Adventures in Toddlerhood

Sweet Memories: First Words

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:02:38 -0700

Aidan and Alanna's first use of symbolic language were proto-words, not true words...animal sounds that they used as labels when they saw those animals. So they loved ducks and fish, but the fish sound we made (a little popping sound with your lips) was something they "said" whenever they saw fish for quite a while. Jason wouldn't let me count it as their first word. For the two of them, there were so many things coming out of their mouths that seemed like word attempts a few times, but then not again for a little bit, that I don't really know what word was their official "first," though I kept a list of their first 150 words in their journal.

Emory, who makes no bones about anything, was much clearer when it came to her first word. It was early December of 2006...she wasn't quite 10 months old. I thought I'd heard her say "no" earlier in the day, but I figured I was just hearing things. Then I was getting ready to go somewhere while Jason fed her, and he came upstairs to tell me Emory just said "no." (I hadn't mentioned anything about my experience earlier that day.) She didn't want whatever he was trying to give her, and she emphatically said "no" a couple of times as she turned her head away. I went downstairs to see if we could elicit it again, and sure enough...a vehement "no" when I offered her some baby food. I couldn't believe it, and yet it is so "Emory" to have "no" be her first word. She knows exactly what she wants (and doesn't want,) and she has never been shy about letting us know what that is.

As I recall, this was the beginning of her complete and sudden strike on baby food. Just after I'd bought a big package of baby food from BJ's, she decided she wouldn't have anything to do with it.

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Sweet Memories: Giggling in the Dark

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:45:11 -0700

Around the age of 4 months, Aidan and Alanna began sleeping in their own cribs that fit end-to-end in the small room in our apartment that served as their nursery and a guest room. Because they had bumpers on the cribs, they couldn't see each other. Weeks later, as we were learning to let them fall asleep on their own, we had to allow some crying to occur, and fortunately, it wasn't too painful a process. We got used to listening to the crying on the monitor while we cleaned up the kitchen and settled down for the night. But one night, we stopped amid the cleanup...they weren't screaming. They were making noise, but it wasn't crying. So we turned up the volume on the monitor only to hear two little babies giggling in their room. We couldn't believe it, and we couldn't begin to figure out what was making them laugh.

The next night, I placed our video camera in their room, so we could see just what was going on in there! I was dying to know! So before we left the room, I turned it on. We went downstairs to finish cleaning up dinner, and the giggling resumed. I couldn't wait to see just what was so funny! After they fell asleep, I tiptoed into the room to retrieve the camcorder. I played it back to find Alanna pushing up on her arms high enough that Aidan could see her over the bumper. It was cracking him up! Their first game of peekaboo!! She kept lowering down and popping back up, and they just giggled away! We couldn't believe it; it was so cute!

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Sweet Memories: Finding Each Other

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 17:31:18 -0700

I hope never to forget the moment when Alanna and Aidan first locked gazes. Without getting out my journal, I'd say it was somewhere around 4 months of age. They were lying down next to one another, and Alanna would look at Aidan and vice versa, but never at the same time. But at one moment, they finally looked at each other at the same time, and they just stared at each other. It was so sweet, and if only I could know what they were thinking in that moment! As an outsider, it seemed like there was a realization taking place, a sort of "Hey, I know you. You're lookin' at me. I'm lookin' at you. Wow!" But who knows! It was definitely a prolonged gaze, and I was totally fascinated watching this take place.

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...and more flashbacks

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:03:54 -0800

The last several days I've been cleaning out clothing and other items to take to a consignment sale in a few weeks. It's a little sad to permanently rid our home of some of these things. Seeing the outfits...especially the preemie ones Aidan and Alanna wore...so tiny!... was a harsh reminder of how quickly time has passed. I came across the mobile we had on their crib, and I didn't think much of it as I set it aside with the other items that matched their crib set. A short while later, I wound it up and listened to it. I was not at all expecting the rush of emotions and memories that hearing the music brought forth. The crib set was the John Lennon "Imagine" set by Carter's, and the mobile played "Imagine" in that tinkling kind of music from a music box. Tears filled my eyes.

It immediately brought to mind the moments I spent in the nursery before they were even born. I remember one afternoon very clearly. Jason and I stood together in the room after the crib was put together, the sheets in place, and we just imagined what our future held. In mere weeks, God-willing, we would have two babies to care for and love, the babies we'd been praying and longing for over the previous two years. After that, I spent time in there organizing multitudes of onesies, diapers, wipes, clothing, toiletries and burp cloths while we awaited their arrival.

Then I flashed to the time when we first put Aidan and Alanna in the crib together. Their first six weeks were spent in a pack n' play because we always had guests in their room. Then, we were able to put them in their crib, which they shared until they were about 4 months old. They looked so tiny sleeping side-by-side, like little angels.

week 8 006

I remember spending a lot of time lulling babies to sleep, praying that they would stay asleep as I transferred them from my arms to the crib and tiptoed ever-so-quietly from the room. I remember Jason and I doing middle-of-the-night feedings together, one of us in the rocking chair, one on the bed, allowing only enough light to see while we changed a diaper. I'm quite sure I fell asleep mid-feeding here and there. Then we'd do "the baby dance" together, lulling them back to sleep, or at least a state of deep drowsiness.

Sleepy time 2

I can't believe those babies are three years old, dressing themselves, getting ready to start preschool, entertaining themselves, and acting out dramatic schemes they imagine all on their own! Sadly, I don't think I took a picture of their nursery, but we are certainly not lacking in pictures of them!

week 5 006

May 2005 219

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Baby/Toddler Words I don't want to forget:

nobody@vox.com(mmk) — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 05:11:46 -0800

Emory:     Mommy! Wide World!
                Mommy! Turn light on, I play!
                Wanna = Alanna
                Ay-nin = Aidan
                Eh-er-ee - Emory - (as of 1/17, she is saying "Emory!")
                Get bigger, I have vi-nim (vitamin)

Aidan and Alanna:
                doh-dohs = grapes
                pah-pahz = pizza

Aidan:
                A - nah-na - Alanna
                fih-fuh-fee - Christmas Tree
                Emory take nap, Blue's Clues on

Alanna:    why-we-bear books - library books (with a glided /r/ in "bear")
                to Jason on his way to work: "I like the way God built you with your eyes, your ears, your nose, and your                                                             scratchy mouth."
                No way, buh-skettio (spaghettio)

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