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.