When I was a little girl, I can remember my mom teaching me and my younger brother bigger words in order to expand our vocabularies. I distinctly remember using the word "dilapidated" and "botulism" at a very young age. Very random, indeed.
This is a practice that I have carried over from my mom's parenting skills and have diligently tried to do with my kids. When Goosey Lou was very little and was talking like an adult, I remember teaching her the word famished, parched and moratorium and microdiscectomy (from Auntie Sam's back surgery). She used these words regularly. I firmly believe that using an extensive vocabulary is key to good reading and writing skills.
So with Little Man, it has been slow going. We have had such a struggle with his talking that just to master simple words was a feat. Now that he can carry on a good conversation, I have been trying to use a more challenging vocabulary with him. For example, instead of screaming "Help me! Help me!" when he needs me to come help him with something, I have introduced the word "assistance". So now when he needs help, he says "I need assistance!"
Yesterday morning after I forced him to use his new skills of urinating in the potty (forced because he is pretty grumpy in the morning and doesn't want to use the potty and then will have an accident about 2 minutes after getting dressed), Little Man came to the door of our bedroom and said as clear as a bell:
"Mama! I have halitosis. I need to brush my teeth."
Daddy Mac and I were grinning from ear to ear! Our baby has halitosis!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
"I had a good time today!"
It is quite bizarre to have meaningful conversations with Little Man that are not one sided. For so long, he has had some issues with expressive language. This means that he understands what is being said to him but for some reason, he has not been able to articulate his thoughts where others can understand him.
So today after running some errands, he asked if we could go to the barn today and see the cow. Not having ANY idea of what he is referring to, I told him no that we really needed to get home. He continued to talk about the cow and the pig and the barn and then he slipped in "dinosaur". Then it occurred to me that he wanted to go to our local natural history museum. Museum = Barn (they do have a small farm on the property).
He is feeling so much better from having that ear infection, so I decided that we could have McD's picnic and then a nature walk.
On the way home, Little Man said, "Mama? I had a good time today! Lots of fun! Tank tu!"
That made me smile today.
So today after running some errands, he asked if we could go to the barn today and see the cow. Not having ANY idea of what he is referring to, I told him no that we really needed to get home. He continued to talk about the cow and the pig and the barn and then he slipped in "dinosaur". Then it occurred to me that he wanted to go to our local natural history museum. Museum = Barn (they do have a small farm on the property).
He is feeling so much better from having that ear infection, so I decided that we could have McD's picnic and then a nature walk.
On the way home, Little Man said, "Mama? I had a good time today! Lots of fun! Tank tu!"
That made me smile today.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
A Trip to Urgent Care
I really thought that we were out of the woods today.
Daddy Mac decided that it was time to head to the doctor to see if he had bronchitis or pneumonia. He had neither but did find out that he was on the the tail end of the flu. He was given some yummy cough medicine to help him sleep at night and I was feeling good about all of it.
Little Man returned to preschool, much to EVERYONE'S delight. He was so excited to see "My Jake" at "My school" and play with "my friends" after being away for a week. He had a great day and played great all afternoon.
That is until 4:15 PM.
As I was helping Goosey with her homework, Little Man came in from the living room saying that his ear hurt. He was pulling on his right ear and just walking around. He started whining when I went to help Goosey bathe and I figured that he was needing a nap before leaving for church. He kept laying on his right ear and telling me that it hurt.
Perplexed as to the swiftness of his complaints, my spidey senses kicked in and I began to plan out the night. Daddy Mac went into Little Man's room and laid him down for a rest.
Less than a half-hour later, Little Man was screaming and crying and pulling on his ear. I have NEVER seen him act like that over an ear infection (and he has had about 25 in his short life). He said "Please open my ear so the sunshine can come in?" God bless him!
So I tried to contact the pediatrician's after hour appointment line but was told that it did not open until 6 PM! I just could not bear to hear Little Man in such pain. I put him in the vancar and we drove to urgent care.
I will not tell you how awful it was trying to fill out forms and answer inane questions from a receptionist who lacked a tremendous amount of brain cells. But we were seen by a PA who said that he thought he had an ear infection. I asked him to make SURE that he did not stuff something down the ear and/or damaged something in there. I just could not believe that within a few minutes that a child could go from being super happy and playing to screaming in pain without an acute explanation.
The PA asked the MD to take a look. He said that he had a RAGING ear infection as an after effect of having the flu last week. Little Man even asked for medicine to make his ear feel better. =( We were leaving the clinic about 30 minutes after coming in. Not too bad.
Now he is resting peacefully. He has had his first dose of omnicef and tylenol and will be as good as new tomorrow.
