Sentences and Conversations

At 18 months of age, Taylor’s current favorite books are picture dictionaries, and she continually surprises me with her vocabulary. (I couldn't begin to count how many words she has.) But a few weeks ago, she started saying her first sentences. They began with “I need that,” followed closely by “I need shoes/blanket/juice.” Then came, “I can’t see it!” when referring to birds in a tree, lawnmowers, etc., that aren’t within view. The sentences of the past week include “That’s a-mommy! That’s a-daddy!” and the possessive “That’s a-mommy coffee!” and so on. I’m especially fond of “I like it!” (particularly when applied to food I’ve made for her). She uses please and thank you in context, and will answer with a very clear yes or no when pressed.

Language development is so cool, and I’m excited that we’re beginning our two-way verbal communications. Looking forward to years of great conversations with our daughter.

The New Year: 2013

On the first day of the new year, I sat Taylor down on the potty in the morning, she opened the alphabet book she was holding and pointed to the first letter and said "Aaaaaaaaayyeeeee". It's startling the amount of change from our October trip to California, where she first began walking in earnest, and now. While she may fall or trip, her gait is steady. Taylor is now handing us books in the morning, and pointing to the dogs, frogs, rabbits and such that are in each of the pictures while attempting to say them. She's doing this in particular with a book 'Each Peach Pear Plumb', which was a gift from Elisabeth Von Halem - a close friend of Christia's [and by the transitive relationship property, mine too!]. A few nights ago, Taylor was up in the middle of the night as she is regularly now due to teething, and she said 'teeth' to Christia, indicating the pain she was in at the time. Hard as it is to hear that, it's wonderful to have her able to say what it is she wants and needs [even if all she says 'juice' 5000 times in one day]. Looking forward to more of that. ;]

What Taylor Knows

Bellybutton. Head. Eyes. Feet. Toes. Shoes. More. Juice. Milk. Kitchen. Hungry. Eat. Toast. Table. Water. Broom. Bottle. Duck. Bath. Outside. Bird. Ball. Book. Cat. Dog. John Henry. Mommy. Daddy. Mia. Uncle John. Potty. Diaper. No. 

I know with certainty that Taylor understands these words, and that she understands so much more than she can say. Her most frequently used words these days are "more," "shoes," and "juice" (in addition to "mama" and "dada"). She just loves shoes, and proudly shows them off to whoever might admire them. She signs and asks for "more", "bath" and "all done!". The sign for "milk" was in regular use before she stopped nursing at just over 13 months. She talks regularly, in what seem to be full sentences. We can't wait until we can fully understand what she has to say.

The Atlantic, The Pacific and the Rocky Mountains

On September first, the day before she turned 10 months old, Taylor took her first steps. Over the ensuing weeks, in between cruising and crawling, she continued to practice walking and would occasionally surprise us with 10 or 15 steps at a time. It wasn't until our trip to California in mid October that she got serious: that's when walking really started to happen.

We flew into San Francisco and spent four days with Elisabeth, James and Frank the dog, then drove down Highway 1 along the Pacific to Los Angeles to meet up with John. I think it was likely interest in Frank that spurred on Taylor's locomotion. Frank, and the boardwalk among the redwood trees in Muir Woods; the sand on Dillon Beach along the Point Reyes National Seashore, Santa Cruz and Carmel-by-the-Sea; the fraternal twins at Uncle John's party and John's godson Spencer, who did a fine job of looking after Taylor throughout the afternoon. It was a full week, and one worth walking through.

Taylor has now seen the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Rocky Mountains—all before her first birthday. A pretty good way to start life, I think.  

Cookie Monsters, Swear Jars and Crossfit

Taylor mimics me [and cookie monster] at the dinner table saying 'NOM NOM NOM' as she eats her cheerios. It never fails to elicit a laugh out of me. It's priceless. The first rays of consciousness reflecting off, and emanating from, the mirror pool that that is my daughter. It reminds me - I've gotta get a swear jar. Years of being in the young male dominated game industry have turned me into a abject potty mouth. If I keep this up the only job she'll be suited for is a shrimp boat captain. That's no fucking good....oh dammit.

I meant to post about this as well about 4 months in - about how I put Taylor to sleep, slowly stepping away from the crib - my knees and ankles crack like rolling thunder. It's almost enough to wake her up. I turned 40 the January after her birth and the joints are feeling it. It's a dramatic contrast to a newborn that can fold herself like a piece of origami. I'm currently enrolled in crossfit twice a week to roll back the clock...and to keep up with a baby girl missing an 'off' switch. 

Bird, Ball, Book, Boogie

On Taylor's eight-month birthday, she waved goodbye to her dad as he walked out the door to work. Then she waved as his car pulled away from the driveway. It was an up and down, full-forearm sort of wave, always accompanied by a full smile. She continued this ritual on a daily basis, but only with Dada, and usually only in the mornings. Within the last week, at nine and a half months of age, she started waving to other people as they passed or to acknowledge them across the room. This wave is a wrist-only sort of wave—more controlled and directed—and as it usually elicits a response wave, the action is being positively reinforced. I had fun traveling with Taylor through the airport this past weekend, as strangers seem to enjoy this kind of communication with a baby.

We've just returned home from a two-week vacation in Mystic, and while we thought Taylor might take her first steps while in CT, she hasn't yet taken more than one that wasn't the result of forward momentum. She has, however, increased her cruising and crawling speeds, and will occasionally stand up and in place unassisted for 15 seconds or more.

Ever more exciting is Taylor's expanding vocabulary. She began saying a version of "bird" at nine months, after our repetition of the word when looking out the window every morning into the single backyard tree, populated as it usually is with doves and the occasional grackle. "Ball" (BA) preceded "bird" (BIR) and came along with "book," (BUH) and now "boogie" (BOOGIE!). I thought the latter might be a version of "birdie," but she uses it in differing circumstances. "WHOOTH" is also now in regular use, which I take to be an imitation of "What is that?," a question we often ask her while showing her around an environment. Taylor has been pointing at objects that catch her attention for about a month now. The pointing is often accompanied by the surprised expression "OOH!" and now "WHOOTH!" She seems to be both pointing out objects that excite her and telling us "Look! Do you see that?" And yesterday, Clay and I each separately had the experience of Taylor pointing to something while we held her, then pushing our chins in the direction of the object to ensure we were looking at it. She did it again with me this morning and I'll be interested to see if this behavior continues. Her development is so delightful to see!

The Live Music Capital of the World

I recently signed Taylor up for her first Music Together class, a classroom-based music program which requires us to sing and move in kid-friendly, age-appropriate ways. But her musical education has been enriched simply by virtue of our residency in this, the self-proclaimed "Live Music Capital of the World." We're a stone's throw from Central Market, which hosts free music on Friday and Saturday evenings, and The Hartman Foundation Concerts in the Park at the Long Center have been a Sunday staple. We usually bring along a picnic to the latter affair and meet up with a friend or two. In the past month we've seen:

• Three performances of the Austin Symphony (Brass, Woodwinds, Big Band; on the lawn at The Long Center)
• The Boogers ("The world's most dangerous kid's band;" Ruta Maya)
• Lucas Miller ("The singing zoologist;" Austin library)
• Graham Wilkinson ("A kaleidoscope of roots music, folk, rock, Americana, jazz and reggae;" Central Market)
• Charles Thibodeaux (Cajun; Central Market)

And Clay and I have happily discovered that it is indeed possible to swing dance with a baby between us.