and write what's going on around here. As usually, I've found so much truth in something implied in her post: there are so many things a toddler learns/does that as mothers we might be terrified at the idea of forgetting them. This idea frightens me indeed. So, without any more time wasted. I am setting pen to paper (well, forgive my metaphor!).
In my next to last Joy Pocket's post two weeks ago, I mentioned M was already taking some steps and using the potty. Both actions have seen some improvement since then. She spends part of the day walking from one point of support to another one, taking up to a dozen steps sometimes. She is even able to stand while picking up objects such as an empty water carafe, which has surprised me a good deal. I love to see her stumbling as if she were on a tightrope or concentrating on getting up from squat position. Since she was able to stand for the first times, it has been clear that she is fully aware of the process and shows satisfaction at every little step further. It is truly delightful to watch. I am impressed by her (self-)awareness in this department but not only. She also signals awareness of other kinds. In the language department she recognizes some body parts, both on herself and on others. She points at her feet, for instance, and says "toes" and then is able to point at my toes or her teddy's toes demonstrating she can relate her toes or nose to those of others. She also tries on necklaces or hats and either uses her hand mirror or asks to be taken to the big mirror that hangs from the wall of the living room. At the sight of herself she happily grins and says "nena"(=girl).

She has entered an imitation stage and tries to repeat most of the actions we do -and most of the words we tell her. In my opinion this is a great opportunity for modeling behavior. It is something that has really become obvious in this brand-new 15th month. She copies me when arranging the couch or cleaning a spot. She tries to use her cutlery when eating, feeds the teddy before feeding herself, makes the teddy sit on the potty. This is something that melts my heart. Some mornings ago, as we were getting out of bed, she started saying her word for water. I thought she might be thirsty, so I gave her the bottle I always keep on my bedside stand and before I could say anything the very little water remaining in the bottle was spilled on the bed. The teddy was the one who was thirsty!! She had given the teddy the water but it had not opened its mouth... I couldn't help laughing. And she is like this all day.
When given two options for dressing, she sometimes chooses both, one for her and the other for the teddy. About dressing, in fact, there is much to be said. I've been trying to devise ways in which M could have her clothes on her sight level. Any suggestions will be appreciated, since up to now the solutions aren't satisfactory. In the lobby there is a clothes stand with a low rack and that's ok for the coats and jackets but I wanted to have a kind of dressing area and have not found the ideal set up yet. Anyway, M has no problems in making her mind up. When given options, she seems to have very clear ideas most of the time and even if the thing she wants is somewhere she can't reach she makes you get it for her. It was funny that yesterday afternoon, as we were preparing to go outside, I was showing her two dresses while sitting next to a laundry basket and she decidedly pointed to some jeans, which were not in question. It was clear to me that she would rather wear the jeans.

Something similar happens with potty learning. There are some times when she doesn't want to sit on the potty but she is communicating her needs or the fact that she has already gone -on the diaper- most of the time. I feel we have a long way to go yet, but I am happy about the fact that she is able to communicate that she has pooped or peed, mostly using the word "caca". Despite it is a pity I didn't hear about elimination communication before M was born, I am glad we've been trying to EC from the moment I learned about it and I plan to talk about it in a post soon.

And well, a bit hasty, for I must head for the bed now, but this is a bit about what it is going on around here. I will be very happy to link up to "what's new babe". Thanks for the opportunity, Melissa.