language bursts

The end of summer and early Fall proved to be a time of language bursting for E & E. It is such a sweet experience to watch as your child suddenly is trying a new word, or phrase, sharing a thought or showing more of their personality. It always seems like when these bursts in learning happen it's an overnight discovery that will all of a sudden just take on steam, and then just like that, they arrive at a new place in their learning and growth.

For Eloise, it's trying out sounds and forming words. She probably has at least 50 or so words by now and seems to pick up on new words quickly, now that she's getting the hang of this whole talking thing. My favorites are - dog (stated emphatically and loudly DAAAA whenever she sees one), baby (because it sounds so breathy and sweet), nuggle (for snuggle), and daddy (another emphatic word that she shouts whenever Pete walks in the door). She is picking up new words all the time now. So, so sweet to hear her little voice!

And Ethan has experienced a HUGE burst in his ability to express his thoughts out loud. In July he had a speech and language assessment at the recommendation of our pediatrician and one of the growth areas for him to work on was his spontaneous speech - sharing and expressing his own thoughts. And boy has he grown! We haven't enrolled him in any speech therapy or anything because it was end of summer and beginning of preschool and so we wanted to let the dust settle before adding something else to the schedule, and now it doesn't even seem as if we need to. He is talking all.the.time. I feel like I could give a thousand examples but here are just a few from the last week or so:

Me - "Ethan, it's time for a bath for you and Eloise, let's go upstairs."
Ethan - "No, I don't want to take a bath. I want to watch Dora on the iPad."
Me - "Ethan, after bathtime and we put Eloise to bed you can watch Dora."
Ethan (immediately, to Eloise)  - "Come on Eloise, let's go upstairs. I'm going to help you with the bath."
Me - "Ethan you should take a bath too you know."
Ethan - "Um, no Mommy. Not et. I'm going to help Eloise with the bath and put soap in her hair and read her a story and put her to bed."

(And so he did.)

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I had to wake Ethan up from his nap today so he wouldn't sleep too long and have a crazy late bedtime. The moment I woke him up he opened his eyes and said
"It was a black potty at the park. A black potty with a dryer." And then tried to go back to sleep.

A few minutes later after he was more alert I noticed a screwdriver that he had slept on, on his bed.
Me - "Ethan, what's this???"
Ethan - "Oh. It's a screwdriver."
Me - "Why do you have a screwdriver?"
Ethan - "Oh, I had to fix my deedees (aka his blankets). It's not dangerous Mommy."

ethan's first day of preschool

August 19th, 2013, my boy began a new chapter in his life (and ours) and started preschool! He ran into school on that first day with gusto, and I somehow, some way, was able to keep my tears on hold until I dropped him off and was safely back in the car. A new chapter. We are so excited, and so proud of our little man.

summer highlights: how eloise learned to walk

It started with a few steps taken in late June at Grandpa Todd and Grandma Bonnie's house. A few weeks later she was starting to get really brave.

And by the end of the summer, she was just a walker, cruising around. Our girl. Sweet Eloise.