toddler linguistics....

update on Finley's language and intellectual development. in actuality, frankly, I am surprised to be writing this b/c I am shocked to see what a 20 month old child is capable of saying and thinking. I really did not expect this and it makes me re-think my vision of toddlers in general. this may seem very naive to other parents but I am just being honest. i really did not have any idea of the amazing level of comprehension and language skill of kids that are not even 2.

now, I realize that alot of Fin's progress in these areas is from his school/daycare and general socialization and exposure to older kids. we are just so lucky to have such a great school for him to attend as daycare. I had always heard that the montessori prgram was good for little kids but we had no idea what we were getting into-it is phenomenal. still I am amazed b/c I admit that we don't do much in terms of counting or reading or supervised/interactive play at home. we do some of it when convenient or if we have time in the evening but we don't do it everyday (like we should).

below is a list for my own notes-sorry to any blog readers who are bored or annoyed by the level of detail.

Fin is starting to say and understand numbers-for example if you say "one" he says "two" and so on. he prefers 2, 5, 9, and 11. funny. he says these pretty reliably and if you ask him how many toy he has-he'll say one, two as he point them out.

he is saying some colors and able to point out items that are those colors. his fav to say is green ("geen") and second favs are blue and purple. he particularly likes his "geen shooooos" and the "geen tcheez" (green trees).

He has started saying "cheese" and showing a mouthful of teeth when he sees someone with a camera.

lately he wants to know what everything is... he points at something as says"dis, dis?" which means-what's this?

another super endearing thing that he is doing is always asking us to sing siongs with him by doing the gestures and saying some word he associates with the song. for example: he says "wheels" and does the wheels on the bus hand sign. or he says "pi" (spider) and does the itsy bitsy spider hand sign. or he raises his arms up and says "hupaba" which is his word for the phrase -up above-the sky so high like a diamond in the sky. overall it is pretty funny to see him trying to get us to sing these little kid songs all the time-he just loves it.

He like to brush his teeth and will often ask to do "tee" (makes sign by mouth like brushing teeth) during the day when he wants to brush his teeth. He knows many body parts and can say them as well. belly, toes, hair, head, ears, nose, mouth, eyes, elbow.

FIn is signing please and thankyou but not really saying either one reliably. he'll say pls sometimes circumstantially. for example "opy peez" (open please) which he says all the time b/c he can't stand to see anything go un-opened whether this is a toy, a box, a package, a box of cereal.

he is a still a self-determined vegetarian. he actually pulls meat and eggs out of his mouth. we have tried many things to disguise it such as ketchup and other sauces but this still does not really work. maybe we get in 1 or 2 little bites but after that he sucks the sauce off and throws the rest. GREAT. so now I am goign to have to start getting a bit more creative in order to make sure he gets more protein. I've had mnay great suggestions-french toast and salmon cakes and pureed chicken in quesadillas. so I'll try these this week.

Over the last 2 months Fin is very often doing concentrated play and self-directed, self-motivated play, an imporntant dev milestone.

Fin is repeating almost anythign we are saying-even harder words and paired words like tractor, sand box, popcorn, toaster, pillow, towel, etc.

in general we still hear strings of toddler babble but now it is interspersed with real words such as dog, mama, milk, bus, wheels, sky, juice, door, outside ("ayide") and the ever present MINE! so cute but often un-interpretable-always including much pointing gesturing for emphasis.

he is able to notice and point out the moon in the sky as well as clouds and airplanes and kites. he notices bikes and motorcycles (he yells "bites, bye bye bites" when he sees them on the road).

He has started announcing "poop" before he goes in his diaper.

and he grabs tissues to wipe his boogers and blow his nose(they call it mucous at school-haha). He loves to then take the used tissue to the trash. in general he likes to clean and organize things-he THROWS his dirty dishs in the sink from about 2 ft away. this can be disastrous for the dishes but at least he is trying. he loves to wash his hands and press the foamy soap dispenser over and over again. this is good b/c he gets very very dirty when he plays-it is hard to believe his skin actually looks brown sometimes after playing outside for an hour.

also I need to add that he is now showing touching displays of empathy and emotional understanding. if babies cry he gets very upset and tries to ask why or go see the baby. when a butterfly got crushed he was sad and had a very small voice, when the kitty was lost and we were calling him over and over again, Finley was very upset and calling "kee, kee" and clapping and trygin to whistle like me.

the few times I have yelled at him or burst out b/c he scared me b/c he was doing something bad or dangerous. I really hate doing this and always feel bad and embarassed afterwords. thankfully it doesn't happen often but the few times it has happened, after I yell and get him to stop doing whatever was the problem- Fin can tell that I am still mad or upset at him so he does a funny little thing to make me stop being mad. he sort of crouches down to look right into my face and says "hi,hi,hi" with the saddest little heart-breaking voice of yearning and sorrow. it immediately makes me start crying and I feel even more horribel for ever yelling at him in the first place. so then we have lots of HUGS and then everything is OK (but I still feel bad). in fact just thinking about this little behavior that he does is tearing me apart right now. it makes me never want to get mad at him again. my sweet little baby boy....