December 14, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
Morgan can dress and undress herself entirely and easily, though she usually would prefer help.
She has moved to a big girl bed. That was about a week before Thanksgiving and we haven’t had any falls to the floor yet.
And she can write her own name. For a while now she’s been able to do the M and the O. But then she’d ask you to do the R-G-A-N. Then she moved on to just asking for the R-G and then she’ll finish up with the A-N herself. She can do the whole thing herself (I’ve seen lots of evidence on her art from school), but if Jim or I are around she still asks for help with the R-G. My guess is they refuse to help her at school so she does it there, but not at home.
And, in general, she’s just a ton of fun these days.
November 16, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
They are having a canned goods drive at Morgan’s school this week. The teachers talked to the kids about it last Friday. As we were driving home that night Morgan was adamant that we had to stop at the store on the way home to buy canned goods for the families that don’t have enough to eat. We told her that we had some things at home and that we would get some more at the store over the weekend, so we’d be sure to have something in hand on Monday morning. This was okay.
Cut to Monday morning…Morgan is super excited about taking her canned goods into school for the families that don’t have enough to eat.
Cut to Monday evening pick-up…Morgan wasn’t a great listener at school that day, so we were talking to one of her teachers about that. And she lost at a game of musical chairs mere moments before leaving (this is actually what freed us up to leave). And so on our way out the door she starts balling. I ask why she is crying (it could be any number of reasons) and she says (through tears) that she didn’t get to give her canned goods to the families that don’t have enough food! She misunderstood the nature of the canned good drive and thought that she would actually be giving the food to the hungry families herself that day. And she was distraught that she hadn’t done so. It brought tears to my eyes. Of course, I was also having to tell her about the importance of good listening and to remind her that we don’t hit our friends. But, still, it was very touching.
September 26, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
Morgan hasn’t taken a bath since June or July. It is all showers all the time. Now she even washes her own body (though I have to name the body parts to remind her), gets her own hair wet, tries to shampoo her own hair, and rinses her own hair. There have been a few times when I get to hang out in the bathroom, keep an eye on her, and only help with the shampooing. It’s almost relaxing!
And on logic…the other night we were driving in the car on the highway and she was worried that it was dark out (how could we see?). I told her that our car had lights on the front to help us see. She complained that she couldn’t see the lights, so I pointed out the headlights on the oncoming cars and told her we had lights like those. After a moment she said “if I can see their lights, they can see the lights on the front of my car!” Which is true. And surprised me.
She has also discovered that the turning of the steering wheel is associated with the turning of the car. She thought that was quite cool. It is a little unclear what she thought the driver was doing before discovering this, though she does know the driver turns the red lights on on the back of the car (the brake lights) to tell other drivers to slow down.
September 4, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
We just got back from a long weekend at the beach. Good times had by all and photos to follow soon. But I have a short story to tell.
We were trying to coax Morgan onto the beach and away from the pool (which was, admittedly, a very nice pool). So I told her I’d buy her some pails and shovels to dig in the sand and I took her into the hotel gift shop on Friday morning. And we pick up an assortment of pails and shovels. Done. Then she spies a My Little Pony type thing for sale. Two little ponies, one pink, one purple, a comb, a brush, and a couple of other such things. She wants it. I say no. And then I say “maybe we’ll get it before we leave, for the car ride back.” And I immediately forget about the whole thing.
Fast forward to Sunday morning, as we are talking about how we are going to go to the pool one more time before heading home. It’s the 3 of us talking and she says “well, I think I want something to take home with me from the trip.” And for the briefest of moments (before I remember the whole pony thing) I’m wondering how she knows what souvenirs are (does she want a sweatshirt? a hermit crab?). And Jim (looking slightly puzzled) asks her what she wants. And she sort of hems and haws for a minute or so. Until finally…”I don’t know. I was thinking about something, maybe something like a pony.”
