[The following are notes originally written by Margie "Gabby" Kendall; any errors were probably introduced when I (JHS) converted it from WordPerfect and formatted it for the web in October 2002.]
*The reason this doesn't start until now is that Valerie's mother has found herself to be too busy to continue and asked me to.
Valerie's language is exploding, as is usual at this age. By now, she has so many words a list is hardly possible, for she adds to it daily, hourly, in fact. She is beginning to put words together, such as 'Bath. Wain.' (Rain) for 'shower.' Instead of saying 'juice,' she now says 'apple juice' or 'oyjuice.' She consistently repeats the last word of any sentence she hears. She takes an interest in repeating words exactly as spoken to her and in getting across more complicated ideas than previously, and her memory is outstanding! She has almost mastered that most difficult of sounds in English, the American 'r.'
Valerie has opinions of her own, thank you...Peggy was telling me (in V's presence) that they had a couple of days earlier been to the doctor for V's checkup. She turned to V, who was sitting in her high chair:
P: What did the doctor do, Valerie?
V (pointing to her chest): Haht.
P: That's right! He listened to your heart. What else did he do?
V (pointing to her head): Head
P: Yes. He measured your head. What else?
V (poking her finger in an eye): Eye.
P: Yes. He looked in your eyes. What else did he do?
V (poking her finger in an ear): Eauh.
P: That's right! He looked in your ears. Did you like the doctor? Was he nice?
V (shaking her head and speaking firmly): No.
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Just want to be sure...A few weeks later, Valerie had to see the doctor for what turned out to be an infection. At his office, they drew blood and urine for tests. It was not a fun visit. As the doctor left the examination room, Valerie said loudly, three times, 'Bye-bye, Doc-Toh!'
******
Such a girlie-girl! In August, at the age of 17 months, a friend of Peggy's was keeping Valerie at Lois' apartment while the rest of the family attended Dad's funeral. She sat on Julie's lap as they looked at a mail-order catalog together.
'Look, Valerie! Shoes,' said Julie, pointing to the cover, which featured high-heeled party shoes. 'Do you like these? '
Valerie nodded enthusiastically.
Julie turned the page. Hiking boots. 'Do you like these?' she asked.
Valerie frowned, shook her head and said emphatically, 'No!'
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Valerie understands sequence and some of the words that describe it. The Kendall/Sheehans don't watch TV, but while keeping her, I turned it on to public television one day for her to see the Teletubbies, a show which has been highly acclaimed for little children. She was fascinated. That day one of the characters filled a large bag with three items: an umbrella, a ball and a scooter. Then he took them out slowly, one at a time, with the question, 'What did Tinky-Winky put in the bag first?'
Valerie said, 'Beh-beh.'
'Yes, an umbrella! Then what did he put in the bag?'
'Baw,' said Valerie to the TV.
'That's right, a ball! And what did he put in last?'
'Ootuh,' said Valerie.
(This child is not quite even 17 months old! Isn't she brilliant?)
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Valerie understands the one-to-one concept upon which all math rests. Apparently, she uses 'two' to indicate any number over 'one.' In the following examples she volunteered the numerical information, I did not ask her how many.
I had on a robe with a zipper topped by two buttons one morning as V sat on my lap. She pointed to the bottons. 'But-tons,' she said. 'Two.'
Later she asked me to shape a ball of playdough. I did. She said, 'Baw. One.'
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Serious pretending begins... She now 'feeds' her 'baby,' smacking her own lips to encourage her. She also includes her baby when reading. Holding the doll and a book, she places the doll's hand on the page corner for turning it or insists the adult reader do so. (Oh, I hope she's not going to be a teacher!!)
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Valerie has a long attention span and a generous amount of patience. She plays with 'doh-doh' (play-dough) for long periods, the same with scribbling, swinging or working at something. She is not restless and easily distracted as are some children, but is rather more like a thoughtful engineer. She plays intently and thoroughly before becoming bored. In this she is much like her mother and Auntie Su-Su at this age...probably her father too!
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What a memory...One say while swinging, Valerie suddenly indicated she wanted down, saying 'beah.' (Bear) Peggy got her out of the swing and watched her march purposefully across the yard and into the house. On the way to her room, where Bear resides, she was sidetracked by something else - I forget what - but then returned to her original intent of getting Bear to the swing, where she swung him for a time with great enthusiasm!
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Did I say she's a girlie-girl? Valerie knows some colors and some shapes. She always prefers the real pink though she sometimes mis-calls a different color as 'pink.' She likes to cut out shapes in her playdough and repeats 'quauh' (square) when prompted but offers 'wounawoun' (round-and-round) on her own when cutting out circles. She laughs when a 'snake' appears out of my hands as I roll the clay.
How did she know? One day she cut out a circle in such a way that it was off-center and left only a crescent behind. 'Moon,' she said. Now how did she 'transfer' the image to be the same shape as the actual moon that she names and points to in the sky?
