Phonetic Learning and Little Parrots

"Just use the moat control".
"Oh, that's what that cartilage is" (referring to a printer cartridge)
"Fancy that!"
"His name is Meet Diego."
"Can we go cantelope-watching some time?" (after we talked with her about antelope browsing near Antelope Canyon)
"Geez Louise!" (a common phrase around our house...strong words from AC!)

Music With the Kids

Alana sings all the time (both her parents do, too, so she doesn't find it at all odd). She knows a bunch of the bass lines that AC sings in her chorus, from hearing Mommy practicing at home. She knows "Over the Rainbow" pretty well, and more typical kids' songs, too.

We sing whatever songs we can come up with that incorporate the kids' names, and then the kids pick them up, too. Alana first learned to spell her name because we sang B-I-N-G-O with new lyrics about a little girl named A-L-A-N-A.

At the moment, Alana is pretty frequently singing the Alleluia Chorus, because she hears us singing it with her brother (substitute "Alexander" for "Alleluia" and you'll get the idea). Her original version was pronounced "all-a-you-uh", but she's getting the alleluias now.

Alexander, at 18 months, was humming tunes quite clearly (twinkle, twinkle in particular). He'll also drum on anything we drum on (most kids do, but he's *into* it!) If we leave the basement door open, he makes a beeline downstairs for the drumset. He loves to play with it. Piano and guitar also fascinate him...I'm sure music will be a big part of his life.

My Possibility

I came home the other day, and Alana happily said to me: “Daddy, I did my possibility!”
"Your possibility? I don't understand."
"You know, my possibility! I made my bed!"
"Ohhh. Your responsibility!"

Cuz I'm a Blonde

Alana was walking around singing the refrain from "Cuz I'm a blonde--yeah YEAAHH yeah". Finally we asked her to stop, because it was getting really old. Keith said "You're really more of a brunette, not a blonde." Then we asked if any of the kids in her class were blonde. "Isn't Isabelle blonde?" "No." "I thought she has yellow hair." "She does, but she's not blonde." "Uh, yes she is. Blonde means you have yellow hair." She pondered. "I thought blonde was when your eyes don't work."

Distractable

AC, frustrated: "Alana, you are so distractable".
Alana, calmly: "Yes, just like my Daddy."

Not There Yet

After finally swapping Alana over to underpants exclusively, and subsequently doing a lot of laundry after she consistently woke up wet, we've moved back to training pants for her at night.

Halloween

We went Trick-or-Treating with some friends (Alana was a princess, Alexander was her prince). AC made the costumes: for Alexander, an inherited tux with gold ribbon down the pants, gold fringe on the shoulders, a turned-up collar, a tinfoil-covered BK crown, and a red sash to match his sister worked great. For Alana: a beautiful white flower-girl dress, tights, and shoes; a red satin ribbon around her waist; a sparkly pink cape and wand; and a satiny red conical hat with a chin strap and a streamer of pink material from the cape.

Keith was the carriage for Prince Alexander when he was too slow to keep up with the older kids. Both kids managed to do a good job saying "Thank you" all night. I spent most of the time bringing Alexander up from the rear, by which point the older kids had collected their candy and were ready to head for the next house. Toward the end of our evening, I realized that Alana was engaging in conversation with each candy provider. I thought nothing of it, until I saw one woman leave her husband at the door, go inside, and come back with some alternate selections. I pushed forward to see what was being said.

Apparently, at each house, it had gone something like this:

"Can you tell me what this candy is like? I don't really like chocolate, unless it has peanut butter. Then it's my favorite. Do you have any like that? That's my Daddy's favorite, too. I'm getting some candy for me and some for him. My brother likes everything."

Mortifying...and yet, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups really are my favorites, and Alana did manage to get them more than anything else. We did have a little discussion about how nice all these people were to be giving away candy and that it was our job to take what we get and be thankful for it, but I'm not sure it made much impact.

