some changes in the langauge department

The past few weeks have brought another level from Esme. She is making analogies, and comparing things to each other in other ways. She is using more emotion words, and also words like 'forgot'. She is spelling some words, although she often says she 'can't at first. She spouts long narratives and uses phrases like 'now you listen to me mr.frog, are you hearing me, you have to keep yourself clean! How are we ever going to get it now/Now we will never have *x*' That has to be from school - or from a movie? When she knows we are listening she goes off with long theatrics with her toys - they are worried, and happy, and play games, and are mamas and daddies and babies and grandmas to each other. She also told me her two boats in the tub were a pirate ship and a lifeboat, or a speed boat, she wasn't sure on the other one. I have never told her that, but it was interesting to hear it. She has been calling herself a giant to her toys, and having them 'talk about the giant girl' to each other about what they are going to do. She also told me in the bathtub, after hearing it would be ten minutes until supper, that she wanted a nine minutes, not a ten minutes, and when there was nine minutes she would pull the plug. I think she mistakenly thought waiting nine minutes was BETTER in this case than ten, because I am usually asking her to wait ten or fifteen minutes before she can get me to do something (and having her watch the clock for it or telling her how many minutes actually went by). She told me I had not splashed water on her - and I told her it was right there on her head. She said 'No it's not, it's .. it's on my... *long pause as she feels the water obviously on her head and nose* it's on my bed!' And then she burst out laughing. I told her I could put some in her bed, and it would be wet. She said No, my bed is not wet, it is DRY. HAHAHA. I told her I could put her in the bed and then it would be wet, because she was wet in the tub... and she said that was all very funny... very very funny. The rhyme of head/bed was a new one for her ;)

We have decided to keep her on another year at the special school - they said they would let her, but several teachers suggested she might be far enough along now to go to Headstart without problems. Headstart is five days a week, the language school is one day a week. But, I don't think she needs the more days in a less responsive, more crowded atmosphere. Headstart focuses on things she already has a good grip on - letters, numbers, shapes, colors, simple reading and writing. She has been doing those for about two years. The special school focuses on specific developmental problems and tries to work on specific goals. I think the leaps and bounds we have seen since February are because she is hearing proper language attuned to her in a small environment from teachers well trained to pick out problems and try to correct them.

A lot of the children in the school have severe problems, others are just very noticeable physical, social or language problems. Esme's language 'issue' is not easily noticeable now. It has improved a lot from where it was. Even though it was not easily noticeable by strangers back then, it was if they listened for more than a minute, and it was something I wanted, needed help with, to feel I was giving her the best I could. I had her tested as more of a 'catch this now while we can fix it' precaution, and because we were having such a hard time communicating on the otherwise 'advanced' topics she was trying to discuss, like growing, and sickness, and emotions she could not express or understand. She did qualify for services from the wide gap in abilities shown by the tests, far above age on understanding but lacking in many ways in ability to express herself in words.

I think her excellent visual memory and logic/deduction gifts do help her compensate for an area of abstract language that just does not come naturally to her otherwise. The idea of he/she, more/less, emotions, past tense and future and describing things she has seen before but are not here etc...she always found ways to make herself understood to us by repeating things, referring to combinations of objects or making hand signs - but it was still very hard to wrap your head around 'Esme-ese' and translate it back to English. And, unless she gets that area of language naturally sorted - she will have more trouble learning in a regular school when she is older. It does seem to be sorting much better lately, she uses complete sentences and I understand much more of it without having to look at her or try to remember what she is referring to it by the sum of its parts. With a little more attention on that continuing in her school program and just generally following all of her other interests - she will be be set for Kindergarten testing in March or April even without a year of specifically focusing on numbers and letters. In fact, she will probably just blow them away in that regard anyway, even moreso with better communication skills.

language spurts

More language spurts just coming out of the blue. She is making another turn round the bend in thinking skills - as well. I've been able to give her compromises and 'firm decisions' about things and she has understood what I've meant more than ever. Sometimes she just stares at me for a moment like she couldn't have understood - but if I stand firm she lets on that she DID understand and just didn't want to comply etc.. and then she either has a meltdown or more often now she will do what was asked and then meltdown unless I make it clear it was a great job and that she will keep privileges/promised things if she does as asked and lose them if she does NOT do as asked etc.