******
Valerie is wonderfully curious. She got down from her swing one day to study the dirt, where she discovered not one but two tiny worms coming out of a little indentation. At first she drew back in surprise but soon returned for a very long look.
*********
Maybe she'll be a race-driver? As I was leaving town, Peggy, Jonathan, Valerie and I were gathered at my car. We let V sit in the driver's seat and play with the steering wheel. I gave her my wad of keys (so I'd remember where they were when I was ready to go). In a flash, she had selected the correct key and inserted it in the ignition! How did she know which key to use, and how did she know exactly which 'hole' it went in???? She always sits in her own carseat in the back, so I don't even know when she could have seen me fish out the key, etc.
She misses nothing, and she understands everything we say. A few minutes after the key thing, I remarked to P and J: 'Oh, I guess we need to put the bags in the trunk.' Immediately, Valerie reached and pushed the yellow trunk-release!! Besides understanding what I said, she knew what to do!! How???
*******
Should we be scared? One day Valerie was sitting in her high chair coloring. I remarked to Peggy that we were out of 'c-h-e-e-s-e.' Valerie immediately said, 'Cheese,' and completely blew our minds. Coincidence?...or ...
Valerie can use a spoon well, but often, apparently in the grip of a ravenous hunger, forsakes it for speedier fingers.
Valerie kicks a ball easily.
On one occasion during my visit, she walked down four steps with alternating feet while holding my hand.
Her hands are very strong, but she cannot always isolate muscles. When squeezing a chunk of playdough in one hand, she also squeezes the other, empty hand.
She climbs easily and without fear.
She loves to swing high, never is afraid. Sometimes she says, 'Hi-ya!' (Higher!)
She tries mightily to jump, swings her little arms back and bends over in preparation, but just can't get those feet off the ground yet! She is SO cute trying, though!
Valerie is patient, easygoing, determined. She is eager to please and affectionate. She loves to play games. She does not give up easily when making an effort to achieve something.
She is sociable, likes almost everyone, although she did bite another child once. (She suffered a nasty bite herself on another occasion.)
She loves cats, loves to pet them.
She laughs and giggles often, especially when playing chase and/or rough-and-tumble games with big people.
One day she gave a gentle burp and laughed. I taught her to put her hand to her mouth and say, 'Oops.' Her little fingers are so cute over her little laughing mouth!
Her toenails are adorable painted bright red!
One day she painted a daycare playmate green all over before anybody noticed
At the zoo she was especially interested in the many different kinds of fishes in the aquarium.
At barely 19 months, she has been moved into the twos (snif!) at daycare. She loves all the new toys and activities.
More Things About Valerie...
Peggy was tired. She got up from a chair and groaned slightly, sighing, 'Oh, gosh...' Valerie replied in the very same tired voice, 'O dosh...'
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First sentence: Christmas, 2001, 21 months: 'I want dat.'
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Almost 22 months: 'Open dat doh, pees.'
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Peggy and Jonathan were concerned that Valerie knew herself only as 'Val-Val.' So they concentrated on calling her Valerie and having her repeat 'Valerie Margaret, Valerie Margaret.'
After much practice they touched her and asked, 'Now who is this?'
'Val-Val,' she replied.
*******
Valerie loves to sing 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.'
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Peggy, Jonathan and Valerie visited in Henderson several days before Christmas. Valerie was so cute saying everybody's name. She knows each adult's given name as well as the family name: Elsie is Gam-Muh, Mommy is Peggy, Gabby is Mahget, Daddy is Jonathan and so on.
*******
She corrected Bill Sheehan, insisted on calling him 'Gandaddy' instead of 'Grampa' as instructed. (This is not the first time she corrected him! Last year at Thanksgiving, she became very insistent that he was not reading to her right! She kept showing him how and when the dog should bark!)
Her great-grandfather ('Gandaddy') Lloyd took down a miniature reproduction of a tricycle for Valerie to play with. The trike is about 8 inches high. Valerie tried to sit on it to ride (which was hilarious) instead of playing with it, so of course, Gandaddy and Gam-Muh took her to Wal-Mart and bought here a real one! Unable to reach the pedals, she sat astride the seat and walked the trike all over the store as we all watched adoringly. Back at the house, she loved walking her 'bike' up the gently sloping driveway and coasting down! Without any help or instruction, she is a 'natural-born' steerer! (The 'bike' is pink.)
Valerie is fascinated by trouble! She constantly turns and returns to a page in her book Make Way for Ducklings that shows the ducklings scattering before a taxi, with everybody running and looking scared and disheveled.
She also shows concern about a picture of a baby falling out of a tree ('Rockabye Baby') but Peggy always points out that Mommy is standing below to catch the cradle, and when Mommy sings the song to her she always ends by looking at whoever is singing and saying, 'Mommy catches.'
