Toddlers are TO fun!! (Yes, they are!)

So Lara has these flash cards she got from Mr. Reece. They rate high up there on her list of favorite STUFF. She will take them out of her drawer, hand them to me and say, "sit, sit," which altogether implies she would like to sit with me on the couch and talk about the flashcards. So I take one out, say what it is, then I hand it to her so she can inspect it. This is one of her favorite "games." I took one card out that had several ice cream sundaes on it. I handed it to Lara, saying, "Ice cream." Lara looked at it and said, "mmmmmmm." This is the sound she makes every time she thinks something is delicious. I am sure that I made that noise and she just remembered it, but it is just amusing to me how she is putting these concepts together.

Now, if I showed her a flashcard of...grapefuit, and said "mmmmm" after showing it to her, perhaps I can brainwash her into thinking grapefruit is delicious? (I have tried giving Lara [canned] grapefruit, and she wouldn't have it. I took a bite of it, and felt like such a terrible mother that I was attempting to put something so ungodly in my child's mouth.)

On that note, who is to decide that bugs are gross? Lara has this Baby Einstein DVD that she just loves. She sings along when it gets to the Old MacDonald part. There is a segment on there of...bugs. I cannot watch it, it is so gross. But I wonder that if I just say, "Oh, what a cute little cockroach!" maybe she will not grow up being afraid of bugs...

I realized tonight that I have not taught Lara any new signs for awhile. She is just picking up words so well, that I honestly do not see the point. Although, part of the reason I wanted to teach her signs was for the sake of knowing parts of another language. Maybe I will just enroll her in a class when she gets older. :-) Lara's developmental pediatrician told me that there is no evidence that sign language is actually beneficial to children. He said there is no harm in doing it, but that there is really not much of a point to it. On the flip side, there is evidence that it can delay speech, but this is the parents' fault, not the fault of using SL. Some parents don't SAY words as often as they should, because they are focusing on the hand sign...and babies learn language best by hearing words over and over. So, the point? The doctor said: use sign languge if you want, but truly focus on talking a lot to your child and reading. Which I already knew and which is why Lara is an avid book reader at the age of 1.

To continue down this Rambling Endlessly Road, I was reminded tonight of my days as a preschool teacher. Before I moved up to teaching PreKindergarten, I taught in the Toddler class for 2 weeks. The children were around 18 months. It was a long time ago, but I remember that I really disliked that age. I remember a teacher in that class saying, "I just love this age. This is when they are learning new concepts and new words. They are discovering everything around them for the first time and it is so fun to watch them." I honestly did not think at that time that she could possibly be serious. But now, having a 16mo old, I realize how VERY true it is. (As long as they are YOUR children, right?) On that note, here is something passed on to me in an email:

Kids are so clever...... When I was a toddler, someone had given me a little 'tea set' as a gift, and it was one of my favorite toys. Daddy was in the living room engrossed in the evening news when I brought Daddy a little cup of 'tea', which was just water. After several cups of tea and lots of praise for such yummy tea, my Mom came home. My Dad made her wait in the living room to watch his little princess bring him a cup of tea, because it was ' just the cutest thing!' My Mom waited, and sure enough, here I come down the hall with a cup of tea for Daddy and she watches him drink it up, then says, 'Did it ever occur to you that the only place that a baby can reach to get water is the toilet???'

Happy 16 Month Birthday, Lara D!!