IE: we will read this book if you put those toys away and clean out your bed etc... if you do not, mumum will clean out your bed, drop you in it, and then put away the other toys. etc.. and this book will GO AWAY until tomorrow night etc. That last part has been the kicker - and it never used to work at all, before. She could have cared less if some toy or book went away. Now - she cares about some things very much!

When Daddy was making food he was asking me questions and she was answering them and butting in between sentences etc... She has asked to 'Esme show - come with to (fridge)etc...' me things and to 'put it in your hand mumum - take mumum'' and lots of other things that are a bit more than I've been used to! She said her hands were sticky yesterday from milk in her cereal bowl 'hands sticky with milk' and asked to wash her hands before she went upstairs to play with toys. *spock eyebrow* - a few months ago she wouldn't have cared about that.

I told her last night that the only food she was going to get was on the plate in the fridge - and that was IT for the night. Daddy had tried to get her to eat it all day and she was asking for candy - so he told her she would not get any more food except that. I took it out, heated it up and began to eat it - she came and had a big 'no no no' discussion with me about that being Esme food and she was going to eat it and Mumum better not eat that etc etc... bad fork - put away fork, Esme eat, this Esme food etc etc... Tonight, when she said she was all done I reminded her about that and she wanted her uneaten food put in the fridge.

I told her she would need to brush her teeth more so her mouth wouldn't stink and she told me no I was wrong her butt stinks her mouth does not stink - and then she got up on the diaper change station and asked to have a diaper change because Mumum must have been meaning that etc...

red bravest dragon jacket

Esme and Bunny and I by the stairs

This is the gray and red jacket I made the other day. I even wore it to work as a shirt, although I intend to mostly wear it at home. The red fabric is named 'The Bravest Dragon' and was from Mockingbird Threads fabric shop in Huntingdon, TN.




Today I'm working on Esme's Clifford the Big Red dog shirt for her birthday - but only when she isn't looking. When she is looking I'm working on a 'mumum dress' - trying to reproduce some of the pieces to a dress pattern that has some missing.

We went to the library book sale today and a garage sale. I found a very cool flowered shirt at the garage sale and Esme got to play with a few children there. She had a 'grand ol' time' with the kids although she once again called them 'baby' when they were older than her! They drove around in a ride-on toy and Esme acted like she had known them for years, but then was right up and ready when we said 'library.' She played more Reader Rabbit Toddler at the library and did the shape puzzles on there. She is really good at them - but sometimes the mouse falls off the table and she gets mad about that. Mark found some really cool 'Van Nostrand Scientific Encyclopedia's and a few novels. I found several classic Disney books for Esme and a few foreign language books for myself. Then we were home to visit Grandma and Grandpa and have jell-o and fishsticks.

I'm enjoying the BBC French lessons :) It makes me want to listen to my 'Great Big Sea' CD again and find the French they sing - and the little French mystery I picked up today is about 40% understandable. Mark cracked: 'So, that's why it's a mystery, eh? You only understand half the words?' HA. HA. HA.

note: I think I've gained or lost some weight... as that last picture looks odd to me - but it is a good shot of the jacket so I'll keep it :)

LATER: Esme was being mean to the Suki kitty so Daddy put her in her room... and she fell asleep quite quickly. The mumum dress needs a LOT of alterations to work for me... glad I'm working in muslin. Ran out of bobbin thread and need to go back down there, fill another bobbin, and finish Esme's Clifford shirt while she is asleep. I got a third of it done earlier when she was watching Tom and Jerry cartoons (she calls it cat and mouse on TEE). Might work more on the dress tomorrow...

Other notes Esme has made another subtle but noticeable change in her speech... Now she says things like this: 'I talk to the Daddy NOW. I said I talk to the Daddy. I SAID - I talk to the Daddy. Come in, Mumum, come talk to the Daddy. Come in Daddy, come in sit down. Wait me, I come in! (even when you are just across the room from her) Be Quiet Daddy. Stop it. No Sing Mumum, quit it. Stop it HOT, ow my eye (stop shining in my eye sun(HOT), it hurts my eye). No draw the pretty mumum, I sit the pretty (don't draw on the fabric mom I'm sitting on it)' etc.