After P, J and V left Henderson, they flew to Tulsa to spend Christmas with the Sheehans. Valerie was nice to everyone but was especially in love with her grandfather Bill and Uncle Craig, who were equally enchanted.
One day she told her mother, 'Evan cry today. Arm hurt. Bite.'
'Oh, no! Who bit him?' asked Peggy.
'Val-Val!' she smiled triumphantly.
The most remarkable thing about Val-Val at present is the huge strides her language has taken in only two months. She has gone from 'Down,' to 'I want down pease,' for example.
She seems to understand - at least she correctly uses - quite a few abstract phrases, such as 'not yet.'
'Are you through with your cereal, Valerie?'
'Not yet.' And she returns to eating.
'Do you want to put away the playdough now?'
'Not yet.' And she returns to her play.
She has mastered the ending 'r' as well as some mid-word ones. Beginning 'r's' are still a bit blurry, but coming along. She substitutes for 'th' and 'st.' Otherwise, her speech is amazingly clear, and her vocabulary grows exponentially it seems. She needs only to hear a word or phrase once, and it is hers.
'What dat, Gabbie?'
'It's old-lady stuff, Val-Val.'
'I want some.'
'Well, only a little. You don't need any on your pretty little face.'
The next day she stands in the bathroom door watching me once again as I try to improve on my appearance. I am not saying anything.
'Old-lady tuff,' she says.
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She loves books and has a very large library, but she always knows what book she wants to read at a given time, looking through the shelves to find it. She likes rhyming books like Dr. Seuss and nursery rhymes, but she especially likes the story of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.
'What did Mrs. Rabbit say to the bunnies?'
Shakes her finger. 'Don't go in Mister McGregor's garden!'
'That's right! And what did she buy when she went out?'
'Bread.'
'Well, now. Just look at Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail picking blackberries. Can you tell me the names of the little rabbits again?'
'Fopsy, Mopsy and Cot-ton-tail.'
'Yes! Uh-oh. There goes Peter, straight to Mr. McGregor's garden!'.
Little hands to mouth. 'Uh-oh!! Mister McGregoorrrr!!!' (greatly enjoying ability to make the 'r' sound)
I laugh.
Louder. Little hands to mouth. 'Uh-oh!! Mister McGregoorrrr!!!'
I laugh harder.
Even louder, of course. Little hands to mouth. 'Uh-oh!! Mister McGregorrrr!!!'
Each time Mr. McGregor appears on a page we go through this routine again, and neither of us ever gets tired of it.
Later in the story, I say, 'Oooo, look. What is Mr. McGregor saying now?'
'TOP, NIEF!!!' (Stop, thief!)
When Peter runs in the shed and jumps in a can containing unexpected water, Valerie says, 'Achew!' before the story gets there.
'So what did Peter do while Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail were eating their nice bread and milk and blackberries?'
'Peter goes night-night.'
*********************
I opened a Sunday shopper, from Target I think, and asked Valerie what she could name. Here are some of the things she saw pictures of and named without prompting:
pants, shirt, camera, cheese!, oven, hot!, iron, hot!, bicycle, clock, tick-tock-tick-tock; bear, iptick (lipstick), puhse, hat, shoes, socks, micowave, telephone, chair, table, TV, soap, sampoo, brush, comb, toopase, scissors, paper, cwayons, towels..
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She can say almost anything she wishes to although she was at a loss for words once.
I was trying to convince her to try some chicken.
'No. Don't like chicken.'
'Why not? How does it taste?'
'It taste (long pause)...bad.'
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The endearing 'Es' has been replaced by the proper 'Yes.' Sniff.
She really, really loves plain ice and popsicles. She likes to go to the big mirror and look at her tongue afterward, especially if it is 'ocean' (orange) or 'puhple.'
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She sings constantly in the car and often when not. She carries a tune fairly well too; each song is quite recognizable. Some of the songs she knows are The Barney Song ('I love you, you love me, we a happy fam-O-lee. Wi' a hmmmmm hug and a kiss fum me you...won't you say you love me too?'),;The Wheels On the Bus; Row, Row, Row Your Boat; Old MacDonald's Farm; Camptown Races (!!); Baa, Baa Black Sheep; Rockabye Baby; the alphabet song (!!), Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Tar..
She still enjoys commenting on any 'big tuck' she sees but isn't as loud and excited as formerly. Guess the thrill is gone.
We went to Taco Bell and I got her a bean burrito without onions, which she chowed down with great gusto! When I retrieved the leftover half (those things are BIG!) from the refrigerator the next day she saw it and said with enthusiasm, 'Taco Bell!'
March 3, 2002: According to her mother, Valerie began this weekend to say, 'I busy wight now.' Jonathan's dad is enchanted and amazed at her abilities. Peggy said he was astonished when she sang without stopping as they drove halfway across Nashville.
