WhitneyBruch's Blog

Budding Language / Thoughts

whitneybruch — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:17:52 +0000

Whitney’s just started over the past couple of weeks combining words/thoughts. We took Russell to the train last Friday and ALL WEEKEND she kept saying, “dada choo choo” indicating that Daddy had gone on the train. Since he was away last week she missed him a lot and started going to bed with his hat clutched in her hand. “Dada hat” is what she calls it and she points out every other daddy and hat we see during our days. She also likes to talk about what Daddy does, so I hear a lot about how he sleeps, goes to the bathroom, and of course takes the train. She must not think he does anything else!

We went to the playground tonight and I noticed that she was trying to communicate that there was no steering wheel on the “car” she was driving. She notices the absence of features. She also has a keen memory- we went to that particular playground over a week ago with a friend and she pointed out to me exactly where we had sat for a snack and where the other boy had his diaper changed.

She’ll say, “choo choo no” when she expects but does not see a train. She’ll also say “no” when a bag (of Cheerios) is empty.

She loved kicking the ball with Grandpa today.

Better Memory Than Mommy

whitneybruch — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:50:36 +0000

Whitney’s increasing ability to communicate makes me realize that often her memory, particularly related to visual experiences, is better than mine. We went to the zoo on Friday with Jonathan. The previous time she and I went to the zoo, we saw a truck delivering food for the small mammals. When we walked by the same spot, even though there was no truck at the present time, Whitney made her sound for food, “mmmm,” indicating that she remembered that there had been a truck there before. She also gets very upset when we walk by the Great Ape House and do not go in– she knows that building!

When we drive to Grandma and Grandpa’s house, she also demonstrates her developing memory. She points to the specific bridges (or overpasses I guess) that the Metro crosses and says, “choo choo.” If there is no train coming across the track, she’ll say, “no,” to communicate that she knows a train might be there but isn’t at that moment.

Russell taught Whitney a word this week. I was pulling up a map on mapquest while she was in my arms and yesterday she pointed to the computer and said, “map.” I had no idea how she knew that but then I remembered that Russell has been reading her his high school history textbook and they have been looking quite a bit at the US map on the back of it. So Russell is helping develop her geography skills perhaps since if she inherited mine, she will need all the help she can get.

We went to Daingerfield Island yesterday to look at boats. Whitney looked at the water and said, “quack quack,” suggesting that she was expecting to see ducks. We have not been to Daingerfield Island since October so I know that she hadn’t remembered them from that trip, but that she has developed an association between ducks and water. When we saw the ducks, she wanted to feed them rocks and sticks. We’ll bring bread next time!

Whitney is also showing a great sensitivity to being reprimanded. There have only been a couple of times, once when she was scratching my face with fingernails that needed to be cut, once when she was combing Grandma’s hair and hit the comb on Grandma’s sensitive knee, and once when she banged something on Russell in play, when we have said, “Ouch- that hurts,” not even in an angry voice, but just in a shocked and displeased tone. All three times, Whitney got this very sad frown and backed away from us. She burst out in tears two of the times. It was clear that she values our acceptance and love so much and does not want to do anything to displease us.

Communication Gone Astray

whitneybruch — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:48:05 +0000

Poor Whitney has not been feeling well this week and it turns out she has a virus. The past two days, her feeling ill has led to many more tears than usual, exacerbated by her strict interpretation of our patterns and a rigid mindset.

Yesterday Whitney did not want to put her pants on when we were on our way to take Chompers outside. I told her that we wear pants when we go outside and the pants eventually got on despite a great deal of protestation and unfortunately tears on her part.

This morning, we had about an hour to kill before leaving for her doctor’s appointment. I suggested we go for a walk. She got very excited and went to the laundry machine and started banging on it. I could not figure out why she was screaming at the laundry and assumed it was because she wanted to play more with the piece that captures the lint (she had just taken the lint out of it as I shifted the laundry from washer to dryer). I finally opened up the dryer and she pointed at the striped pants she had worn the day before, which were still wet. She had apparently noticed that I placed them in there when I filled the dryer. I tried to explain to her that we need to wear “pants” but not that pair to go outside, and showed her another pair for her to wear that was dry. Poor thing, she was so confused and could not understand that a) she didn’t need pants because she was actually wearing a dress, and b) she could wear other pants and still go out. She screamed forever as I took the rest of the laundry out of the dryer and put only the striped pants in the dryer so they would dry more quickly. Eventually she ended up wearing the nearly dry (although a little wet) striped pants.

With pants on, we went outside to the car to get her shoes, which I had left in there yesterday since she fell asleep on the way home from Grandma and Grandpa’s house. As soon as I opened the car door, Whitney went, “Woof Woof,” the sound she makes to indicate not only dogs but in this context that she was prepared to go back to Grandma and Grandpa’s house. When I put her shoes on and tried to explain that we were going for a walk, she screamed and just wanted to crawl into the car seat to go to see Francis, Minnie et al.

So I put her in the car seat, damp pants and all, and off we went quite early to the doctor’s appointment. So much for a walk! Usually she loves frolicking but poor thing, today she was so rigid and could not make sense of what I was trying to say to her.

