(I typed that title and immediately thought of an episode of Seinfeld. If you know what I'm talking about, sorry. If you don't know what I'm talking about, sorry.)
Graham is like a sponge. He absorbs EVERYTHING. It's amazing and scary at the same time. He knows when Gangnam Style starts playing after hearing only a few notes. Today he said, "I want to dance." And then he requested Call Me Maybe. What? (Maybe a better question is, what are we letting him listen to???)
He is just learning new things all the time. The world is an exciting place. Sometimes I forget how many new things there are for me to learn each day. There's no time to be bored. I mean, I can just look out the window and try to identify all the different birds I see. Sure it may be nerdy, but it's still something new.
G and I have a book of children's poems that we read from time to time. There's a poem about a cow and one about trains. A poem about two lizards named Sally and Manda (so clever) and one about a black bug. We read the poem about the rabbit and the rain and bathtime. It's a great little book. There are a few poems that I have started reciting to him because I know them by heart, partly from my own childhood and partly from reading this book to him.
I recite:
I had a little turtle. He lived in a box.
He swam in the puddles and he climbed on the rocks.
He snapped at a mosquito.
He snapped at a flea.
He snapped at a minnow.
And he snapped at me!
He caught the mosquito.
He caught the flea.
He caught the minnow.
But he didn't catch me.
Cute. Boyish. Easy to remember.
I recite:
Mix a pancake, stir a pancake, pop it in the pan!
Fry the pancake, toss the pancake, catch it if you can!
I chant this while making pancakes, which happens VERY regularly at our house since my son loves him some pancakes. Seriously. He can eat more than I can sometimes. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not.
And I recite:
Animal crackers and cocoa to drink.
That is the finest of suppers, I think.
When I grow up and can have what I please,
I think I shall always insist upon these.
This one has another verse but that's all I know. Obviously this is the animal cracker poem for when you eat animal crackers. And since we have a canister of them, it's a regular occurrence.
G and his sister got some bath toys for Christmas and one of them is a sea turtle. He was playing with it while I was feeding Adele and began reciting the phrase, "I had a little turtle. He lived in a box," over and over and over. Awww...he really is listening when I read him books that I choose.
Well, that little sponge of mine surprised me again yesterday by reciting the whole animal cracker poem, unprompted, at snack time. It was adorable. Terribly hard to understand since a lot of the words were just mumbling, but adorable.
He's so stinkin' smart! (Says the completely unbiased and impartial mother.)
Moral of the story: Read poetry to your kids. They are sponges. They will absorb it and remember it. It will teach them about rhythm and rhyming and language and words. They'll begin to make connections between what they read and the world around them. That's comprehension. It's important. It's on college entrance exams.
*Sidenote: At our house, when you refuse both of the choices your mom gives you, you go shirtless in the winter. That's just how we roll around here.*
**Disclaimer: There are no pictures in this post. If anyone reads the whole thing, I'll be surprised, but it's mostly for me to remember by so it doesn't matter if anyone else reads it.**
Graham is really chatty.
Surprise, surprise.
I'm sure no one thought Adam and I would have a kid who likes to talk.
The more he talks, the more he says weird and funny things. I don't want to forget them, so I better write them down.
Lately, he uses the word "hard" a lot. One night he ran in circles from the kitchen to the living room to the dining room for quite a while. I was feeding the baby on the couch and Adam wasn't home, so he was just running and running all by himself. After several minutes, he paused and said, "Mommy, I chasing HARD!" I don't know if he was doing the chasing or if he was being chased but either way he was doing it hard.
He's really into Thomas the Tank Engine right now. Really into it. We talk about the different trains like they are real people. "Where Edward go?" "Gordon puff hard on tracks." "Percy hiding." In fact, we've been known to walk around the house calling their names when different trains are missing. It's like we think they might answer back. Graham has started singing the theme song at random times. I love it! It's so cute to hear his little voice sing, "They're two, they're four, they're six, they're eight..." I overheard G say, "James coming 'round the bend." Gotta love what kids learn from theme songs.