Thank God that it wasn't something serious and that we caught it quickly.
Daddy Mac decided that it was time to head to the doctor to see if he had bronchitis or pneumonia. He had neither but did find out that he was on the the tail end of the flu. He was given some yummy cough medicine to help him sleep at night and I was feeling good about all of it.
Little Man returned to preschool, much to EVERYONE'S delight. He was so excited to see "My Jake" at "My school" and play with "my friends" after being away for a week. He had a great day and played great all afternoon.
That is until 4:15 PM.
As I was helping Goosey with her homework, Little Man came in from the living room saying that his ear hurt. He was pulling on his right ear and just walking around. He started whining when I went to help Goosey bathe and I figured that he was needing a nap before leaving for church. He kept laying on his right ear and telling me that it hurt.
Perplexed as to the swiftness of his complaints, my spidey senses kicked in and I began to plan out the night. Daddy Mac went into Little Man's room and laid him down for a rest.
Less than a half-hour later, Little Man was screaming and crying and pulling on his ear. I have NEVER seen him act like that over an ear infection (and he has had about 25 in his short life). He said "Please open my ear so the sunshine can come in?" God bless him!
So I tried to contact the pediatrician's after hour appointment line but was told that it did not open until 6 PM! I just could not bear to hear Little Man in such pain. I put him in the vancar and we drove to urgent care.
I will not tell you how awful it was trying to fill out forms and answer inane questions from a receptionist who lacked a tremendous amount of brain cells. But we were seen by a PA who said that he thought he had an ear infection. I asked him to make SURE that he did not stuff something down the ear and/or damaged something in there. I just could not believe that within a few minutes that a child could go from being super happy and playing to screaming in pain without an acute explanation.
The PA asked the MD to take a look. He said that he had a RAGING ear infection as an after effect of having the flu last week. Little Man even asked for medicine to make his ear feel better. =( We were leaving the clinic about 30 minutes after coming in. Not too bad.
Now he is resting peacefully. He has had his first dose of omnicef and tylenol and will be as good as new tomorrow.
Thank God that it wasn't something serious and that we caught it quickly.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
"She Didn't Come, Mom!"
This was the first thing I heard this morning.
I have been sleeping on the couch for the past few nights since Daddy Mac is insane and refuses to go to the doctor to get treated for his coughing disease. Not only does he keep me up with his incessant hacking, I am a hypochondriac and KNOW that I am going to get sick from the yuck he is spewing in my presence....but I digress.
Goosey sits down beside me on the couch crying "She didn't come this morning, Mom! The tooth fairy forgot to come." Oh crap. I asked her if she searched around to make sure. That had already been done and there was not a hint of a dollar bill to be found.
To back up: Goosey's second tooth fell out (or rather was pulled out) last night about 10 minutes prior to her going to bed. I reminded her to lay it out so that the big TF would stop by and leave a dollar. That crazy TF for.got.
"Why? WHY would she forget?" I then explained that a few times in my childhood the TF forgot to leave $$ so I would lay it out the next night. As I trompsed upstairs and helped her look around, I commented on how atrociously messy her room was. Goosey calmly explained "The TF flies, mom. She doesn't need to walk around on the floor." And as expected, there was no dollar to be found.
My theory: TF did not get the word that she lost her tooth since it was right before she went to bed.
Daddy Mac's theory: TF doesn't come until everyone is asleep. And since Daddy Mac is himself a crazy lunatic for not going to the doctor for some meds, he was up most of the night hacking his lung out. Therefore, the TF could not come since Daddy was still awake.
We returned to the kitchen where Goosey informed me that she figured that I was the Tooth Fairy. She said it just made sense. I informed her that when kids quit beliving in the TF, Santa, leprachauns, etc. then all the fun went away. She mulled over this a bit.
I asked her to go and get her tooth so that I could put it in a safe place until we could lay it out tonight. I went to the bookshelf to find the baggie that held our "Christmas Miracle tooth" so that I could put them together....and guess what I found......
$$$$$$$A Dollar Bill $$$$$$$$ right on top of the first tooth that she lost.
I figured that the money was probably mine since Goosey doesn't believe in the TF and that maybe I forgot it. Goosey explained that the TF was probably confused and since I WAS in a blissful sleep on the couch that she left the money up there on the bookshelf on the only tooth she could see on her visit to our house.
And she quickly snatched that dollar bill out of my hand and all was right with the world.
I have been sleeping on the couch for the past few nights since Daddy Mac is insane and refuses to go to the doctor to get treated for his coughing disease. Not only does he keep me up with his incessant hacking, I am a hypochondriac and KNOW that I am going to get sick from the yuck he is spewing in my presence....but I digress.