Meanwhile, at each house, Alexander would wait until offered candy, and then he would drop the piece he'd taken at the prior house into his bucket, take the new piece, say "ankou" when prompted, and take up the new piece.

Test of Wills

My parents tell me a story of when I was a young kid:

I was misbehaving, and my father told me to behave. To express my displeasure, I got down on hands and knees and banged my head on the floor (gently). My father gave me a little swat on the bum, and told me not to do that.

I banged my head a little harder. He swatted a little harder.

The escalation continued until I'd had enough, at which point I WHACKED my head against the floor, stood up and looked at him, then turned and walked away. Guess I showed him!

Well, Alexander shows a similar stubborn streak. He started screaming angrily about something the other day (with a murderous look in his eye), and I'd had enough. We *never* give him what he wants when he's screaming, so you'd think he'd already have learned that it's a waste of effort, but I think part of it is an outlet for his frustration at his inability to explain what he wants...not that that's a good enough reason for a tantrum.

I took him to the corner, and explained that when he was ready to talk I would let him go and we could leave the corner. 40 minutes later, after struggling with me THE ENTIRE TIME, he literally was so exhausted that he passed out in my arms. Several times during the episode, I asked him if he could stop crying. He would say "mm-hmm" and immediately stop crying (like a switch had been thrown). When I then asked him if he was ready to talk so we could leave the corner, he started screaming again. He knows I'm serious when I tell him behavior is unacceptable, and I know he'll learn that this doesn't work. That day cannot come soon enough!

Want to Stand in the Corner?

Standing Alana in the corner as punishment works pretty well. Standing Alex in the corner as punishment doesn't work at all. Maybe he's too young, but it doesn't really phase him.

The reason I say this? The other day when AC called him, I told him to go see his mother. He ignored us both. He *never* comes when we call him. This bothers us both (When you call the kid, you want him to come IMMEDIATELY. It's not a power thing, it's a chain-of-command thing…if the kid's in danger, you want him to respond instantly without questions--best chance to get him OUT of danger quickly).

Finally, I asked if he wanted to go stand in the corner, and he immediately said “Mm-hmm” and walked over to the corner himself! Clearly he wasn’t feeling punished . Equally clearly, he was hearing (and deliberately ignoring) every word that was being said!

Xander

Alexander is now saying thank you, pointing at things he hurts himself on and saying "ow". "Ice" (rice) and "cheese" (when camera pointed at him) were two of his earliest words. He's such an Asian kid! Prefers much more exotic and flavorful dishes than Alana, though I seem to remember that of her at this age, too.

Alexander is perfectly happy to wander off without us as long as it's on his terms. If we call him, he ignores us. If one of us walks away and he wants us there, though, watch out! At night, if I take him to bed and he knows AC is in the house, he'll scream bloody murder unless I threaten to put him in his crib. And even then, he'll ignore me until I physically carry him to the crib, stand him in it, and explain that his options are to sleep in the crib or to quietly go to sleep in the bed. THEN he'll go quietly to the bed and go right to sleep. We will have no slack--we need to be careful to only use threats and removals of privilege on which we intend to follow through if necessary.

Potty Training

Alana wore underpants all night last night, no accidents. She's been doing this with diapers for a while (undies during the day, diapers at night), but we've been too lazy to swap her over.

Underpants All Night

Alana wore underpants all night last night, no accidents. She's been doing this with diapers for a while (undies during the day, diapers at night), but we've been too lazy to swap her over completely.

Alexander is speaking more...

Alexander is now saying thank you, and pointing at things he hurts himself on and saying "ow" (and them mimicking what happened, or alternately pointing at where it hurts and the culprit...)

"ice" (rice) and "tzeese" ("cheese" when a camera is pointed at him) were two of his earliest words. He's such an Asian kid!

He also prefers much more exotic and flavorful dishes than Alana does, though I seem to remember that of her at this age, too.

Kids are Too Smart

After the kids had changed channels one too many times mid-program, we had a *brilliant* brainstorm. We pulled out old remotes that were still around, and gave them to the kids to play with. What geniuses! Now the kids would have their own remotes with which they could fiddle harmlessly all they liked.