March 5: Yesterday she put the 's' in 'small.'
She has such a nice disposition, very rarely has a meltdown. She is affectionate and always has a soft stuffed animal handy to hug. She behaves and obeys well for the most part too, rarely challenging an adult. She loves to help and is very competent at taking dishes to the kitchen counter or putting things away when she can reach, moving with great purposefulness and pride. 'Keenup time, keenup time, evuhbody help wi' keenup time,' she sings.
She loves to tussle, giggle and be tickled, and chasing games remain a big favorite.
Valerie is cautious with new people and new situations but not overly shy and soon enters into the fray if not pressured.
She runs well and can now get both feet off the ground at the same time in a joyous jump! She is able to pull garments over her own head putting on or taking off, easily puts arms and legs into the right 'holes' for dressing and holds her feet in place for socks and shoes. She loves to work zippers and to fasten the carseat buckle all by herself. She can do it too!
She is often able to 'pee-pee' or 'tinkle' in the potty by asking in time but continues to have frequent problems with constipation.
She can hold the front of a diaper in place on her tummy while an adult brings the tabs around to be fastened in front.
She goes up and down steps leading with the right foot going up, the left going down The earlier alternation of feet has disappeared for now.
I brought home a small plastic table and two chairs. She preferred the box, of course, turning it on its side and sliding from the rigid box bottom now at the 'top' of the 'slide,' down the side of the box laughing.
She loves to have her back softly scratched and will stand still for as long as another person will do it or until she falls asleep.
Valerie spends time while at home marking with crayons on paper and playing with playdough but has many more activities at school.
She loves to go to the park!
Valerie likes to line up items and will rearrange them to match colors or sizes without any prompts.
She knows where everything in the house is at all times. If you lose something, ask Valerie. She knows where it is.
She counts items to ten though she sometimes skips four and says five twice
If you ask Valerie how old she is, she folds her thumb under the ring finger and pinkie, holding up the index and middle fingers in a mighty 'V.' 'Almost two,' she says.
Valerie is wearing 'big girl panties' today.
She asks her mother to call me so she can talk to me. We get on the speaker phone, but she runs away and shouts, 'I hiding!!' I tell her I can't look for her because I'm in Texas and ask her where she is hiding. She hesitates and then says, 'I 'hind da bed!'
March, 2002 - age 24 months
March 20, 2002
Sadly, I wasn't able to be at Valerie's birthday party Saturday, which was held at the Imaginarium in Nashville, with 12 or 14 kids and their parents attending. V. had a wonderful time but got too tired to open presents. She did open two, I think. She wore her new lime-grean play outfit from Gramma and Grampa Sheehan and her new white Mary Janes, even if it was before Easter!
When the cake came, she knew exactly what to do with the candle, blew it out and clapped with the others. (Peggy said that the first time Valerie e blew out a candle - at home - she cried! She evidently grieved its going away, or perhaps was only surprised.)
The next day she opened presents at home. Her very favorite was the doll stroller and baby doll from Auntie Su-Su. She walked it up and down the hall and all around the house for hours, talking to baby doll: 'Night-night baby. No, no, can't get up. Night-night.' She dressed and undressed the doll, fed her, rocked her. She also loved the lego blocks given her by one of her guests.. Gabbie sent a new outfit for Easter, ball-and-bat toy, Baby Shakespeare video, lift-a-flap book.
Valerie is very friendly with other children and plays well with them.
Today, housecleaner Katie asked her what her favorite thing about the party was. 'P'esents,' she replied firmly. I can hardly believe she really knows what 'favorite thing' means, but it was an appropriate answer, so maybe she does!
Today a neighbor dropped by with her 18-month-old son. Valerie said, 'Go my woom, B'andon.' He and Valerie then took everything out of her closet and strewed it from there to the living room. She also climbed into the doll stroller, which barely contained her, and Aaron pushed her. They were so cute! She called the neighbor 'B'andon's mommy.'
Sometimes she gives Peggy a report on the way home. She is very aware of learning rules and says things like, 'Evan 'pitted on da table. Not nice 'pit.' 'Aawon climb on table. Not nice climb on table.' 'Evan hit Aawon. Aawon cry. Not nice hit.' She never tells what 'Val-Val' does!
They are doing 'training exercises' at school, boys and girls together. Everybody watches everybody use the potty. Valerie is very interested in who is a boy and who is a girl. Her latest word is 'penis,' although it is not remarkable to her. She likes her big girl panties but wets them, so they are not put on her often. She is interested in sitting on the potty and being a big girl, but doesn't yet have the control necessary for success.
She is increasingly oppositional, as she should be at this age.
The other night she cried and fussed, refusing to take her bath or brush teeth. Peggy told her she was very tired and so would go straight to bed. Shortly after she was put down she began calling her mother. Using her most charming smile, she said sweetly, 'I want take bath now. I want bush tee.'