Reading at bedtime and missing the big cow

This is a hard one for me. I know it is something I should be doing, especially with as much interest Esme shows in the concept. She knows a few little sight words from Electric Company and her Starfall. But - she isn't a big fan of physical books, sometimes. I'm trying it again, starting with small books and small words and her Richard Scarry book and Dr.Seuss... she gets bored easily and there are many things (not her Richard Scarry book) she gets frustrated with quickly and doesn't want to cooperate for more than a few pages. And sometimes, true to her age, she is downright violent with physical books. And during the day - she is on the go... so hard to slow down for anything that takes patience. Again, that is true to her age. So to read during the day it has to be either together with Daddy as an 'event' (all of us on the bed, short book YAY at the end etc.) or at night when I want to settle her down and we get into her bed. It's also HARD for me to get into her bed *ha* and she wants me to sleep there when we are done reading. I don't of course - I told her I would fall out and go OW on the floor, so sorry I am going to go sleep in my big bed. She still wants me to go to sleep right after we get done reading. Now THAT is hard. *sigh* and it keeps her on her 16 hour schedule that some days just tires us plumb out!


last page from the book I made her at work last night

We read about Frances and her airplane last night. Esme likes airplanes a LOT. I'm thinking of making her a new book about another rabbit in an airplane, with smaller words. We read the otheer new book I made her 'Good dog Good cat', She liked that so much I had to pry it out of her hands after she was asleep. I'm taking it back to work with me again today to add a page to it and 'edit'. Mark says it is bad when you both write your child's early books and edit yourself later on them *ha* Esme didn't think the cat was good because she didn't see it get off the bed. That should have been a 'bad cat'. Then there must be another page where the cat is being obviously good, with the dog, and they can be good dog and good cat.

Mark also has me checking into printing costs on some of these little books... of course, a more polished version. Not that we can print them right now, but it might be a good idea to know if/when we can do it. Somebody on Esme's forum suggested I sell those.. as works of art in original, on Etsy. It's a thought... since they don't take much to make.

We took Esme for a rare french fry yesterday when Mark picked me up from work. Sometimes she gets a small shake, and she asked for one. The shake machine was down for cleaning - I told her it was broken and they couldn't make one. The lady said 'no it's not broken, we just have to wait.' YIKES.. Esme knows that one - don't say that! She'll want us to wait, without knowing how long it takes etc. I told the lady to just say it was all done for the night and she would have to have something else.. she winked and got it. We got her a very small 'cold' (slushie) and her french fries. The lady gave her a hat. She acted very shy after that.

When we stopped at a store before that there is usually a very large cow statue there. Esme asked 'Where cow? Cow where are you?' It has been gone for months, but she remembers it. I told her the cow went home, and we would have to miss the cow until maybe it decided to come back, but maybe it wouldn't come back. She said in the backseat 'We miss you cow. Sorry you gone cow. Come back cow!' etc etc over and over again.

She is REALLY getting more and more conversational and understanding. This was our 'mime' last year about this time. I'm really enjoying it and wide-eyed about it at the same time.

bits to remember and pinwheel pics

Some good examples of how different she is in attitude and language since a few months ago....

I was woken this morning by a little face standing in front of me saying her drink cup was 'not found' where is it? Find drink cup mumum, where? I told her if she couldn't find her drink cup on the floor - she would have to look under all her blankets. She did. She finally found it under the corner of her bed. It was an interesting discussion, full of 'NOT HERE' and 'not found - find mumum!' etc. I was impressed she understood to pull out all her blankets that it could be tangled in there.

She is trying to pull the pinwheel out of the hole in the side of the desk Daddy put it in. She was trying to pull DOWN hard on it and it was being stuck firm because of it. I told her to stop and pull OUT and she would get it. She did. And it came out. She was so proud of herself 'I did it! OUT. pretty - *blow and make it spin* It spin I blow!' And now she is practicing putting it back on the desk and taking it back off.

We had just come up with her cereal from the basement kitchen - and she decided to tank her cereal on the desk and go play with buttons. I put the buttons up high and said she would lose the cereal AND her buttons unless she ate the cereal. I got a teenager 'DO I HAVE TO?' expression and attempt to argue while hanging over the chair on her belly and crying. But, after she realized I was serious and the buttons were not down anymore - she sat down and ate all of it. After a bit she got back down from her chair and went over to the shelf and asked for the buttons. I asked her if she was all done - and she said YES mumum .. it all done. I checked it and it was true, so she got to play with the buttons again.

