Marks in the Sand

I'm starting to think of these entries like the marks that are left in the sand after a wave washes to shore and then recedes. I feel like I see Tess trying new skills, delighting in new things, and as soon as I write it down, it changes. A month later, those same skills feel so ordinary it's a wonder that it ever struck me as surprising. Yet it's kind of fun to watch my impressions change as she grows, and to remember that there was a day when I couldn't fathom that she would ever walk.

 

 

On that note, one of Tess's favorite toys right now is a set of five stones that I keep in a small pottery vase. The stones have various sentimental memories attached to them, and I made the little vase about ten years ago. Tess likes to take the rocks out, put them back in, pour them on the floor, pound them against each other, etc., etc. She plays with them everyday, often for long periods of time. She calls them "rots" because she can't pronounce the [k] sound.

She's also working really hard to memorize words in favorite songs and books. She loves books that have rhyming couplets, and she tries to memorize the last word in each set. When we read The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton, she tries to say about two words on each page. I often read and then stop, and she fills in the missing word for me. (Or some approximation of the word.) At the end of that book, "they rot and rot and rot to seep."

Light at the end of the Tunnel

Eric gets home from Thailand tomorrow. It's been a long week. Tess and I did great. Eric did great. And now we are all tired.

In other news, I'm regularly surprised by the words that come out of Tess's mouth these days. She'll ask for things using words I've never heard her say before. After almost two years of figuring out her communication mysteries, it's a shock to hear an English word instead of some babbled clue hinting at a desire.

She still can't pronounce the [k] sound, so often it takes some imagination to figure it out. Like tonight when she was asking for what sounded like "nuts," but clearly wasn't. Turns out she wanted a necklace. (She's been asking for nuts very clearly for a while now, and sometimes even specifies that she wants almonds or cashews.)

Lord of the Flies

Tess cannot wait to go to her babysitter's house every week. She talks about her two friends (Ime and Sebastian, both a year older than her) almost every day. When we get to the building, she starts kicking her legs and when I let her out of the stroller, she runs down the hall squealing with joy. When I pick her up, she never wants to leave. Today she told me, "Tess stay," in response to my news that it was time to go home.

So it's interesting for me to notice how much time these three spend arguing over toys. They also play nicely together, but nonetheless, a good portion of the playtime is all about resolving who gets what and for how long. Objects that had no value suddenly become highly valuable and everybody wants IT. Moments later, the IT has changed.

Today as I was saying good-bye, there was a conflict over a container of crayons. Tess and Ime were both grabbing it, and Tess's whole body was tensed in an effort to hold on. I had her take a few deep breaths and we worked out a solution.

Then I went into Macy's to do a little shopping for myself. I showed up and learned that today is a huge ONE DAY SALE. Oh dear. As I walked through the handbag department, the frenzy in the air was palpable. Women were walking around with ten or more handbags. Other women were throwing handbags aside as they searched through the clearance bin. I felt nervous and like I was going to miss something very important, even though I had no intention of buying a handbag. It was like I was back with the toddlers.

What's valuable and why? The politics of play, sharing, and limited resources. All complicated stuff that apparently we never outgrow.

Pictures

I'm really baffled by how Tess responds to pictures and drawings. She treats them like they are real, and she wants them to pop off the page. Just now she opened a book with a drawing of a dog licking a man affectionately. It made her cry because she wanted that dog to lick her. She stood there grabbing at the picture, pointing it out to me, asking me for the dog. One time she was inconsolable because she couldn't get a piece of cake out of a book.

She will also carry pictures around as if they were real things. Someone sent us a card with a picture of a dog on it in September. She still has that card! It's been chewed around all of the edges, but she doesn't lose it. It floats around with her toys, and this week she insisted that we take it to the park. She walks around carrying it, talking to the dog.

A couple of days ago Tess noticed a small image of a book she likes on the back of another book. (The Sandra Boynton books promote other books on the back.) She was reading Moo, Baa and saw the picture of Blue Hat, Green Hat and came to me whining for the book. It's a book we have, so I went and found it in another room and brought it to her. When I handed it to her, she looked at it for a bit. Then she looked back at the small image of the book, and back at the book, and back at the image, and back at the book. Finally she reached out and took the book. It was as if she was amazed that her small image wasn't the actual thing. Or she wondered how I made the book appear. I'm not sure, but it tickled me.