'Sorry,' said Peg. 'You're too tired tonight. Night-night!'
Today coming home from school, she told her mother, 'I tiahed and seepy.' And so she was. She went to bed at 7:00.
Very often she says, 'I want go at pahk.' Or she may say something like, 'Don't want go at Taco Bell.'
March 22, 2002:
Valerie is far ahead of her peers in language development. She can even relate a story:
Dawn (daycaregiver) offered Valerie some apple the other day.
'I don't like apple,' said Valerie.
'You don't like apple? Why not?'
'It has pee-lin. I choke.' Valerie had indeed gagged recently on a piece of unpeeled apple.
Today Valerie and I talked on the phone. Peggy had said V. has been a handful lately. 'She hasn't been very cooperative.'
I spoke to Valerie. I asked her, 'Is this Gabbie's little treasure?'
'Yes.'
'Can you say, 'I'm Gabbie's little treasure?'
'I Gab Bee's Lih Teasurrre.'
'Have you cooperated lately? Can you say, 'I cooperate.'
'I co-op-ee-ate.'
*******
Valerie's the class shortie, for now. Peers are shooting up and some of them are an entire head taller than she. She continues to have very good coordination.
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From the weeks of April 2-15, 2002: I was there to babysit Valerie while Peggy and Jonathan went to Steamboat, Colorado for a week of med. meetings and vacation. My little charge and I had a blast! Here are some observations. Valerie is between 24 and 25 months of age.
She has mastered all English language sounds except 'f' (although she says 'v' easily) and 'th.' She says 'd' in place of both 'f' and 'th.' Thus she says 'dork,' 'doot,' 'deet,' 'dix it.'
With a little help, she mastered 'Colorado' and 'Oklahoma.' She well knows 'Texas' already!
Southernisms: Distinctive vowel-splitting is rampant in her speech! 'day-er' for 'there,' 'Taco 'Bay-uhl,' etc.
She continues to add to her musical reportoire and sings constantly, often mixing songs.
She sometimes sets off purposefully, saying 'I go hospital.' Are you sick? 'Yes,' she says.
She enjoys Teletubbies, Barney and Sesame Street (especially Elmo).
Other cute words: 'peekle' for 'people.' 'Can't eat at Taco Bay-uhl. Too many peekle day-er.' 'Vevegel' for 'vegetable.'
Her best shot at 'Valerie' is something like 'Vavalie.'
'Go to grocy store. Buy bread.' (Earlier in the day I had muttered to myself while in the kitchen that we were out of bread; evidently she overheard and made note.) Taking her to the grocery store is a blast, because she loves naming all the items in the produce section and riding the penny-operated slow brown horse with the long pretty tail and the 'dast' red pig with the curly tail.
'I may have juice/baby doll blanket/popsicle/etc?'
(Often) 'I may have candy?' (charming smile)
'Daddy has stash (moustache). Has beard. Ladies don't have stashes...beards'
At the zoo: 'Little tiny fish!' (delighted squeal, pointing finger at the aquarium full of fish)
'I may ride elephant?' (I said not this time, maybe when she is bigger though.)
We also saw 'BIIIIG birds' (ostriches), 'peckilans' and a lounging cougar. 'Hi cougar! Come down and get a drink of water!' (Unfortunately, repeated and tender pleas succeeded only in getting the cougar to come down but not to drink.)
Bedtime Stories: Often at bedtime she becomes loquacious, evidently in a last-ditch effort to delay actually going down. After storytime and lights out, she begins to made random, serious observations. Here are some of them:
'Have no cats. Cats have whiskers. Have no dog. Dogs don't have whiskers.'
'Don't have blue cup.' (This comment regards a plastic picnic set consisting of red, blue, green and yellow place settings. The blue cup is indeed missing, but I had made no comment of the fact when we were playing. It took me a while to figure out what she was talking about.)
'Picture man came. Val-Val cried and cried.' (Yes she did. In fact, she cried and clung to me so hard she wasn't in the class group picture. I never did figure out why, but it may have been because the younger group just before her class tuned up right good. She must have thought they knew something she didn't about the picture man.)
My first day there, I pulled out the box I had brought containing picnic and other paraphernalia, including a tablecloth and napkins. Three of the napkins happened to be folded in squares, one in a triangle. To my astonishment, Valerie noticed this. 'Tri-angle,' she said as she unfolded the napkin. Then she looked at the others. 'Squay-ers,' she said.
When putting away the picnic set there was a problem: Valerie first sorted the flatware into the divided tray by color. However, there were only three sections, but four colors. Hmmm. What to do. Finally, she thought to group them by tools: spoons, knives, 'dorks.' That worked.
