How my toddler mistook me for a cow (a “lesson” in sign language)

I’d ordered a new toy the other day from Zulily. * My hubby was suckered into graciously made a wooden kitchen for our boys for Christmas.  I went a little crazy getting wooden food to go along with the kitchen at Christmas, but there was a few “food groups” that weren’t well represented.  But then I saw this set: Early Learning Centre-Wood Dairy Foods Set.

The set warned it was for “3+” (small parts- the removable milk bottle lids & the eggs are both ~1 – 1 1/2 inch diameter), so I “hid” it by putting it up in the “freezer”:

Early Learning Centre-Wood Dairy Foods SetBut Bl spotted it and LOVED it.

He loved taking the lid on & off the yogurt (though it is British, so yogurt is spelled “yoghurt”) and holding the little spoon.

He loved drinking with the “egg cup”.  I tried to explain to him what an egg cup was for…

He loved pulling apart the eggs.  Okay, he yanked at them until he got frustrated (hey, it’s brand new velcro & slippery eggs!) then passed it to mommy to pull apart, then stuck them back together, & we did it again. And again…

(There was also a little “egg carton” with the set, but ours had some weird smudges on them.  I’ll  let you know how their customer service response is…)

He enjoyed pulling apart the cheese. And saying “cheeesssee”.

He really, REALLY loved the milk bottles and their cardboard carrier.  He loved pulling them out of the carrier & putting them back in.  He loved pulling the lids off & putting them back on.  He hauled them around in the carrier, would stop, pull them out, start to walk off, them go back & put them back in.

At some point I told him it was “milk”.  This is when things got slightly insulting.

Now, we have done a bit of sign language with both boys.  You know, the important words like “more”, “food”, “helicopter”….  (I’ll try to update this later with links to our favorite signing resources).  The earliest sign Bl learned was “milk”, which we really used for “nurse”.  Bl is at the age where he is starting to communicate with “words”, and gets VERY excited about it.  When I mentioned the bottles were for milk, Bl held aloft a milk bottles in one hand, simultaneously signed “milk” and in his most excited (read: loudest) toddler guttural hollered “MOM… MOM… MOM…”

Bl pointing out the similarity between me & a cow
Bl pointing out the similarity between me & a cow

I pointed out the cow on the bottle.  We had discussions on “cow milk” vs “Mommy milk”.  I even showed him the “cow milk” in the refrigerator.  He would not be dissuaded.

Bl signing milk 1
Bl looking at the cow on the bottle, signing "Milk",.... and still yelling "MOM"....

I am about ready to start hiding the set when company comes over.

 

Don’t know about Zulily? It’s a site where they do special Baby/Kid/Mommy deals.  They feature some amazingly cute items (& all sorts of tastes), and sometimes have some intriguing educational products & wooden toys.  Some of the deals are phenomenal, some are just okay.  The deals usually last 3 days.  Shipping is $7.95, so keep that in mind in figuring the “deal” (I usually only end up ordering if there are a few things I find that I want), and takes about 3 weeks (at least from my experience).  It’s free to sign up.

If you sign up through “my link”: http://www.zulily.com/invite/ganderson644 (and, yes, still free), and you ever end up buying anything, I’ll get a $15 credit (which I can use to buy other toys I can review) : win-win!

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Independence

So, the other day I came across my first offer to take part in a “link up”: an opportunity where a bunch of bloggers write about a specific topic and link to the original website that suggested it, on  The Activity Mom.  To see more, or take part your self!, you can click on the link below:

I was all set to write about how I’d gotten a ladle & a little pitcher so Br (3 3/4) could scoop his own cereal out of the box & pour himself milk for his breakfast.   I took a picture.  I was mentally preparing how I would write about what a proud Mommy I was to see my first-born child taking off in his confidence and abilities….

But then yesterday, as I was working on the laptop, I heard Br call out “I’m thirsty. Can you get me something to drink Mama?” I replied “Okay, hold on…,” as I started extracting myself from what I was enmeshed in.  I heard the rustling traces of Br grabbing his cup off the table and moving to the kitchen.  As I started to lift myself off the couch with an “I’m coming…”, I was shocked to hear the sound of the water pouring from the refrigerator dispenser.  Next thing I heard was ” I got it, Mommy.”

I stopped. Oh.

Then I felt the hitch in my chest and the corresponding thought: “my child didn’t need me.”

Now, I support my child’s independence.  I try to give him every opportunity to do things for himself and learn about things that I can think of.  But every step before, or at least every step before I had noticed, I had guided & cheered him through those initial attempt(s) until he was ready to try it on his own:

“Do you want to try going down the slide by yourself this time? Mommy can catch you at the bottom…”

“Dip the paintbrush in the water, then use that to get the paint wet. Swirl it around.  Look at all the color on your brush!”

“Look at how your foot is curved on the inside.  The shoe has a curve on the inside too. That’s how you know which foot to put it on!”

“Ok, see that tag in the back of your underwear? Put that in the back, between your feet…”

This time, I wasn’t even in the room watching. Hadn’t even suggested it.  Apparently Br had watched us do it enough times, had grown tall enough while no one was paying attention, that he could do it all on his own without any of us realizing it.  Until Br realized it on his own today.

I am sure it is not the last time my heart will be slapped with that particular hitch.  Heck, Br is less than 2 months away from being 4 years old.  I hear age 4 is ALL about “Let me do it myself!”

And there will be bike riding, and car driving, and first jobs, and graduations, and marrying, and all kinds of bigger opportunities than getting a glass of water that my little boy won’t need me anymore.  My JOB as a parent is to raise a child that can function INDEPENDENTLY in the world , though hopefully also with compassion & a conscience.

Like first loves (and isn’t your first-born child a whole other version of that?), THIS first will leave a mark and change the way I think about myself: a mother, but someday that will no longer be my primary “defining role”.

I guess I have some work to do on my independence as well.

“Hey, Br, can you get me a glass of water? I’ve got some important stuff to work on…”

Br getting water

 

 

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Nesting Boxes

Sometimes I forget how endlessly fascinating figuring out basic principles of the world is for toddlers.  For example, figuring out relative size.

I pulled this set of nesting boxes (by Melissa & Doug) off the shelf for Bl (15 mo) to check out.  Initially I showed him how to stack them, which was really “how fast can Mommy stack relative to how quickly can Bl knock down.” Bl can knock down pretty quickly.  Therefore, no pictures. 🙂

Bl turned out to be much more interested in figuring out which boxes would fit into each other.  Some of this may be due to the fact putting “something in” is more forgiving than “stacking on”, so Bl could experience more success at this developmental stage.

Great fine-motor & gross-motor practice, as well as building some of that cognitive understanding needed for later math skills!

Frugal tip: If you don’t have a set of nesting boxes/cups, I’d suggest finding some various sizes of tupperware or recycled containers and make your own “set”!

 

 

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