To save you some time, note that remote controls which don't control anything are not interesting to kids beyond the first day (if they even last that long). And we're not the only ones to discover this...AC's cousins tried to fake their kid out the same way, with the same results.

Fake phones are OK--kids can imitate one side of a telephone conversation all day long. Alana often plays "office", imitating Daddy's business calls...which I have to say sound pretty inane when I get to listen to them as opposed to participating in them!

Alexander's Independence and Temper

Alexander is perfectly happy to wander off without us as long as it's on his terms. If we call him, he ignores us. If one of us walks away and he wants us there, though, watch out! At night, if I take him to bed and he knows AC is in the house, he'll scream bloody murder unless I threaten to put him in his crib. And even then, he'll ignore me until I physically carry him to the crib, stand him in it, and explain that his options are to sleep in the crib or to quietly go to sleep in the bed. THEN he'll go quietly to the bed and go right to sleep. We will have no slack with him at all. Note to self that we really need to be careful to use threats and removals of privilege ONLY if we're willing to follow through (yes, I know that's *always* true, but it can be extremely tempting to consider a threat that stands a good chance of working, even if you're not willing to follow through).

"Don't Do That!"

Alana was laying in wait outside the bathroom for her cousin Hana, who's about a year younger than she. When Hana came out, Alana shouted "Boo!". Hana looked at her and said, "Alana, don't do that."

Alana said, "Don't do what?"

Hana said, "Don't say 'Boo!' You might scare me!"

Pink

a friend: "Does Alana like pink?"
Keith: "I'll put it this way. When I do laundry, I do whites, darks, and pinks."
(...and sometimes purples!)

...and Repeat

We were listening to a kids' program on the radio one day with Alana. When the song ended, she asked us to play the song again.

We explained that we couldn't. "Why not?" (with an iPod as the main music source in the car, replaying favorite songs a couple of times is standard practice)

We explained that the radio consisted of somebody sitting in a room far away, playing the music they selected, and we just got to listen to whatever they picked. The look she gave us in response made it apparent that this was a thoroughly bizarre and silly concept!

Kids and Buttons

The whole "kids understanding gadgets with buttons" thing is amazing to us. When Alana was 3, she wanted to play with the XBox, so I'd put Oddworld on and walk Stranger (the main character) toward the screen so she could see his face (which she found fascinating), and then give her the controller so she could walk him around. At that point, she didn't really get it. Last night, though, within about 5 mins our 4-year-old daughter and her 3-year-old cousin were playing Wii Sports bowling (and beating us). We stopped into a toystore the other day, and our 18-mo old walked around the store trying to manipulate every toy on the two shelves he could reach to see if it had buttons that produced any novel result. Spending any time at all with little kids (or with me ) makes it clear that a need for novel stimulation is part of the human condition--sensory deprivation can really mess with people if it goes too long. It's no wonder that solitary confinement can be so effective--same deal for timeouts in the corner. I remember seeing details of studies on infant perception that measured how interesting babies found things by how long they looked at them. Very quickly kids get bored and lose interest unless the stimulation changes in some way. See Mom? I did listen to *some* lectures!

Fake Remotes Don't Cut It

After the kids had changed channels mid-program one too many times, we had a brilliant brainstorm. We pulled out old remotes that were still around, and gave them to the kids to play with. Anecdotally, remote controls that don't control anything are not interesting to kids beyond the first day (if they even last that long). And we're not the only ones to discover this...AC's cousins tried to fake their kid out the same way, with the same results. Fake phones are OK--kids can imitate one side of a telephone conversation all day long. Alana often plays "office", imitating Daddy's business calls...which sound pretty inane when I get to listen to them as opposed to participating in them!