Jonathan and I were chatting one evening about child development. (He indulges me that way.) Valerie was sitting at the table with us scribbling. Talking about the development of writing, I drew a line, another with a crossbar, finally two parallel lines, saying we used to test kids at different ages by asking them, 'Can you draw this?' Suddenly, Valerie reached over and drew some scribbles, the main one a dark line connecting my parallel ones. 'H,' she said. I all but fell off my chair. The child is barely two!
Valerie misses nothing. I couldn't find the phone book, so I asked her if she knew where it was kept. She stopped playing and headed straight for the table in the living room, opened the drawer and began pulling it out!
Peggy, Valerie and I were tooling around town and decided to go to Kroger's so I could get a picture of her on the horse and pig. Three blocks from the store she suddenly jabbed a little finger in the air and said, 'Dat way.' We were approaching from a totally different direction from the one we always came from and could not believe that she recognized which way to go!
We had stopped at a light and didn't heed 'dat way' right away. She became agitated, apparently thinking we were not listening. She jabbed her finger again. 'Not dat way! Dat way!' Finally she said, 'Green light now. Go.' Pause. 'Red light stop. Green light go. Lello light go real slow.' (Only with the word 'yellow' does she have trouble with the 'y' sound. It's so cute we don't try to correct her, just like we don't try to teach her 'foot' and 'food' and 'fix it.')
Valerie has a very busy imagination. She plays with her toys for long periods and tells us she has a sister, also a brother. Their names are different each time she says this, and they are always colorful. When asked for their names, she thinks hard for a moment and then says something like 'Oo-fa,' or 'Booboo.'
Adventures in Reading: Val continues to love books, stories and reading. One current favorite is called The Okay Book, which features wonderful fat-line drawings and flat bold colors of red, blue, green and yellow. Each page has one line, and she has memorized it well.
One page shows drawings of a dog with cat food and a cat with dog food. Valerie always says, 'Dog eating cat dood. Cat eating dog dood. Sharing.' (I don't tell her, but I think if you have to eat somebody's dood I'd just as soon be selfish.)
I told her the story of the three bears, without using a book. She listened raptly and later was able to 'fill in the blanks' when questioned; e.g., 'Who came to the door?' 'Goldilocks!'
She also began to refer to things as 'juuust right' when they were!
Cooperation: She loves to help, especially in the kitchen, and is very good at it! She loads laundry, folds clothes, washes vegetables and dishes, puts on her own clothes (even shoes sometimes), hooks her carseat buckles (with a little help with the pushing), wipes down anything she can take a wet cloth to.
She took up showers while I was there, which was good since she had become stubborn and unhappy about taking her bath.
Valerie sometimes remembers to say, 'No, thank you,' instead of just 'no.' I love to hear her reply with a smile, 'Good morning!'
Coordination: Excellent. She loves to go 'at park,' where she plays with gusto! Favorites are climbing the chain ladder, going across the swinging bridge - no hands, either! - coming down the circular slide like an 'alligator-girl,' going through the large tunnel, walking the dragon, climbing up the slides, playing on the seesaw and glider, climbing anything. She likes to seing by her hands from a bar. She runs well, jumps well, kicks a mean soccer ball! She can throw (sometimes with direction!) and catch a large ball with both hands outstretched. Surprisingly, she still mostly leads with one foot as she goes up or down stairs.
Sense of fun: She loves to blow, chase and burst bubbles, and go as high as possible in her backyard swing.
Temper: When Valerie is angry and crying hard, she resents being comforted. Once when she didn't want to be put in the crib after reading, singing and rocking, I was trying to soothe her. 'Shhh, shhh,' I murmured, holding her close.
She stiffened and leaned back, eyes blazing, hands flapping angrily. 'Don't SAY ...dat!!' she protested loudly. 'Don't SAY dat!!' she repeated. Of course I laughed, which made her even madder.
As soon as I plunked her down she screamed for a moment and then went sound asleep.
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April 20, 2002:
Girlie-girl: Today Peggy put a new dress on Valerie for church. As she came out of her room to join her daddy in the living room, Peggy said she was demurely smoothing her dress.
Life-lover: At church, she ran excitedly toward the door. 'Music!' she exulted.
More pretending: Valerie colored a picture of a platypus that Jonathan had found on the internet and printed out for her. She colored it and then asked for playdough. She made a 'buht-day cake,' with candles made of a cut-up straw, and sang happy birthday to the picture-platypus. Then she pounded the cake flat, making it into a'blanket' to cover the picture-platypus.
'He's scared of me,' she said. 'It's okay, platypus,' she crooned, stroking the playdough blanket with her little cupped hand. Then removing the playdough blanket, she said, 'Get up now, platypus!' She is soooo-ooo cuuuu-uuuu-uuute!!!!