Yesterday I was nursing Adele on the couch and Graham was sitting next to me reading a story. (Actually, I was making up a story while flipping through the pages of a Thomas catalogue that Graham asks me to "read" at least once a day. I've started hiding the "Thomas book" because, let's be honest, there's only so many times you can "read" a catalogue.) Adele chose this as a good time to fill her diaper. Graham got a really concerned look on his face and said, "What happening in BeeDel's pants?" I cracked up. He didn't get it and asked the question again, "What happening in BeeDel's pants?" I told him she was pooping and he said, "She pooping hard."
He's really sweet with his sister. Multiple times a day he says, "I kiss BeeDel."
Graham asks to watch shows a lot. The kid loves TV. Most of the time I tell him no and he's started asking, "Why not watch (insert show)?" Then he smiles because he's just trying to wear me down. Sometimes he succeeds.
There was a time when G cried and cried when we left him in the church nursery. It was so bad that he would start sobbing as soon as we pulled into the parking lot. During this time I began talking about all the fun things about Sunday School. Now Graham loves going to church and looks forward to playing with certain toys and friends when he goes. Our church has a James train (James is the red engine) and now any time church is mentioned I hear, "I go (something that sort of resembles Sunday school) and play James."
More than once I've caught Graham repeating word for word an entire conversation Adam and I are having while we are having it. He's just quietly repeating our conversation to himself. Recently I caught him doing this to the waitress who was serving us at a restaurant. Weird kid.
In addition to Thomas, he also really likes Cars. He discovered a stuffed Lightening McQueen from Christmas two years ago that I had packed away in a trunk and was smitten at first sight. He calls it "Lightening Car." It's a pretty large stuffed car so sometimes Monkey rides on it, or a cup of milk, or even Thomas. It's super cute when he talks about "Tow Maner" who is Lightening Car's best friend. He has a duplo firetruck that has become "Tow Maner." And like the Thomas catalogue, we also "read" the Cars DVD case. Lightening Car races against Blue Car and Green Mustache Car (because I couldn't remember their names). How is that interesting?
Dancing is a favorite pastime at our house, especially in the last week. More than once I've overheard him say, "I want dance Daddy." I LOVE IT! His favorite dance to do--Gangam Style. Yes, he recognizes the song and does the dance surprisingly well. In fact, he's requested it a few times.
The kid loves rainbows. I bought a prism to hang in his window so the evening sun will make rainbows on his walls and ceiling. He calls them "name-o's." At first we thought he was referring to "Dingo was his name-o," which is a popular song at our house (yes, he says Dingo instead of Bingo--the Dingo got the baby!), but then we realized it was rainbow. A couple days ago we lay down on his floor to look at the rainbows on the ceiling and he said, "Name-o pretty, Mama." I died. Then I got sad because he's going to grow up and be a stinky teenager who will be too cool to comment on the beauty of rainbows on his ceiling while lying on the floor with his mom. (Oh gosh, now I'm tearing up. This mom stuff can be emotional.)
My picky eater is doing a little bit better. Now that he can communicate more, I can ask what he wants and this has led to much better eating at mealtime. He still won't eat veggies or casseroles or mac and cheese but he's more willing to let me put things on his plate. Usually if I ask him to try it, he responds with, "Bite it, Mom." I've tried telling him to bite things, but he just laughs and says, "No, no, no!"
A couple days ago we came home from the store and Adele was desperate to eat. It was beautiful day, but since I had to feed the baby, we couldn't play outside. Graham wouldn't be deterred and headed straight to the back yard. When I told him we had to come in right now he said, "I want shuck corn, Mama. I want shuck corn."
I decided Graham needed to experience finger painting. I was feeling guilty that I didn't do regular art projects with him, so we tackled a canvas for Adele's room. I poured paint on a paper plate and told him to use his hands. Of course, he only used one hand and quickly concluded that finger painting was NOT for him. I kept urging him to try more, but he just stuck out his hand and begged me to "wipe." He's so much like his Dad when it comes to being messy.
Our summer was so hot that sometimes we went for walks at the mall just to get out of the house. As a result, our two year old son regularly asks, "I go mall?" Of course, he just wants to push buttons in the arcade and throw a penny in the fountain.