Play It Again

We were listening to a kids' program on the radio one day with Alana. When the song ended, she asked us to play the song again. We explained that we couldn't. "Why not?" (with an iPod as the main music source in the car, replaying favorite songs a couple of times is standard practice). We explained that the radio consisted of somebody sitting in a room far away, playing the music they selected, and we just got to listen to whatever they picked. The look she gave us in response made it apparent that this was a thoroughly bizarre concept.

Don't Do That!

Alana was laying in wait outside the bathroom for her cousin Hana, who's about a year younger than she. When Hana came out, Alana shouted "Boo!". Hana looked at her and said, "Alana, don't do that."
Alana said, "Don't do what?"
Hana said, "Don't say 'Boo!' You might scare me!"

Alexander and Music

Alexander at 18 mos, humming twinkle, twinkle tune very clearly. He'll drum on anything we drum on (most kids do, but he's *into* it!) If we leave the basement door open, he makes a beeline downstairs for the drumset. He loves to play with it. Piano and guitar also fascinate him...I'm sure music will be a big part of his life.

"Ba Boo!"

"Ba boo!" is how Alexander says "Peekaboo!" Adorable! Lots of "Uh oh" and "Mm-hmm" (yep) and "Uh-uh" (nope).

He MIGHT give a reasonable hug when it's suggested.

Late Bloomer

Alexander was slower to start speaking than Alana. We weren't too worried about this--developmentally he was doing fine, and she had begun speaking very early (she clearly suffered from EOV--Early Onset Verbosity).

Alexander responded to requests and instructions in such a way that he was clearly understanding us, and he used a variety of hand signals and pointing to make his desires clearly understood (for instance, when I asked him to put things into the paper recycling or into the trash he'd go to the correct receptacle without further prompting).

We mentioned his Delayed Onset Verbosity to some visiting friends and they reassured us that we needn't worry yet... Our friend's brother didn't begin speaking until he was 4. His first word? "I think that you are being thoroughly unjust!" Clearly he had been saving his words for when he needed them!

Alana Logic

"I want Alexander to leave me alone! I want some alone time!"
"Well, why don't you go up to your room?"
"No, I don't want to do that!"
"Why not?"
"Because then I'd be lonely!"

Morning Person

Alana: "I'm a morning person."
Bleary-eyed parents: "How about your parents?"
Alana: "Oh, no. They are night people."

Jello?

After brushing our teeth yesterday morning, Alana asked me if she could put Jello in her hair. I responded intelligently, "Hunh?" She asked again if she could put Jello in her hair but this time she pointed at my hair gel. I said, "Oh, you mean gel!" She said, "OK, can I put jelly in my hair?"

After I got over my snickering fit, I explained to her that it was gel, and not jello or jelly.

A Great Answer

Alana turned 4 last week. Tonight, family friend Uncle Benson asked her, "Why are you so smart?"
She thought a moment, and said, "I'm my Mommy's daughter." Then, after thinking a few more seconds, she said "And I'm also my Daddy's daughter!"
He couldn't get over how politically astute her answer was!

If at first you don't succeed...

I took Alana ice-skating for the first time today. My friend Bonny, experienced at helping new ice skaters, suggested we get a chair for her to push around. This went pretty well, and we made a couple of circuits around the rink. At one point, Alana fell down pretty hard. She was wearing a helmet, and we'd brought knee and elbow pads, so she was unbruised. Even so, she smacked down hard and didn't get up right away.

Bonny asked, "Are you OK?"
"Yeah," Alana said, climbing slowly to her feet. In a cheerful voice she added,
"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."

"Did you *hear* that?" Bonny said, somewhat incredulous.

I was almost too busy pumping my fists in the air to respond. YES! She *has* heard some of what we say :) !

Learning new skills...

Alexander is quickly learning new skills. He's waving and saying "Bye Bye", signing when he's all done, pointing at all the things he wants, and generally making himself much more understood.

He's also finally learning that getting a clean diaper is a good thing! When I lay out the changing pad and pat it to show him I want to change his diaper, he'll come over and lay down for me. Of course, he hasn't quite figured out how to lay down so his bum is facing the right direction yet though so I usually have to turn him around.

