Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Julia is a Genius
Every person thinks that their child is the smartest, cutest child out there. Well, I have to tell you that all of you are wrong. Because Julia is the smartest, cutest kid on the entire planet. And I have two stories to offer as (completely objective) proof. They both involve upon growling.
1) The daycare kids have taught Julia how to growl. Her little growl is rough and menacing and high-pitched, like a tiger cub or a wolf puppy. Some vicious infant animal. Paired as it is with her sparkling eyes and huge smile (which she thinks is "baring her teeth" like the older kids who taught her) the result is completely charming. And, of course, we had to have her demonstrate her new skill to Grandma and Grandpa. Grandma and Grandpa were appropriately charmed.
Later, when Grandpa and I took Julia to the store for the first of many part runs, Grandpa started working with Julia with saying "Grandpa". "Grandpa, Grrrandpa, Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrandpa" he said to her slowly, turning the first sound into the growl that she has so perfected. Immediately she stopped smiling at him and started thinking hard. "That's right," he told her, "you think about it and get back with me."
Later that night, when Julia had been fed and changed and was ready for bed, Kristin and Grandma brought Julia over to say goodnight to me and Grandpa. Grandpa wasn't really paying attention as he was focused on a recalcitrant coupling. Julia was not best pleased at Grandpa's lack of attention. "Grandpa!" she cried at him. We all looked at her. "Grandpa," she said again. "Hi!" And we all burst into congratulations and praise.
In truth, her word didn't sound as clear as I have just presented it. It was a growl, ended with her kissy sound, which sounds a little like "pa". But there was no doubt that "grrrrrrrrpa" was her very clear attempt to vocalize the word grandpa and that that word was very clearly directed toward her grandpa who was not paying as much attention to her as she thought he should.
So, my question. Why can she say Grandpa, but she won't even TRY to say Mama?
2) Last night it was just Julia and I, and I was trying to keep her up a bit past her bedtime to give Kristin more time to get home and see her. After Julia was dined and cleaned and changed and pajamaed we sat in the big club chair with her gigantic (it's longer than she is) "Sparkle Fun Book". We were having a great time, turning the big cardboard pages and trying to peel the foil off the pictures, when we came to a page with animals all over it. I started pointing to the animals and making animal sounds. I didn't Julia was paying much attention to me as she was poking at a piece of silver foil. But when I touched the tiger and growled she stopped fingering the foil. I touched the tiger again while growling. After a moment she slapped her hand over the tiger and she growled. Then she did it again. I praised her and touched the picture of the snake. I hissed as I touched it. Julia looked at me closely as I hissed. Then she touched the snake and blew air out through nearly-closed lips. It sounded more like an "f" than an "s", but it was a good estimation of the sound.
She's growing and expanding so fast. We can see the intellectual connections being made behind her eyes. It is a joy to accompany her on this journey.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Katie is Learning
I think we've mentioned before that Julia is only the second grandchild for my parents. Katie is 3 years older than Julia and has been the sole darling of the famiy's eye for that entire time. Her adjustment to sharing Grandma and Grandpa's attention has been occasionally fraught with pre-schooler trauma, but for the most part has been moving along smoothly.
A week or so ago my Mom watched Julia on a workday. Julia was running a slight fever and so couldn't go to A's, but Kristin had court and I had no more sick leave. My mother also watches Katie all day.
On this particular day my mother was happy to report that Katie and Julia got on famously, with Katie singing Julia songs and Julia trying to sing them back (Katie loves to sing, and anyone who will sing with her is her Favorite Person on the Planet -- unless someone comes by and offers to read Katie a book. And then the book-reader is the New Favorite Person on the Planet).
At one point in the day Julia was in her high chair with some toys and my mom needed to use the bathroom. She asked Katie to sing and play with Julia for a minute. Apparently my mom could hear the sounds of a baby's favorite game being played while she was in the bathroom. thunk and a toy would hit the floor. "Julia, you dropped your toy again." Katie would say as she picked it up. thunk again. And again Katie would pick it up and tell Julia to be more careful. This (of course) went on the entire time Mom was in the bathroom.
When mom came out, Katie went to her and said, "Grandma, I'm not going to pick up Julia's toys any more. She's doing it on purpose!"
And thus Katie was reacquainted with the gravity game. This time on the exasperated side.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
On the Milestone Front...
I can't neglect to mention the most important milestone. Julia can now drink from a straw. Very important for her future Slurpee consumption!
This isn't a slurpee, though, it is a Jamba Juice, all frozen fruit and juice, no sherbet or yogurt or icecream. Kristin was feeding it to Julia one strawfull at a time. Doing the thing where you create a little vacuum dropper by putting one finger over the end of the straw. And then Julia, not content with the slow way that Kristin was dropping the nectar into her mouth, started sucking it out. So we stuck the straw back into the cup and let her have at it.
We couldn't be prouder if she'd mixed us up martinis with her own little hands.
Oh I am so behind with the blogging
Here is a lovely picture of Julia on Easter for you to look at while I talk about locomotion.
Julia doesn't roll over. The doctor says she is completely capable of rolling over, she just doesn't want to. We think she may have rolled over a few times when we were out of the room, but as far as doing it in front of witnesses...
However, she IS mobile. She scoots. On her butt. It is as if the sheer force of her desire for a toy brings her closer to it with no visible effort expanded on her part. One moment she is 3 feet away from something, the next moment she is right next to it, shoving it in her mouth. It is amazing.
Occasionally, while stretching for something, she will fall on her face on the floor. This precipitates screaming, not because she's hurt, but because she's now on her stomach, the one place she hates to be. Normally the screaming is of such a degree and pitch that the mommies can't help but go and pick her up and place her where she wants to be. But last night we decided that frustration was good for her soul, and we let her cry.
And she picked herself back up. She got her legs underneath her, hung out in the crawling position for a few minutes and then pushed herself back into a sitting position! We are so proud of her!
She'll be crawling any day now. All without ever rolling over.