I'm being asked to sort through the buttons with a teaset plate and find blue ones, put them on the plate and then toss them back in. Try MUMUM, buttons BLUE (give plate) TRY!'

On her Clifford show 'Kibble Crook' the doggie arrives at the backyard and the other dogs have not shown up yet. Esme: 'They not here doggie - not here!' And there is a bowl of food. Esme: 'No eat Doggie - no EAT DOG FOOD!' The dog later gets in trouble because he ate all the food but he doesn't want to tell anyone that he did it etc... and she talks to the characters like that all throughout the show!

Verbage

Even more words than usual coming from our little Esme - and she is trying to repeat things that make us go 'huh?' The other day she was saying 'Danny Kaye' when he was on an episode of the Muppet show, and she was also singing 'Happy Birthday to you' to kitties on Caturday that had birthday cakes. Today she is saying 'bad alien' to a Simpsons cartoon episode where Mr.Burns looks like an alien and scares Homer. She was also trying to say 'iguana' to her Starfall letter 'I' and that was hilarious as she has to stretch her entire face from side to side and stick her tongue out to make the 'gw' noise. I'm just not sure what else she is going to say next and neither is she!

I hear Grandma got a couple of earfuls today too, very little of it understandable.

I love it :)

third day of vacation

This morning we went to the thrift store and library book sale again. I scored four size 3-5 patterns at the thrift store for 25 cents each. It'll be a little while before she grows into them (the 2 pattern is just slightly too big even!) but they'll come in handy.

Esme talked to a little boy at the library and played puzzles with him. It was cool to watch her use her new vocabulary with him - almost a real conversation. She also told a man at the library computers that his hat was pretty - which surprised him ;) it was pretty, it was a NASA hat with blue and red flames across the sides of it.

Then we went to the 'snap-snap' (grocery store) and Esme got stickers with stars on them. She was very happy about that - and is trying to say so many new words it's amazing to me! I say 'snap-snap' for grocery store because she recognizes it as what I say when I put her in the cart with the belt buckle. Today she tried to say 'snap snap' too. She tries to say library too, but it comes out 'brary' or some version of. There were lots of things I told her we were buying she tried to repeat. In the checkout line at the store Esme was threatening to eat the magazines with pictures of food on them. I knew we had to have lunch as soon as we got home!

At home we had yogurt (new brand - she doesn't like it as much but it's ok), ravioli (with a real fork) and lemon cookies. She hardly got any on her shirt. Esme found her own crayon box and started drawing on her easel which I found cool because usually she bangs on stuff and asks 'yea' instead of doing it for herself.

Now we are watching Galaxy Quest and she is bopping around the room. I am going through my fabric stash and separating out the 'tiny bits' from the 'probably can do something with this' pieces. Mark is on his way to a nap - he washed the dogs yesterday and between that and a lethal meatloaf overdose he is ready to take it easy now today with the library sale books he bought. Grandma gave us two pieces of fabric while we were up there yesterday - after the towels get done in the laundry I'll wash one of them and see what goes well with it to make something for Esme.

Cool Pool

We bought a kiddie pool today. It's eight feet across. It was too cold to even swim in today! We'll have to wait for tomorrow and hope it doesn't rain. Esme thought it was great - but I drug her out after a bit because our deep well water is so cold I was afraid she was going to get sick. She was so mad at me! I let her 'swim swim' in the bathtub for a little while afterwards (in lukewarm water).

So many new words lately. She tried to say motorcycle and Lespedeza and succeeded in saying quite a few other words she hasn't before, 'rock rock', 'swim swim', 'ball', balloon, slide, play, green, belly, 'what are you doing?' and a few others. Our little girl is breaking out of her comfortable vocabulary and trying to say a lot of new things! You should have seen her trying to talk to a lady about getting fried chicken and to the lady at the fabric counter about her coco milk and pretty shoes and the fabric etc etc...

No 'toucan' yet but she has pointed at her shirt several times and then wanted me to say the word.