Alexander's first steps!

Alexander is officially taking steps! He just took three steps for Keith this morning!!!

Alexander's first tooth!

Yay! Alexander has finally cut his first tooth! It's not like he eats baby food anymore anyways so we thought it was about time. *g*

Imagination

Alana, with her Nana:
A: "Allegia gave me a headache."
Nana: "That can't happen."
A: "It did. A pipe ran from her head to mine, and she gave it to me."
N: (confused) "Who is this?"
A: "Allegia. She's my imaginary friend. Allegia hit me in the chin and I bled. I told her that wasn't nice, so she apologized and now we're friends again."

Good Thinking!

Alana, randomly at lunch: "I'm really glad we picked a house with TV and drums!"

Adults Just Aren't That Smart

So Alana (3 1/2) had a cold, and my sister Kim was feeding her some soup.

Kim: "You need to drink the soup to keep yourself from getting sicker."
Alana: "No, it's the anti-bacterial stuff that keeps you from getting sicker."
K: "Excuse me?"
A: "It's the anti-bacterial stuff that helps you get better."
K: "I thought that's what you said."

Monkey see, Monkey do

All kids imitate their parents. It can be either charming or horribly embarrassing, and sometimes both.

Since she was teeny-weeny, she has always loved her "computer", a Speak'n'Spell we got for free at a yard sale. These days, she'll wander around the house making "business calls", stopping to type furiously on her computer, moving a gel wrist rest around like a mouse, and then picking up where she left off on the call.

With complete seriousness, she'll tell us "Can you try to be quiet, please? I'm on the telephone!" Since she generally does a pretty good job at being quiet when we're on the phone, it's hard not to comply .

Ouch!

When we run our errands on the weekends, I usually drive and Keith will bring his laptop so that he can do work in the car. A couple of weekends ago, Keith didn't bring his laptop. He turned around and told Alana that he didn't have it so they could chat. Alana said, "Oh Daddy, I'm so glad that you didn't bring your computer today so that you're not ignoring me!"

Ouch!

Chill

Alana has an imaginary friend named Allegia (no, we don't know where the name came from either). One day, I was taking the kids out on some errands and Alana told me that Allegia was sitting in the passenger seat next to me. I asked, "Oh, really?" and she answered, "Yeah, because she just wanted to chill out with you."

Alana's first skis

Alana now has her own skis! It was so cute watching her try on the boots and of course, she insisted that she wanted the pink skis. *LOL*

Wiggly Worm

I don't remember Alana being quite as wiggly as Alexander is. It is so hard to change his diaper most days!

I Love Mochi!

Alana absolutely loves mochi, a sweet rice flour confection that you roll in crushed peanuts and sugar. In fact she loves it so much that she came up with a cheer...

Me, me, me, me
I love mochi!

Timmmbbbeeerrrr!

In the past month, Alexander has learned how to crawl and has progressed straight through to cruising. Unfortunately, he hasn't quite mastered standing up by himself yet though. He'll be standing up, holding onto a chair, and then forget to hold on anymore. His bum will wobble a little bit but he won't think to sit down. Suddenly, it will be like someone called "Timmmbbbeeerrrr!" and he'll just tip over with a thud. I'm sure this is not unique to him but Alana was always more cautious and didn't let go until she was much more steady on her feet.

Alexander kisses

Alexander has taken to blowing air kisses (smacking his lips) and waving bye-bye at everybody.

Your own cocoa

Alana was out skiing with Tommy, Jo & Keith last week on a very cold and windy day. After taking a long arduous run down from the top of the mountain, they made their way inside for some french fries and hot cocoa. As they were munching away, Alana asked Keith if they could go up for another run. Keith said he was too tired and it was time to head back home. Alana thought about that for a few moments and then said, "Maybe if we get you your own french fries and hot cocoa you would be not so tired."

Pancake

Alana asked us today what was under our skin. We answered: our muscles, bones, blood vessels, nerves... She said, "Oh. Is that what makes us not a pancake?"