Charlie is right on the cusp of really starting to talk. We are seeing a real leap in his receptive language skills. And, he's now getting to the point of being able to almost tell you what he wants. Unfortunately, he often considers the problem to solely be that you just don't understand that he wants to play with the sharpie. The idea of that the sharpie is off limits is far beyond his ken and receptive abilities. "No," is still hit or miss. Thus, we are starting to get tantrums. So far they haven't been too bad but you have to remember that I've seen some real humdingers in my previous life as a special ed teacher. We have had a couple of public melt-downs that have resulted in a swift whisking away home. People have been surprisingly nice about the whole thing, carefully stepping around us as I wrestle him into his coat at PetSmart or ignoring us as I pack up his bag at the hamburger place.
We're also getting to the point that he really wants to walk while I am getting to the point where chasing a highly active toddler through a store isn't so feasible. Also, see previous discussion of "no" and add in "come here" as another phrase we really need to work on. We've actually gotten him one of those back pack baby leash things but I haven't had the where-with-all to actually use it yet. I've seen more parents with them though and they look much less like something I would put on my dog than previous versions. I suspect he won't object to wearing the backpack so much as being frustrated that I have found yet a new way to thwart his quest to obtain all the shirts at B Moss.
I sense that our little Drama King has far bigger tantrums inside him though and what parent doesn't want their child to live up to their full potential so we will soldier on and help foster his talents in full contact drama because he's gifted, you know.
Of course, all this doesn't come without the oh, so, cute as well. We have many, many discussions every day focusing on balls. I had not realized how much could be conveyed with the phrase "Uh, oh! Ball." It's a conversation starter, color commentary, and request to play (as he rolls it under the entertainment center). "Ball, mmm" is a request of an asian pear (now labeled as an apple-pair- I'm not sure if that is for cultural sensitivity or a brand thing). It only took me a few minutes to figure this out when I had a snack the other day and I was attacked by a very small, apparently very hungry marauder. Happily, he will now hold the pear himself while sitting in his highchair and gnaw on it for 10-20 minutes. On a particularly trying day last week I was able to keep him quiet and happy for a good 35 minutes in his high chair (it was one of those days where he was so sleepy he kept running into things and falling down but we really needed to make it just a little longer before nap) between a pear, watching the roomba, and watching Mommy mop. I've been amazed at how many balls Charlie can find in life. It really has made me stop and smell the roses in a fashion. But, cutest of all, is "tickle, tickle, tickle." He can't really manage 2 syllables or the "t" sound yet so it comes out as this garbled lickle, lickle, lickle involving lots of sticking out your tounge. If I wasn't already pregnant "tickle, tickle, tickle" would have us trying for another.
No comments:
Post a Comment