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April 25, 2002:
Phone Talk: Valerie is becoming somewhat more conversational on the phone. The other day she said, 'I nodding,' instead of saying 'yes.' She also sang into the phone her favorite, 'Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,' which she does with perfect intonation. She also loves to sing the Barney song 'I Love You, You Love Me' and 'Mary Had a Little Lamb.' She sometimes struggles unsuccessfully to reach the higher note ('lit-TUL LAMB,' 'school ONE DAY'), but it is apparent that she 'hears' it. Other favorites are 'Ring around the Rosie,' 'London Bridge,' and 'Baa, Baa, Black Sheep.' She likes to hear 'You Are My Sunshine' and 'Daisy, Daisy.'.
'You in Texas,' she informs me.
'I'm eating wa-ter-mel-on,' she says, carefully enunciating each syllable.
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Jonathan took Valerie swimming. She told Peggy he didn't wear a bathing suit. 'He didn't?' exclaimed Peg.
'No,' she said. (pause) 'Daddy wore shorts.' (J's swimsuit is boxer-style.)
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Days of the Week: She understands what a day is and that days have names and even certain commitments!
Valerie: 'Want to go swimming.'
Peggy: 'Your suit is too small. We have to go shopping and buy you a new one before we can go swimming.'
Valerie, nodding: 'Go Sunday.'
Peggy: 'We can't go Sunday. We could go Saturday.'
Valerie: 'Go shopping Saturday. Go at church Sunday.'
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Sex education
Val, while taking a shower: 'You know what Daddy has?'
Peg, puzzled. 'What?'
Val: 'A pee-nis.'
Peg: 'Oh, really. Well, what do you have?'
Val: 'A 'gina!'
More girlie-girl stuff: Valerie didn't want to wear the sweater Peggy chose for her this morning, so Peg let her choose another. She picked out one that was too small but that had a fake fur collar. She put it on, moved her shoulders coyly and tilted a cheek, rubbing it against the collar. 'Cozy,' she cooed. Peggy doesn't know where she got the word, probably from me.
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April 28, 2002: New words every day!
It took Peggy several days to get rid of a wasp that got into the house. Today Valerie said out of the blue, 'I nervous.'
'Oh, you're nervous? And why is that?'
'I don't like bumble bees in duh house. Make me nervous.'
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Ever since she and I ate at Taco Bell one day, she gets very excited when she sees one and shouts, 'Taco Bay-ull!'
May, 2002 - age 26 months:
Peggy won't let Valerie taste wine, explaining that it is only 'for grown-ups.' Recently this backfired when Valerie dressed herself completely and Peggy remarked to her what a big girl she was getting to be, almost, in fact, 'all grown up!' To which V. replied with great excitement, 'Can have wine now!'
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Valerie's 'Gran-Gran and Mee-Maw' came to see her one weekend. V. insisted on calling them 'Gramma' and 'Grampa,' the same names used for the Sheehan grandparents. At one point 'Grampa' Kendall didn't hear her singing for him or didn't realize she was. So when she had finished, she said loudly, 'CLAP, Mister Grampa...'
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Age of Fantasy: Her mother reports that Valerie is emerging from a 'difficult' period, becoming sweet and cooperative once again. She is very affectionate and pretends constantly. The other evening Peggy put her in her bed, and Valerie hugged her stuffed animals, saying, 'Here's my Froggy...here's my doggy...and here's my (in a high-pitched voice, tenderly) lit-tul bo-ee (which happened to be a giraffe, but no matter...).
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Little Parent: When Valerie rubs her eyes that is the signal to put her to bed immediately, although she may exhibit no other signs of being tired. During a recent bedtime reading-rocking ritual, she suddenly patted Peggy gently on the cheek and cooed, 'Are you rubbing your eyes, sweetie?'
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She still speaks of her sister, sisters, or brother, and gives them different names each time if asked.
******
June 5, 2002: From a phone conversation...
Nightmare-schnightmare: Valerie had her first (known) nightmare the other night. Peggy heard her screaming in the night and went to her. She was standing in the crib with both little fists glued to her chubby cheeks and cried, 'Mousie's trying to bite me.' She spent the rest of the night in bed with mommy and daddy, where she slept peacefully, but her fists stayed on her cheeks for a good half hour. The next morning she did remember the dream but said, 'Mousie doesn't bite. She's soft and furry.'
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Anatomy lesson: Another evening Valerie was standing naked before her bath, curled down in an attempt to see between her legs. Peggy offered a mirror, and Valerie looked for a long time. Peggy asked, 'Well, what do you think?'
Valerie replied matter-of-factly, 'Not good.'
And the story could stop right there. But...there is a little more.
'What do you mean, 'not good'?'
'It looks...yucky.'
She continued to study the vision and remarked, 'Turtle is coming out.'
Peggy didn't have a clue what this meant, but trying mightily not to laugh, said, 'No, honey. That's just how girls look.'
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Incomparable moment: Peggy was pushing Valerie in the swing, as high as she could go, and Jonathan went to the front of the swing. With each swing forward he would make a silly face, and Valerie would absolutely convulse with peals and peals of little-girl laughter.
