...said my daughter when we were talking about something she used to do and doesn’t anymore, or something she does now that she couldn’t before. I can’t remember exactly what we were talking about, but somehow it came up that a change in behavior occurred and Fiona declared that it happened because she is now “older”.
In my previous post I said she was starting to use prepositions, but what I meant to say was that she is using articles and conjunctions (sorry, I was so tired last week, and this week, and every week). She’s been using prepositions for a long time now, it’s the other stuff that is new. For example, she uses “and” all the time. In a story that has a girl and boy, Fiona will say “children, a girl and a boy,” or when she wanted her teethers today, she asked for “the blue one and the green one and the purple one.” When she wants to know what something is, she’ll say, “What is this?”
Her language is really blossoming every day. How many two year olds know what a water buffalo is? I know I keep saying, and those with small children know what I mean, it’s incredible how much more she can communicate every day and how the complexity of her sentences keeps growing. Soon she’ll sound like a real person. To me, her language development is especially amazing because she was sort of delayed at 18 months. There were other children her age with a lot more language and now I’m pretty sure she has surpassed most of her friends. In fact, a lot of her little friends don’t even really talk yet. Their moms tell me they think their children are delayed because at two years old, they can’t say more than a handful of words and even those are not very intelligible (I don’t think they are delayed, but I understand feeling the pressure that your child isn’t doing something that others can). Fiona is talking in sentences. I keep having to tell myself that my little preemie has more than caught up developmentally, and without the benefit of any sort of therapy.
On some other notes, Fiona has her first black eye. She did it spinning around in her crib. She tripped, fell onto the rail, then fell back and hit her head. She didn’t cry for long, but hasn’t done a whole lot of spinning since then. She also hit her cheek today on the edge of my bed (I think that’s why she said her teeth hurt and asked for the teethers). I am always torn between trying to prevent her from getting hurt and letting her learn the hard way why she shouldn’t do certain things. Her face right now bears witness that this week, it was latter.
It’s not really obvious in this picture, but her eye is really purple:
Fiona made another challah at school:
Challahs are usually braided, but I don’t think any of the kids in Fiona’s class have the fine motor skills necessary to braid dough. Someday.
Speaking of school, Fiona seems to love it. She talks about the teachers and the other kids in her class a lot. I think Ms. Kim must read to her a lot because she tells me that “Ms. Kim reads books with Fiona” although her “Fiona” sounds like “Fwona”.
We bought new PJs last week and Fiona wore these for a few days:
Then it got cooler at night again and now she is wearing long sleeves. It amazes me how much older she looks in a two piece pajama set than in a sleeper. My little girl is growing up, sniff sniff.
Last week was Rosh Ha Shana (Jewish New Years), so we dipped apples in honey:
We used a little plate that Fiona made in class. She didn’t really like the honey and prefers to eat apples whole, rather than sliced, but it was fun anyway and hopefully the start of a new tradition for our family. In Israel, we did this every year to celebrate the beginning of a new year that will hopefully be sweet. And yes, we read People StyleWatch Magazine, even though neither John non I shop for clothes or shoes very often and I am wearing the same work clothes I did five years ago. It’s shiny and glossy, and better than watching junk TV. Fiona has no interest in it.
I captured Fiona’s feet in my shoes:
Despite being only a little older than two years, she can already walk in high heels. I’m glad she still prefers to be barefoot most of the time.
Last, Fiona is lately obsessed with Panda. She carries him around everywhere, usually wrapped in her pink hoodie. She calls him Baby and tries to nurse him:
I think I figured out why today. About a week ago, there was a story in the newspaper about a baby panda born at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Fiona saw the photos and we talked about it. I think the combination of baby panda and baby Kaleo, my friend Nicole’s son with whom Fiona is in love, created the idea in her head that her Panda was a baby that needed carrying and nursing, because that is what she sees Nicole do with Kaleo. That is my theory anyway.
On yet another note, I’m teaching Fiona a little Hebrew and she can say “Shalom” (hello/goodbye), “boker tov” (good morning), “erev tov” (good evening), and “lyla tov”. “Lyla tov” means “Good night” and she likes to say “Lyla tov, good night” when my mom goes home after dinner. I also put up the Hebrew alphabet in her room and. I cut up a poster that was too big and glued the letters to ribbon. I think it looks neat, even if the pictures are really dark.
Fiona knows some of her numbers in Hebrew too. As I’ve said before, I am sure she will not be bilingual because there is just not enough Hebrew around her for her to really speak it, but it will be easier for her to learn it when she gets older, if she so chooses.
Last, here is Fiona standing on a package of paper towels from Costco:
Have a great week!
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