Saturday, June 27, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Summertime and the living is easy
We've been enjoying the warm weather - spending lots of time outside. Judah particularly loves going to the merry-go-round,
and the park nearby,
It was a great outing, including the post-soak snack and rest. 
and the park nearby,
and we also recently discovered the joy of the fountain in downtown silver spring, where kids are always having fun getting soaked. Judah was definitely skeptical at first, but ended up loving it.
It was a great outing, including the post-soak snack and rest.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Gardening
I've really been getting into the garden this year, mostly because Judah's finally old enough to keep me company and play independently so I can get things done. Judah, of course, is very interested in what I'm doing back there and constantly talks about "mommy pulling weeds!" So he's begun his own version of gardening, which mostly involves digging in the dirt and splashing in the water - true toddler heaven.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Antics
Not sure anything really needs to be said to go along with these videos. This is just Judah being a goof ball.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