First Sentences

The first sentence that I've really noticed started in the last couple of days. Tess has started saying, "I need ____"

"Mama, I need up."
"I need apple juice."
"I need hat." ("Hat" in this instance meant a Hershey's kiss. She got one yesterday and called it a hat, and put it on her head, and thought it was such a funny little hat.)

This morning she also started grabbing the books off of Eric's side table saying, "I read. I read." And she does some other simple sentence construction like "Doggy eat." or "Baby nigh nigh."

More Imaginative Play

Before eating her breakfast this morning, Tess had to push the small chairs from her table over to the big table and get Doggy and Monkey set up just so.

After breakfast we were in her room, and I opened up a box full of blocks. She pulled out two circular blocks and started "drinking" from them. "Mmm, hot tea," she told me. Then she brought a semi-circular piece into the kitchen, calling it "apple."

She plays with our statues and figurines, draping a washcloth over one so it could go "nigh nigh." She wanted the egg cups so that she could play tea party with them.

And here she is in her room playing with another little toy figurine. She had been quiet for a while, so I peeked into her room to check on her, found her in the rocking chair, and came back with my camera. This is what I found:

Imaginative Play

"Mmm" Tess says as she licks a toothbrush
"Is it good Tess?"
"Yeah!" She's using that excited voice that means we are pretending. So I ask, "What is it Tess?" I expect her to say some kind of food.
She replies, "a brush."

Singing

Tess's favorite songs right now are:

• Doe, a deer (from Sound of Music) - not sure what the official title is
• Wheels on the Bus (still!!) - though now she likes me to make up verses about all her favorite people in the world
• Eric sings a variation of Rain, Rain, Go Away when she's going to sleep
• A, B, C's

She's started singing along to songs that she hears regularly. She loves songs with hand motions. She dances at every opportunity, often pulling electronic toys into a room, pushing a button for some music and then dancing beside the toy for 30 seconds or so until she has to push the button again.

Happy Birthday to Me

My present to myself this year was a big Chocolate Date Cake. I don't remember where I got this recipe. I remember my friend Lauren mentioning a Chocolate Date Cake, and I think I then did some internet research to get this one. I made it for Tess's first birthday. Fortunately my birthday gave me a valid excuse to make it again.

Chocolate Date Cake
(makes 1- 10 inch round cake)

2 cups pitted dates (chopped)
1 1/4 cups hot coffee
2/3 cup butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 lg. eggs
1 cup white flour
1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter cake pan (line with parchment paper and butter it also.)

2. Loosely fill 2 cup measuring cup with dates and cover with the hot coffee. Let sit for 5 minutes.

3. Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs and add vanilla.

4. Sift flour, cocoa powder, salt, and soda together. Add to butter and egg mixture. Combine by mixing gently.

5. Blend the dates and coffee in a blender and add this to the batter.

6. Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips on the top. (Or don't, it's goo either way.)

7. Bake 40-45 minutes. A toothpick should come out basically clean.

I made two of these on Saturday night. Paul and the Rice family helped me eat them, and now I'm enjoying the large quantity of leftover cake. It makes me so happy. :)

November

We enjoyed a particularly lovely October. Eric's aunt Hanne and Uncle Jan visited from Germany. The weather was fabulous almost the whole month. We drove out of the city for beautiful walks to see the changing leaves. We enjoyed Halloween celebrations, visits with friends, and did I mention that really nice weather?

So this week has been a bit of a reality check. November 1st was cold, and it has stayed cold. Plus it's getting darker, the leaves are almost gone, we spent almost the whole week inside, and Tess has a bit of a cold or something. I've had neck and hip pain and also been feeling tired and run down. So here's what we've been doing to get by.

Tea Parties with Monkey and Doggy:

 And more Shaun the Sheep:

And long naps.

Friday I had my birthday and Eric and I enjoyed a long-overdue date.

Eric leaves on Friday for a week-long business trip to Thailand. When he returns, his cousins from Germany will arrive, and we will host 18 people for Thanksgiving. So it's a busy month. Paul came over last night and helped us put together our new dining room table that will allow us to seat the crowd.

 

And that's how our November has begun.

Progress

This week, when I brought Tess to her babysitter's she went running to the door. In weeks past, she would walk with me to the door, then turn around and start walking away. Now when I go to leave, she calls out, "bye, bye!" and returns to her play. It warms my heart.