(This is just after she fell sideways into the onions. You can see some of them look a bit haggard but they survived and we’re eating them now. Homegrown onions are delish!!).
Like most parents, Ritchie and I have put a lot of emphasis on Jessica’s communication skills since she was very small. Now that she’s getting quite a little vocabulary, it’s exciting to hear her articulate things that she’s thinking or that she’d like to do. However, she’s almost two so we get quite a few tantrums mixed in too. We’ve been trying to help her “use words” to describe why she’s upset. Is she sad? Frustrated? Hurt? Does she want to do something differently? Is something really important to her? So this last week we had plenty of tantrums but there were also a few triumphs. Like this afternoon while I was napping, Ritchie was playing quietly with her downstairs. She told him she wanted to watch Word World (if you have not seen this show, please watch it. It’s on PBS and I think it’s genius). He suggested that they read a book first, then watch Word World (she understands the “first, then” sequence). So he got out the book and started reading at which point she said “I ratha watch Wor-World.” Oh man. I love that kid. Of course, she got to watch Word World.
The other day while we were in the kitchen she spied some candy she’d gotten from a party last week. She told me she wanted a “piece candy” from “up dare.” I told her I thought we could have some later (I think this was before lunch). To which she replied “Mommy, I reaeee [really], reaeee, reaeee wan piece dat candy peas [please].” So I usually repeat it and say, “Oh, I didn’t realize it was that important to you, yes, you can have a piece of candy, thank you for saying please.”
I know that the day will come when I may still have to say no, but for now, I’m happy to reward this sweet girl for communicating appropriately and not throwing a tantrum :).
Comments