(Where could one possibly find greater happiness than witnessing this scene?)
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June 20, 2002 or thereabouts...age 27 months
Peggy and Valerie flew to Houston to check on Lois, who has not been doing well. Valerie was sitting beside her great-grandmother. She studied her for the longest time, until Lois said, 'I'm an old lady, Valerie. I bet you've never seen anybody as old as I am.'
To which Valerie replied brightly, 'I'm not old. I'm new.'
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Potty-training is almost accomplished. Valerie now wants to visit every bathroom in the world. The other day she was particularly taken with one in a department store and asked if she could go tee-tee again. Her mother said okay, and Valerie streaked back into the restroom. As Peggy came in right behind her, she had already climbed on (the adult commode), her feet dangling, little panties around the ankles.
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The other day Peggy and Valerie were driving somewhere and got into a conversation about the word 'person.'
'I'm a person,' instructed Peggy. 'You're a person. Daddy is a person. All together we're people.'
To which Valerie replied cheerfully, 'I'm a person. I can go shopping!'
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Valerie is now 34' tall and weighs 26 pounds. She is at the 30th percentile in both height and weight..
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July 20-25, 2002: Susan, Maddie, Mimi and I drove to Nashville to spend a few days. In the mere four months since I've seen her, Valerie has leapt forward in every way. She can dress and undress herself (even put on socks), though still sometimes putting her shoes on the wrong feet. She can climb into and out of the carseat, get into the harness, buckle the chest-strap and do the reverse to get out. She eats heartily and neatly. She runs, gallops and can catch and throw a ball quite well. She still loves chasing and catching bubbles. She has learned to briefly blow bubbles under water through her mouth and also (by humming) through her nose. Her language abilities are especially impressive...she has a huge vocabulary and speaks clearly and confidently. The only sound she does not yet pronounce with utter clarity is 'th,' with 'd' working in its place just fine. She can bathe herself, even wash her own hair for the most part. She still has a few toilet accidents but is all but trained, insists on 'big-girl panties' all the time. Very independent and self-sufficient, her favorite phrases are 'I can do it,' 'I'm strong!' and 'I'm a big girl now.'
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Valerie is such an outgoing and happy child. The only exception is when she is hungry or tired. She is affectionate toward everyone but her Auntie Su-Su. Inexplicably, she firmly rejects her for now, but she really loves her cousin Mimi, now 11. She follows Mimi around and imitates her. She also loves to brush Mimi's hair.
Her 'Gabbie' remains a favorite. Besides their other games, she likes to do 'extercises' with Gabbie.
'Do dis,' she orders, sitting on the floor, knees out, putting the soles of her feet together. She also likes to show off touching her toes when Gabbie can't!
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Intellectual development
Her memory and acute observation ability continue to impress us (especially me...hee-hee!), and she loves to chime in if she can provide answers. For example, I took her three new books and read them to her once or twice. Later she wanted to read them again, so I was looking around for them but could find only two. I commented to Peggy that I couldn't find the third book. 'What is it?' asked Peg.
'Well, let's see...I brought Jump Frog Jump, and I Spy, and oh, heck, what is the name of that other one?'
Valerie piped up, though we weren't speaking to her at all. 'Book dat say 'All By Myself.'
And so it was.
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Language development: We had a lot of fun getting her to say hard words: Czechoslovakia, clavicle, abdomen, e.g. If she is playing alone she will very often sing her play, making up things as she goes. It's so cute to hear that little voice!
She talks much better on the phone now too! When I called last night she said mommy was in the shower (she was shopping) and daddy was cooking (he was) and that her bunny was soft.
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Twenty-nine Months
Power Play: Recently Valerie dawdled rather than obey the directive to pick up her toys in preparation for bed. As a result, she lost her story time and was put to bed. Naturally she threw a fit, screaming at the top of her lungs for a quarter-hour before quieting. When she did, Peggy went in to reward her for getting quiet and wound up rocking her for a few minutes.
In a bit, Valerie sat up and fixed her mother with a steely gaze. 'Why did you come in?' she asked. 'Did you come because I cried and cried and called for you?'
*****
Physical development: Valerie has been taking swimming lessons and can now go all the way under the water. She is very proud of being able to do this and told me about it on the phone.
August 20, 2002
Big-girl bed: Last weekend Valerie's 'Grampa' and 'Gramma' came from Tulsa. It was time for a big-girl bed, so shopping they went. Valerie was so excited she could hardly wait until bedtime! Sometimes P and J will be awakened in the middle of the night by little hands and knees scrambling across their bed, so they are working on making Valerie understand that she must stay put 'until it gets light.' Also that she must go straight to the bathroom when she awakens. She is very cooperative about this, and Peggy heard her this week getting out of bed, padding to the bathroom, using the toilet by herself and washing her hands before she awakened Mommy and Daddy. What a big girl she is getting to be!
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