Okay, I am warning you now that this post may come off like a mother bragging about her child and, well, in all honesty, I guess it is in a way. But as you know, I am really documenting all of this for Emma, and I can’t leave this stuff out because of what you all may think. So, take it as you will.
I will start off by saying that Emma’s evil twin seems to have left us for now. And boy did she overstay her welcome. Even Daddy got to meet her this weekend and let’s just say that by about 11am on Saturday, he was calling me a saint. Thanks for all of your support — I needed every inch of it!
All of that aside, our busy bee has been busy learning like crazy. Her vocabulary is amazing — she points and says words that I forget I ever told her. Granted, not all words are clear as a bell, but if you pay attention, you can pretty much figure them out. And if you ask me, some of her words sound better wrong — they’re just so much cuter her way.
She is combining a few words like “hat on,” but still gets confused once in a while with the concepts of off/on, out/in, etc. And I know she understands everything I tell her, which is where the frustration sets in for both of us. I have been more creative on the whole “no” thing, and it seems to be helping. I just need to remind myself to relax and remain patient, and most of the time, it works. Okay — some of the time it works.
And here’s the part where I know I sound like I’m bragging: Emma knows at least 10 letters of the alphabet. She can pick them out and say them when I hold them up. She also hands them to me and says them on her own. Of course, it isn’t perfect, but I’d say 85% of the time, she gets at least 10 right. The whole idea of this sounded crazy to me like a month ago when I had a mom tell me about her 19-month old doing it. But then I figured, why not see what happens? And here we are. In fact, Jeff has really been the champion of this little skill since he’s often in charge of bath time and that’s where one of her letter stashes is located. He honestly deserves the credit for this one.
She also can count to four. Now, I am loosely defining this, as she picks and chooses HOW she does it on a daily basis. It started out with me saying “one”, her saying “two,” me saying, “three”, and her saying, “four”. Lately, I’m the one saying, “one, two,” and she finishes with “three, four.” BUT there have been a few occasions when I hold up my fingers and she does it all by herself. Crazy, eh?
Maybe you all think this is normal, and it probably is. I mean, what do I know? I’m just some first-time mom who thinks the world begins and ends with her daughter. But I am amazed at what these little minds can soak up!
In the end, I know none of this matters. Every child develops differently and at their own pace. For now, I am just thoroughly enjoying Emma’s zest for life and learning.
There’s a lot an 18-month old can teach you, ya know.
