Not sure anything really needs to be said to go along with these videos. This is just Judah being a goof ball.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Stream of a toddler's consciousness
I'm long overdue for another post about what Judah's been saying, since that remains the primary manifestation of his personality. He still talks absolutely all the time and Grandpa recently came up with the perfect description of Judah: He is the physical embodiment of twitter. All day long he provides continuous "status updates" - remarks about something he's observing, something he's doing, something he wants, absolutely anything that pops into his little head.
His sentences are getting longer and longer and more and more complex. One jaw-dropping example was when he was at Grandma and Grandpa's house during a rain storm. He was standing at the window and he said, "Judah looking out the window, watching the rain fall down to the ground." I wasn't there, but the report is that he said it three or four times, as if to make sure he was getting it right.
He still refers to himself in the third person - "Judah want some milk," "Judah go outside." But he's beginning to use other pronouns, like he, she, they, him, her. He also appropriately uses the plural - "one apple, two apples." He even says "one person" and "many people." I know this all seems mundane. The truth is, I just find it fascinating to witness the development of language.
One of the interesting things I've observed about his language learning is that it seems like sometimes he learns a phrase first, and then gradually figures out what it means and how to use it. For example, on a recent outing to see the cherry trees Judah heard me say "oh my gosh, look at that!" and he started repeating it over and over. In following days he would say it at various random times, not necessarily in appropriate circumstances. In response I would find things he might be looking at and say, "yes, look at that big bowl of cereal!" Then the other day he was watching a dog jump to catch a frisbee and he exclaimed, "oh my gosh, look at that!" It seems like he let the phrase ruminate for a while until he really got a handle on what it was for. Fascinating.
He's really gotten so adept with language that sometimes it seems like he understands everything (which is a bit frightening). But then there are some funny moments when we're reminded that, in fact, he's still figuring things out. Like the other day when I was reading him a book that had a picture of a rhino in it. I said, "see, the rhino has a big horn on his head," and Judah responded with an emphatic, "beep beep!!" I of course had to explain that it's a different kind of horn.
There are so many more stories, but that has to do it for now. I'll close with some of his funniest words, or, shall we say, his own versions of words, along with the translation.
Sampoop (shampoo)
Light bud (light bulb)
Silp (spill)
Sirt (stir)
Lallow (yellow)
Capine (clementine)
Capit (chapstick)
Lumu (living room)
Heaty (heater)
Vacakeenie (vacuum cleaner)
Cayrons (crayons)
Beef turkey (beef jerky - this is Doug's all-time favorite).
His sentences are getting longer and longer and more and more complex. One jaw-dropping example was when he was at Grandma and Grandpa's house during a rain storm. He was standing at the window and he said, "Judah looking out the window, watching the rain fall down to the ground." I wasn't there, but the report is that he said it three or four times, as if to make sure he was getting it right.
He still refers to himself in the third person - "Judah want some milk," "Judah go outside." But he's beginning to use other pronouns, like he, she, they, him, her. He also appropriately uses the plural - "one apple, two apples." He even says "one person" and "many people." I know this all seems mundane. The truth is, I just find it fascinating to witness the development of language.
One of the interesting things I've observed about his language learning is that it seems like sometimes he learns a phrase first, and then gradually figures out what it means and how to use it. For example, on a recent outing to see the cherry trees Judah heard me say "oh my gosh, look at that!" and he started repeating it over and over. In following days he would say it at various random times, not necessarily in appropriate circumstances. In response I would find things he might be looking at and say, "yes, look at that big bowl of cereal!" Then the other day he was watching a dog jump to catch a frisbee and he exclaimed, "oh my gosh, look at that!" It seems like he let the phrase ruminate for a while until he really got a handle on what it was for. Fascinating.
He's really gotten so adept with language that sometimes it seems like he understands everything (which is a bit frightening). But then there are some funny moments when we're reminded that, in fact, he's still figuring things out. Like the other day when I was reading him a book that had a picture of a rhino in it. I said, "see, the rhino has a big horn on his head," and Judah responded with an emphatic, "beep beep!!" I of course had to explain that it's a different kind of horn.
There are so many more stories, but that has to do it for now. I'll close with some of his funniest words, or, shall we say, his own versions of words, along with the translation.
Sampoop (shampoo)
Light bud (light bulb)
Silp (spill)
Sirt (stir)
Lallow (yellow)
Capine (clementine)
Capit (chapstick)
Lumu (living room)
Heaty (heater)
Vacakeenie (vacuum cleaner)
Cayrons (crayons)
Beef turkey (beef jerky - this is Doug's all-time favorite).
