Gina!

N is learning a lot of words. We’re also working on potty training. He is learning all about his body. He is concentrating very hard on getting his words right. And figuring it all out. This morning when he was sitting on the potty we had this conversation:

N (pointing to his penis): Gina!
Me: It’s a penis.
N: Mommy gina
Me: Right, mommy has a vagina
A: And me too!
N: Penis. Daddy gina
Me: No, N and Daddy have a penis Mommy and A have a vagina.
N: Penis.

When I changed his diaper he pointed to my breasts and said: “Mommy, gina!”. The boy got this sex differences down.

New developments

N’s new things:

- peeing and pooping in th potty when we put him on it
- “washing dishes”
- More words: boo (book), bana (banana)
- Signs: Hi, bye, draw

He’s a cute cuddly thing!

Empathy

We have all been sick for the past week. It truely sucks. I was feeling really crummy and was sitting at the table coughing. A said: “Mommy, I will help you. When I get bigger. I will help you feel better. OK? Not right now, because I am not big enough. Maybe when I’m bigger. A teenager? OK?”

And now when we put her to sleep she says: “Mommy, I love you. And Daddy. And Noam too. And I miss you and Daddy. I love you, good night, I’ll see you in the morning”.

My heart melts.

Words

These are N’s words:

- Mayim (water)
- Um (food/eat)
- Duck
- Boon (balloon)
- Ball
- Hot

Signs:
- All done
- More

Animals:
- Bear (ho ho ho ho)
- Elephant (brmffffffffffffff)
- Monkey (ooh-ah-ah)
- Dog (how how)

Sharing

I was talking to a mom at the Tot-Lot who was telling me that she heard a psychologist talking on NPR about the fact that children don’t understand the concept of sharing until they are at least 7 years old. My experience so far is that this is an emerging concept. At 3, A seems to think that it means: “what’s yours can be mine”. At the zoo she told her friend M: “We’re big girls now, we need to learn to share” (A wanted M to let her press some buttons in the exhibit). Today, when I put on some jewelry she said: “Mommy, when I get older you’ll let me wear the necklace. You need to share, OK mommy?”

Talking

I’m pretty sure that N is saying words. He says “Aba” when he sees L in the morning. He also says “ba-ba” for a sheep and can point to one on a page full of other images.

He also says “ba” about almost anything and A is quick to tell him: “It’s not Daddy, it’s Mommy!”

I think he’s also signing – today he made the sign for “all done” twice. Maybe we should teach him the sign for “sleep”.

A-ba!

N started saying “A-ba”. Sometimes he says it to L, but mostly to anyone and anything.

On the way home from flying her purple kite, N kept saying “A-ba, A-ba, A-ba”. A said “Aba is not here, there’s only mommy”.

Wahad, tnein, talate!

We are trying to get some structure into the chaos of our days. No more playing in the living room after breakfast – it’s time to get dressed. Imposing the new rules required introducing the “getting dressed game” in which I sing “one, two, three! one, two, three! when I say three, you’ll take your pants off!” A promptly follows the instructions and gets her pajamas off and her clothes on. This worked great for a couple of days. On the third day, there was some resistance so I decided to try some novelty counting. I said: “wahad, wahad, wahad, tnein, talate!” The crying stopped and cooperation started. Now it’s our new song. And A sings it too. Only when she sings, it sounds like this: “wahad, tnein, TA-WA-TE!”

Yada yada

N started “talking” today. He said: “Aydi daidi yada” and variations on this theme all day long. He was wild with the desire to move and the pain of that top tooth just waiting to pop out.

Yesterday he had a HUGE slice of watermelon and the 4th of July BBQ. Not a good idea – it makes him constipated.

The V word

I taught A the proper words for body parts a couple of months ago when she and N started taking baths together. The first time we put N in the bath we had the following conversation:
A: (pointing to N’s penis) “What’s this?”
Me: N’s penis.
A: “What’s this?”
Me:”Penis”
A: “I want to touch it.”

The following day we had a similar conversation:
A: “I want to touch N’s penis”
Me: “Ummm”
A: “I touched N’s penis!” (she did…)
Me: “Yes you did”
A: “What does A have?” (touching herself)
Me: (Think! Think!) “A vagina”
Silence from A.

We’ve had the “what’s this” conversations a few more times. Today during dinner A walks into the kitchen with a diaper.
A: “I want it.”
Me: “What do you want to do with it?”
A: “Put it on my vagina.”

Okay.