More Words

whitneybruch — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:35:36 +0000

trash
button
clap
pepper (as in green)
dirt
neigh (what the horse says)
train
tree
down
orange
yellow

Favorite song of the week: Itsy Bitsy Spider. She puts her index fingers together to indicate she wants to hear it- VERY cute. Favorite activity of the week: using the watering can to water one particular plant, again and again!

Expanding Vocabulary and Thinking

whitneybruch — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 20:13:03 +0000

Whitney’s vocabulary is expanding each day. New words are: chicken, squash, meow, bread, run, jump, pat, doll, library, pool, goat, toes, tail. I notice in her articulation that she is mastering different vowel sounds and is starting to say the sound “t.” I also notice that she is developing a fondness for verbs- run, jump, splash, pat, sing (her singing voice is too precious), dance, are all entering her vocabulary too.

She continues to make a snoring sound often when pointing the remote toward the TV because I told her that the TV is sleeping. When I ask her, “What does Frances say?” She’ll respond, “Woof woof.” Same response for “What does Minnie say?” However, when I ask her what Chompers says, she sneezes. When I ask her what Grandpa says, she gets a big smile and blows kisses. When I tell her we’re going to Harris Teeter she gets all excited and says, “balloon.” (We always get a free balloon there.)

She’s gotten very social and will wave hi and bye to other drivers and passengers as we are driving. She likes to give pats to her “friends” and definitely recognizes the kids in the neighborhood. When we go to a play area, she will often scamper off in the direction of the other kids and will sporatically run back to me to make sure I’m still there and watching.

Order is important to Whitney. She brought me her dress (which was on the floor because I was going to have her wear it yesterday) with a hanger and after I hung the dress on the hanger, she brought it to her closet. As I was cleaning the car the other day, I brought in several balloons (from Harris Teeter) and thought she could play with them while I cleaned up the other toys. She got very upset though that the balloons were inside and insisted that they go back in the car where they belong.

Gestures Galore

whitneybruch — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:46:43 +0000

Cindy asked whether Whitney’s gesturing a ton and the answer is YES- enough to warrent another post. So these are the major gestures she uses:

pointing ususally with left hand at anything she’s talking about
both hands up flapping to signify dancing when she’d like to hear music- this gesture is applied to both the computer since I’m always using Rhapsody and the radio
she’ll bang her hands with a pretend hammer when she hears banging
of course tons of clapping especially when she’s proud of herself
she’ll guide my hands to place food on her spoon or fork if she’s struggling since she is really into trying to use utensils
she’ll decide which clothing item she’d like to wear (or not wear) and will guide my hands to show me that she’d like me to help put most often certain shoes or socks on
cleaning- she’ll use a towel or paper towel to “clean” windows, tables and chairs
splashing with her hands
tons of waving
whenever a dog or baby is nearby or visible she’ll blow kisses

Starting to Talk

whitneybruch — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:40:09 +0000

So I’ve been meaning to keep track of Whitney’s language and her first words. Where I have a difficult time is that her “words” are often decipherable to me but not others, including Russell. Also she often says the beginning sound of a word but doesn’t have the articulation for the entire word, so does that count? I’ll list below what it is that she says (and what that means) and attempt not to resolve the debate about whether it counts as a word.

“Per” – Chompers
“No No No” – Usually used to tell Chompers not to do something, invoked when Chompers is digging in the dirt or trying to eat table food
“Boon” – Balloon (as in “I need one right now” if we’re at Harris Teeter or Trader Joes)
“Nigh Nigh” – I’m tired and ready to go to sleep
“Bye Bye” (if said to me then because she wants to do something like leave a park or eat sand and she is dismissing me so she can be sneaky)
“Hi” – she’ll often say this when she picks up the phone and hold it to her ear
Ma- Grandma
Dada – Russell
Bpa – Grandpa
“soo” – spoon
“wa wa” – water
Woof woof- I see a dog and know they bark
Ooom- the sound a cow makes but with the sounds backwards
baa – sheep sound
imagine a snort sound – the sound a pig makes AND/OR a sleeping sound
book
this
that
hot
eek a poo – peek a boo
“Ball”
uga uga uga uga hoo hoo – the sound a train makes
stuh – strawberry
bear
bare bare bare – blueberry
bird
shoo (shoe)
yum yum yumm (I liked the taste of that)
bubble
ack ack ack (the sound a duck makes)
fuh (fan)
“Ahh” – I’d like to brush my teeth
beep beep (often used for electronic beeps like the microwave or a car horn)
ba ba – Barney (when she says this she’ll hold the remote and point it toward the TV so I understand the message in context- when I told her today that Barney was sleeping then she snorted her sleeping sound)
boom boom – the sound a trash truck makes
burbie – burp
moe – more (whatever she was eating, unless it’s broccoli slaw or carrots)
“UmmUmmUmm”- milk (as in, I want some now!)

I’m sure there’s more but I can’t think of any off the top of my head.

Whitney’s favorite activity these days is water play. She can fill and empty cups and spoons for hours. I’m also noticing a beginning of pretend play as her stuffed animals often need to have their diapers changed (yes they wear diapers!), are thirsty for water and milk, and sit in car seats.