Goosey sits down beside me on the couch crying "She didn't come this morning, Mom! The tooth fairy forgot to come." Oh crap. I asked her if she searched around to make sure. That had already been done and there was not a hint of a dollar bill to be found.
To back up: Goosey's second tooth fell out (or rather was pulled out) last night about 10 minutes prior to her going to bed. I reminded her to lay it out so that the big TF would stop by and leave a dollar. That crazy TF for.got.
"Why? WHY would she forget?" I then explained that a few times in my childhood the TF forgot to leave $$ so I would lay it out the next night. As I trompsed upstairs and helped her look around, I commented on how atrociously messy her room was. Goosey calmly explained "The TF flies, mom. She doesn't need to walk around on the floor." And as expected, there was no dollar to be found.
My theory: TF did not get the word that she lost her tooth since it was right before she went to bed.
Daddy Mac's theory: TF doesn't come until everyone is asleep. And since Daddy Mac is himself a crazy lunatic for not going to the doctor for some meds, he was up most of the night hacking his lung out. Therefore, the TF could not come since Daddy was still awake.
We returned to the kitchen where Goosey informed me that she figured that I was the Tooth Fairy. She said it just made sense. I informed her that when kids quit beliving in the TF, Santa, leprachauns, etc. then all the fun went away. She mulled over this a bit.
I asked her to go and get her tooth so that I could put it in a safe place until we could lay it out tonight. I went to the bookshelf to find the baggie that held our "Christmas Miracle tooth" so that I could put them together....and guess what I found......
$$$$$$$A Dollar Bill $$$$$$$$ right on top of the first tooth that she lost.
I figured that the money was probably mine since Goosey doesn't believe in the TF and that maybe I forgot it. Goosey explained that the TF was probably confused and since I WAS in a blissful sleep on the couch that she left the money up there on the bookshelf on the only tooth she could see on her visit to our house.
And she quickly snatched that dollar bill out of my hand and all was right with the world.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Is it here yet?
Spring, that is. Today was such a pretty day! It was about 68 degrees and very sunny. It also marked the release day of Little Man from his flu seclusion. He has not been around any people other than us for a week now. He was about to go crazy this morning after dropping Goosey off at school, so I promised a picnic at the park.
We made a quick lunch and headed off to the nearest park. It was great to get out and have some play time. He has definitely gotten braver in his castle adventures (play area is a castle) and had a great time!
I do feel guilty though. When I picked up Goosey from school, she immediately wanted to know where I had taken her brother to play outside. I was surprised that she had become a psychic so quickly and at such a young age. She pointed out that she saw the yo-yo in the vancar. Why would a yo-yo be a hint? Because it is contraband in the house. It can only be played with outdoors and since it was in the vancar and not at the house, Goosey realized we had to have gone somewhere outside away from out home. Smart kid.
So I felt a bit guilty for taking Little Man for a picnic lunch and play at the park and she could not go. And then she wanted to go there also. Phooey. And of course we can't because there is homework and dinner and baths and routine things to get done before bed time.
Such a struggle it is when you have multiple children. You feel guilty that the oldest doesn't have all of your attention; guilty that the youngest doesn't get the undivided attention that the older one had at that age; guilty that you are so tired sometimes that you just let them watch Dora one more time that you should.
But it is so sweet to see the older one playing NICELY with the younger one or hearing the younger one say "I missed you."
Now if they can make it to adulthood without killing each other, I can say that I have done a decent job.
We made a quick lunch and headed off to the nearest park. It was great to get out and have some play time. He has definitely gotten braver in his castle adventures (play area is a castle) and had a great time!
I do feel guilty though. When I picked up Goosey from school, she immediately wanted to know where I had taken her brother to play outside. I was surprised that she had become a psychic so quickly and at such a young age. She pointed out that she saw the yo-yo in the vancar. Why would a yo-yo be a hint? Because it is contraband in the house. It can only be played with outdoors and since it was in the vancar and not at the house, Goosey realized we had to have gone somewhere outside away from out home. Smart kid.
So I felt a bit guilty for taking Little Man for a picnic lunch and play at the park and she could not go. And then she wanted to go there also. Phooey. And of course we can't because there is homework and dinner and baths and routine things to get done before bed time.
Such a struggle it is when you have multiple children. You feel guilty that the oldest doesn't have all of your attention; guilty that the youngest doesn't get the undivided attention that the older one had at that age; guilty that you are so tired sometimes that you just let them watch Dora one more time that you should.
But it is so sweet to see the older one playing NICELY with the younger one or hearing the younger one say "I missed you."
Now if they can make it to adulthood without killing each other, I can say that I have done a decent job.
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