So, Miss Jane had her 2-year check-up yesterday, and the doc had nothing but wonderful things to say. We tend to be a little hyper-sensitive to her development, especially her speech, and I was concerned about some of the lisping (I know, I am a freak.) and wanted to check. He assured me that it was all normal, that she’ll grow out of it. Not only that, he said that at age 2, they are looking for a vocabulary with 20 words, and expect her to be starting to string two words together. As she sat in my lap, asking, "Mommy? Are we all done now?" we had a good chuckle about her lack of speech problems. And when I explained how she was exremely stubborn, and bossy, as opposed to the dear sweet soul that is her brother, he told me that not only is she completely normal, she is not even on the cusp of being an extreme case. I said, "But she’s a beast." and he said, "Yes. She’s two." So aside from being a peanut (50th percentile for height, 30th for weight) she is doing just fine. =)
I had the idea to bring the video camera into Jane’s room before bed
last night. The truth was that the kids were SO tired, it was not
quite 7:00 yet, and I thought I might stretch out the bedtime thing. I
told each kid that they could pick one book to read to the camera. Jane went for the Panda Bear book by Eric Carle. Notice that she thinks almost every animal is a panther ("pfanfer") and she shouts at Sam about it at the end….
Sam chose the only book he ever wants these days. Hungry Hungry Sharks. It is an awful book, as far as books for preschoolers go, all about dead sharks, and sharks with tiny brains, and mother great white sharks who try to eat their babies. If only I was kidding. But the book starts out with dinosaurs…so how could we lose? And he LOVES the book, and we replace the word "dead" with "hurt" when we read it to him. Sam likes sharks ALMOST as much as he likes dinosaurs, but it wasn’t until I taped this that I realized how many kinds he knew–or at least how well he pays attention to what we read. You’ll see when he starts naming off all the sharks…
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Suzanne - This might be my most favorite ever. Do you know how wonderful it is to sit 1000 miles away and feel like you are right there in the room sharing the moment…of course sharks are eating people and “regular cranes” do not! Thanks so much for this. I think Sam might be kinda bright…how bout you? Bamp
Noelle - Couldn’t agree more with your mom, this post is great! I love little Miss Boss saying “no Sam” towards the end of her reading. And speaking of Sam, it is clear that he is the smartest most awesome 4 yr old ever!
Lori Shaw - Bamp again is right on the mark. Love your children, love these videos. I know this will be hard to believe but Janie’s mouth just needs to catch up to her brain. She (like Sam) has all this information in her little brain and her little mouth has to catch up! Just love them to pieces.