Why yes, I am stuck in bed being sick and bored

[ailbhe]

I got my Pampers email today about Linnea's development. They seem to have low expectations of verbal ability.

However, Linnea is 1¾ today, so I might as well make a note of things.

Shapes: Square, Circle, Triangle, Star, Heart. She thinks rectangles are doors, which is fine.

Colours: Red, yellow, blue, pink, purple, orange, green, black and white are absolutely reliable.

Letters: A, B and C. They're in her shapesorter :)

Vocabulary: We can't possibly keep track now. She correctly uses "too", and often says "I know, I know," and "OK?" but hasn't used "and" yet that I've heard. She's good with names, and never uses personal pronouns other than I/me. She can't pronounce L or R reliably.

Gross motor skills: She can do anything. Never, ever say "she'll never be able to reach that" or similar. Rope bridges and ladders are very popular.

Fine motor skills: She draws things, tells me what they are, and I can see why. Airplanes have visible wings, faces have eyes and noses and mouths and frequently ears, wheels are always coloured in, snakes are wiggly. But she isn't nearly as precise in her movements as Baby Iz, who could probably already work in a cotton mill or similar, and opens stairgates by undoing the latch with her fingertips.

Linnea also likes and asks for specific nursery rhymes and finger-games. She nurses her toys, and has tried to nurse me and Rob, and the cats. She sings to herself, but I can never recognise the tune - I suspect she's making them up, because when she wants a specific tune, she asks me and sings along.

She says Hi, Hello, and Goodbye, when she's in the mood. She almost never gets a question right when asked - I have a feeling she knows when she's being tested. Some people get more wrong answers than others.

She's very helpful about finding rubbish and putting it in the bin - genuine rubbish, usually. She's also good about fetching stuff or putting stuff away when asked.

She says "Thank you Meemee/Daddy" a lot. It's killingly cute.

Comments

[richtermom.livejournal.com]

Wow. Linnea is more advanced than K in a few ways, and I thought K was doing pretty well. K only gets "yellow" right reliably, with blue and red and a couple other colors maybe at more than 50%. She can identify a couple letters, and she counts up to 3. She's getting VERY good at climbing, and she sings along with many songs. K's almost 3 months older than Linnea.

I've said it before, YOU ROCK. You're a great Mom.

[ailbhe]

I forgot about counting. Up to five, so far. And advanced is all very well, but does K pick up strange dogs by the neck? Hmm?

I don't think Linnea's advancednessness is much to do with my momming though. I think she was born this way, more or less, and all I had to do was not quash her. And really, really not care how much paint she gets all over my house. My in-laws didn't like that.

[richtermom.livejournal.com]

I just make sure the paint is generally washable. I figure our house has been around since 1909, so it's seen a lot of other kids and it's still standing. One more won't hurt it. :^)

K just REALLY likes petting doggies, but she doesn't pick them up. Probably because I've got her grabbed by the hood half the time.

[datagoddess.livejournal.com]

And really, really not care how much paint she gets all over my house. My in-laws didn't like that.

Paint comes off, or can be painted over. Besides, it's abstract art!

They don't like that you allow her to do it? Are they willing to come over and clean it up?

And not quashing exhuberant personalities is a fabulous mommy skill, which makes her personality very much your work :-)

[ailbhe]

They're not sure it will come off the plastic window surround. I figure it's only picking up the red (it's still faintly pink after washing), so I can paint it all with the red, later, and no-one will notice. Especially if I paint the opposite wall some dark red colour - it will look like it's reflecting on the white plastic. Ha.

"...and all I had to do was not quash her."

[feetnotes.livejournal.com]

yes! this, together with providing her with safety (sfaihp) and an interesting surroundings'n'challenges, is incredibly important; from personal observation, i'd say a tiny minority of my friends, but a majority of parents, spend a hell of a lot of energy (and lungpower) quashing their kids - or ignoring them - for the sake of a quiet and comfortable life.
when i was doing the term's teaching practice at longlands secondary school for my p.g.c.e, the majority of first year boys'd lost pretty much all interest in learning anything outside of playground football, football scores, current school crazes & skiving [a]. finding ways to wake 'em up & re-motivate kids' natural interest & excitement at learning anything & everything new shouldn't be a major battle with more than a tiny minority of 'em (though hooking them into longer term study, once the initial excitement's subsided somewhat's an important - indeed essential - knack to have, or learn) - and there it was, for more than half of them; and they were new into the "big kids' school" just the term before :-((

[a] - and the girls' secondary school teachers [b] said pretty much the same was true of their first years, with the substitution of pop stars, and make-up, and form popularity/friends+best friends social competition
[b] - yes, two single-sex secondary modern schools side-by-side...



i agree; you're doing brilliantly well - and must be near knocking yourself out, a lot of the time, keeping up with her; it's not just a full-time job - it's harder work than that (and that it's so rewarding doesn't reduce these demands upon you).

Re: "...and all I had to do was not quash her."

[ailbhe]

Ah, well, school, now, is unlikely to feature greatly in Linnea's future. Unless she wants it to.

[k425.livejournal.com]

Linnea is incredibly bright - not surprising, thinking about her parents, but she also has the right environment for learning in.

[tammylc.livejournal.com]

I got my Pampers email today about Linnea's development. They seem to have low expectations of verbal ability

I think it's more like Linnea is just exceptional.

[helenprev.livejournal.com]

Linnea is way, way, waaaaaaay ahead of Felicity, who is more or less exactly the same age. I know Felicity is a little behind developmentally but Linnea is definitely exceptional and has exceptional parents too! :-D

[ahruman.livejournal.com]

Even wide rectangles?

[ailbhe]

You mean, a door on its side? Sure. And a heart is still a heart when it's upside-down.

[nicolechan.livejournal.com]

Do you mind if I add you? I'm with you in the August 2006 babies group.

BTW, I think your daughter is ahead of her age group, very far ahead. I don't think my daughter was doing all that you listed until she was 2 or so. She sounds like a cutie :)

[ailbhe]

Add away. I expect she'll normalise later. I hope she's not as far ahead of her age group as I used to be; it makes life very hard.

[flybabydizzy.livejournal.com]

yes, this is very hard. Especially if she were to attend an ordinary school that didnt cater for distinctly un-ordinary pupils (sorry, migraine closing down word centre of brain) My kids were advanced, too, tho not as much, or as well parented as yours. After the initial spurt of life learning, eg, language, I tried width of learning - at age 4 ds knew more about dinosaurs than a class of 6 year olds we met in the museum - came away with a prize from the guide for knowing so much! School soon knocked all that out of him, especially when his special needs surfaced, labelling him as dim, disruptive and lazy. 14 years later, a diagnosos of dyslexia and dyspraxia later, he is heading for a degree in Computer Science. Now he is out of the compulsory school system, he is back to the happy toddler I remember - albeit a 6ft 2inch 16 stone bearded toddler!
A Rant about school administrators will appear in my blog when my head clears enough to journal.