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Pesach 2009
We had two wonderful seders this year - the first with family and the second with some dear friends. Doug led a wonderful kid-oriented seder on the first night and Eli, Hannah and Judah were all very patient and engaged. Well, to be fair, Judah was patient mostly because he got his hands on Mimi's phone and spent the entire seder pressing buttons and holding it up to his ear pretending to make important calls.
He also got into a marginally more appropriate toy - the kiddush cup and later the glass holding the parsley.
One of the nicest things about the seder was the fact that Judah really interacted more openly with everyone. Judah's always been fairly reserved with people, especially in groups. But in the last month or two he has really been opening up. He's been much more comfortable around people he doesn't see all the time. It's been wonderful to hear him talking about "uncle Steben" and "aunt Kimby" and Eli and Hannah, but even more wonderful to see him being affectionate and comfortable with them...
And even playing with Eli and Hannah (who were extremely sweet with him and really gave him the opportunity to do his thing). This image almost made me cry...
This change in Judah - his opening up to people - feels very appropriate to the season. It seems like a blosoming of his personality and maturity, and a passing over into a new phase of life.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
A day in the life
Mr. Judah has been quite busy lately. Here is a peak into some of his recent activities...
Playing in "Judah's house" - his new playhouse in our back yard (thank you Gary and Phyllis, a.k.a. Boo and Nanna!)
Doing household chores
Hiding in closets
Trying on other people's shoes
And just finding all kinds of new ways to amuse himself.
Playing in "Judah's house" - his new playhouse in our back yard (thank you Gary and Phyllis, a.k.a. Boo and Nanna!)
Doing household chores
Hiding in closets
Trying on other people's shoes
And just finding all kinds of new ways to amuse himself.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
My baby's not a baby anymore!!
Judah is now two years old! We had a really wonderful birthday today. This morning we had a family gathering at our house - Mimi, Stephen, Kimberly, Eli and Hannah, and Grandma and Grandpa. Judah got to hang out with everybody...
As well as eat food off of various people's plates.
We ended the day with dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house, which was as fun as ever. It was very difficult to get him to leave, as he kept saying "no go home" and running into the basement to hide when I suggested we get ready to go. I put him to bed happy and exhausted. I listened to him on the monitor talking about his day, as usual, until he finally drifted off to sleep. Now I'm sitting here thinking about how much I love him, and how happy I am to have spent the last two years being his mom.
As well as eat food off of various people's plates.
And he got some really terrific presents which he has already enjoyed tremendously. Stephen and Kimberly gave him a fabulous little mailbox with letters, stamps and a key to open the collection bin.
Mimi gave him his own CD player
And Grandma and Grandpa gave him a wonderful, huge set of bristle blocks.
The rest of the day, after Doug left town for Saint Louis, I had the great pleasure of just spending time with my fabulous little guy. He was in a wonderful mood and I was just so happy to goof around with him.
We ended the day with dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house, which was as fun as ever. It was very difficult to get him to leave, as he kept saying "no go home" and running into the basement to hide when I suggested we get ready to go. I put him to bed happy and exhausted. I listened to him on the monitor talking about his day, as usual, until he finally drifted off to sleep. Now I'm sitting here thinking about how much I love him, and how happy I am to have spent the last two years being his mom.
Snow storm
We had a big snowstorm recently - hopefully our last of the winter! We were very excited to take Judah sledding, but unfortunately he was suffering from a cold and was in a pretty grumpy low-energy mood.
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But I think he had a few fun moments...
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Trip to the Building Museum
Yesterday we went on a family outing to the National Building Museum, where they have a huge play room for kids with all kinds of blocks and other building-related toys.
Judah moderately enjoyed the actual play room and toys, but as usual he was MUCH more interested in the things about the museum that were not actually made for kids, like the fountain in the main hall and this awesome stair case and banister, which I discovered a good use for!
Our friend Wendy met us at the museum to hang out, which was great. Wendy is a devoted aunt to her niece in Nevada City who's just a little younger than Judah, so we're hoping this provided her a little toddler fix while she's far from home.
Judah moderately enjoyed the actual play room and toys, but as usual he was MUCH more interested in the things about the museum that were not actually made for kids, like the fountain in the main hall and this awesome stair case and banister, which I discovered a good use for!
Our friend Wendy met us at the museum to hang out, which was great. Wendy is a devoted aunt to her niece in Nevada City who's just a little younger than Judah, so we're hoping this provided her a little toddler fix while she's far from home.
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