When he doesn't want to go to sleep he yells, "Wake up, Mama!" Then when you go into his room, he says, "I need medicine." Then he gets medicine in the form of a drink of water. Sometimes he points to the bird mobile hanging above the changing pad and says, "Anky bud." Can you guess what that means? Yep, Angry Birds. In addition to the angry birds, the light from the hallway shines onto the wall above the mobile in one spot. Apparently to a two year old boy it looks like fire. It took us weeks and weeks to figure out why he kept pointing and saying "fire."
My mom and I took the kids on a road trip to Iowa a few weeks ago. We stayed with my Aunt Ann and Uncle Denny. Graham immediately called Uncle Denny "Papa" and then "Papa Denny." It's adorable. If you ask him what Papa Denny does, he says, "Papa Denny watch the news."
G has just started asking "Can I go outside?" I love that his language is progressing so much, but I'm also a little sad that my boy is growing up so fast.
And last but not least, this afternoon he sat beside me on the couch, leaned over and said, "I yuh (love) you, Mama."
It sounds like kinky, which I know could get us into trouble, but it's stinky. He says it in reference to dirty diapers. And Adam after he was nearly sprayed by a skunk last night after youth group. Apparently direct spray contact is not required for one to smell skunky, I mean "kinky."
G-man has become quite the talker these days. Of course, he's not forming sentences or having understandable conversations with us, but he's super chatty and saying lots of new words. We seem to be in some kind of learning boom right now, so I want to make a list of his words so I don't forget.
He's been saying Daddy and Mommy for quite a while. Of course, Daddy came first and is somewhat of an obsession. I love that he loves his Dad, but we were having wailing and gnashing of teeth every time Adam even went into the garage or got out of the car to pump gas. Seriously? It got a little annoying. That seems to have calmed down (thankfully), but I still get a daily run down of all the things in our house that belong to Daddy.
*point to sweatshirt, "Daddy."
*point to t-shirt while I'm folding laundry, "Daddy."
*point to Adam's closet, "Daddy."
*point to driveway where Adam parks, "Daddy."
*point to random beat up pick-up parked on the street, "Daddy." "Yes, Daddy drives a truck."
You get the idea. He does it for Mommy's stuff too, so I can't totally complain. And really, it's pretty amazing how he knows which clothes are each of ours. He even likes to point out our different articles of clothing in the laundry hamper. Weird. Sweet, but weird.
He, of course, says ball. Behind Daddy, that was his first word. He uses the word ball to describe any type of ball, anything with an OU logo (he shouted "BALL" one day at Lowe's when an elderly man drove by on his scooter because there was an OU sticker on the side), round fruit like oranges or grapefruit, sports equipment like basketball hoops in driveways or football helmets, sports related video game logos like EA sports (he "plays" FIFA soccer with Adam on the playstation), anything that says ESPN, and the TV. In fact, lately he's been totally enthralled during diaper changes with two of the card stock ad inserts from Sports Illustrated because they have the NFL logo (sporting a football) on them. He's also become really interested in Sports Illustrated because there is a ball on almost every page. One afternoon while Adam I were at the dining room table, we realized G had been sitting in a chair in the living room "reading" SI for almost 15 mins. The kid loves sports. Surprise. Surprise.
He also loves stars. Before Christmas he chose a Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star book for us to read over and over and over. He started to point out the big star on each page, then one day he started saying the word star as he pointed. Since it was Christmas-time we heard the word star a lot! They were everywhere! He's added moon to the mix since it easily goes with stars. At first he said moon without the O's. It was possibly the cutest thing I've ever heard. "Mn." I made him say it repeatedly, which is what probably led to him learning to say it correctly. Bummer. It's lots of fun when we're outside at night and can look at the real moon and stars.
But enough of the long descriptions. This is mostly a list for myself. I just want to remember all that he's learning to say.
--G can do the animal sounds for cow, puppy, chicken, horse, duck, sheep, lion, owl, pig, elephant, monkey and kitty. Some of them are hit and miss, but he's getting more consistent.
--He can actually say kitty, puppy, cow, duck (sort of), goose, and bird. For a long time all animals were kitties. He would point to a cow and say, "Kitty. Papa." And I would respond with, "Yes, Papa has cows." We don't have a cat, so I'm not really sure where that came from.
--Graham says Papa (my dad), Bryce, Mel which sounds like Mo, Jordan (usually minus the "a," it must be a vowel thing), and Emma. We have tried to teach him Amy for Adam's sister but now he just associates her with the puppy at her house and says that instead. He refuses to say Grandma. When we ask him to say Grandma he just replies with, "and Papa." He doesn't say his own name either, so it must be the "gr" sound.
--Papa is associated with lots of things in the same way ball is connected with lots of things. Anytime we see cows, a barn, pasture ground, tractors, 4-wheelers or motorcycles (I guess they're similar), horses, and EIEIO since we changed the Old MacDonald to be "my Papa has a farm." It's really funny that he has connected all these things with my dad. We definitely didn't teach him to point out the window at a pasture and say, "Papa."
--He calls the slide a "whee."
--All liquids for drinking are juice. Cups are juice too.
--G can point out a lot of body parts: eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, tongue, cheek, ears, hair, tummy, fingers, hands, arms, legs, feet, chin, and forehead (the last two are new as of yesterday). He can only say nose, eyes, and sometimes mouth, though.
--"Morse" is more.
--He's finally signing the word please instead of freaking out and demanding things. He's even said it a few times. Now we have to work on thank you.
--He asks for a "nana" and cheese but those are the only foods he knows by name. After we had spaghetti the other night he repeated noodles, sauce and meat. I posted that video last time if you missed it.
--G-man says shoes, which encompass shoes, slippers and socks. He loves shoes. He likes to wear shoes, try on Adam's shoes, carry around shoes in the store...We had to leave a sporting goods store recently because the combination of balls and shoes was just too much. Yes, there was crying when we left.
--He says "night-night." It's sweet.
--He sometimes says go. "Go, go, go!"
--Graham will throw out a random, "guys" every now and then. This words shows up most often when he sees a group of teenage boys.
--We worked on baby a lot at Christmastime, but he never said it. Then one day a few weeks ago, he just blurted it out. He calls most of his friends baby and any pictures of babies that he sees. And sometimes, if I'm lucky, he will point to my belly and say baby. He has no idea that there is really a baby in there but he's heard us talk about it. Little does he know how much "baby" is going to change his life in a few months.
--One of Graham's favorite books is Dr. Seuss ABC. It was one of my favorites too, so I didn't dissuade him from loving it. Of course, now I can recite it word for word from memory because we have read it so much, but it's still a fun book. Since we read it so often, G has learned to recognize some letters. Obviously at this point (he's only 20 months) we're not learning our alphabet or "teaching our baby to read," but I'm happy to practice what he's picked up on his own. Yay for another little English lover in the house! Right now he recognizes B, P, T, O, Y, Z (notice the similar sounds of most of those letters). He knows D but calls it "Dono" which could be Donald or donut since both of those words show up on the D page. He also knows F but just makes an F-ish sound trying to say "Fiffer feffer feff" which is the wacky animal on that page. Sometime he says C, but not often. Oh and sometimes V. He doesn't say V, but he plugs his ear when he sees it since "Vera Violet Vinn is very, very, very awful on her violin." (We plug our ears when we read that page.)
--His first sentence was "shoot the ball." He hasn't said it since. He does say shoot, especially when basketball is on TV.
--He just started saying cars.
--He also just started saying balloon, well "boon."
--He doesn't say I love you, but if we say "I love" he follows with "ooo."
--G sometimes throws out a bye-bye, but usually just waves or blows kisses.
--He says home and keys.
--He loves to sing. At Christmas he adopted Silent Night as his favorite song because he got a book that played the music when he pushed the star. You can imagine what a hit that was. It's now the song we use to calm him if he won't go to sleep and if we're lucky he will sing a little..."Night night, O-y night."
--This week he learned green. Following the trend he leaves out a letter. The "r." So it's "geen." A "geen bood" (green bird) is my favorite.
--Graham has started "reading" aloud to us from books, junk mail, and magazines. It's not just a description of the pictures, either. He often chooses pages that are mostly text. Funny kid.
I think that's it right now. It's kind of a long list, which is fun, but I'm sure I left something off. G just started repeating things that we ask him to say which opens up a whole new world of language. I love it! I'm so thankful to be able to spend time teaching him new things. There are those days...hello, yesterday...that I want to escape for a while, but it's still worth it to hear him say "geen bood."