Not only did she remember the whole pony thing (with no additional discussion between Friday and Sunday morning), she knew to bring it up before we left, and she wasn’t completely straightforward about what she wanted. She didn’t say “Mom, you said I could get the pony before we left” but rather went through a rather winding, elaborate, and earnest set up in asking for it. The kid is getting good.
August 8, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
Morgan (hands on her hips): Mommy, I am going to count to 3 and if you don’t blah, blah, blah, you are going to your room!
(brief pause as she stares me down)
Morgan: 1…2….3. Okay. Come with me!
Me (trying to stifle the laughter): Morgan, you are not the boss of me. You cannot send me to my room.
On the positive side, if this is how she sees me, it’s not so terrible. I wouldn’t have been embarrassed to have that all go down in public (obviously, since I’m talking about it here).
August 4, 2011 - Posted by Jim - Comments Off
We got the lab results from the 3-year checkup, and the nut allergy news is promising.
The only nut/peanut allergen (of those tested) that had any reaction was peanuts, which is down to .47 kU/L (IGE) from 1.48 last year. Almonds, sesame seeds, cashews and pistachios no longer meaningfully register. <.35 is the cutoff for “indistinguishable from 0″. 4 is the cutoff below which they’ll begin doing food challenges at age 4. In the forums and support groups and so forth, it’s not unusual for kids with serious reactions to be in the 20-100+ ranges.
Morgan’s only reaction so far has been local contact swelling and blistering (as opposed to systemic), so her allergist is quite optimistic.
So, another year of strict avoidance (including of all foods “processed in a facility that also processes nuts”) and if her IGE tests come out anywhere near this well, they’ll start food challenges.
July 18, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
Morgan was stung by a wasp last night at the pool. She was playing in the kiddie pool and a bug was perched on top of her head. I went over and kind of waved it away (successfully). At this point I wasn’t sure it was a wasp. Then it landed in the water in front of her and before I could stop her, she reached out and wrapped her hand around it (she said later she was trying to get it out of the pool). And then screaming.
We gave her some Children’s Benadryl (which we always carry with us) and kept an eye on her. No allergic reaction. While that is reassuring apparently bee stings are a different venom, so we’ll still have to watch out for an allergy there.
We actually ended up staying at the pool, getting dinner and a frozen treat and playing some more.
July 17, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
Morgan and I were reading a book about a baby hanging out in the womb (a womb with no view) before he or she is born and the baby is complaining about how it has nothing to do. So Morgan asks “How do babies get in mommies’ tummies? Do mommies eat them?” Seems like a reasonable guess, but in fact, no, that is not how babies get in mommies’ tummies.
July 5, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
Morgan has developed both an fascination with and a fear of bears. Her eyes light up when she is doing the ‘going on a bear hunt’ bit with the ‘one wet shiny nose, two big googly eyes, and two big fuzzy ears.’ She clearly finds it highly entertaining. And she can pretty much do the whole thing herself.
On the flip side, she often asks one by one about each exterior door in the home, asking if they are locked. When I confirm that they are she is relieved and says ‘good, no bears can get in.’ We have told her no bears live around here. They live in caves which are very far from here. That doesn’t seem to help. Though Jim told her that the ‘no solicitors’ sign as we come in the neighborhood says ‘no solicitors and no bears.’ She has mentioned that several times.
July 5, 2011 - Posted by Molly - Comments Off
The AAP book we have lists some milestones that many children hit by the end of the 2nd year (i.e., their 3rd birthday).
Movement milestones: Climbs well; Walks up and down stairs, alternating feet; kicks ball; runs easily; pedals tricycle; bends over easily without falling. She hits all these except perhaps the walking down stairs while alternating feet. I’ve seen her do it before, but she doesn’t do it consistently.
Hand and finger skills: Makes vertical, horizontal, and circular strokes with pencil or crayon; turns book pages one at a time; builds a tower of six blocks; holds pencil in writing position; screws and unscrews jar lids, nuts, and bolts; turns rotating handles. She can do and has been able to do all of these things for quite a while. Among the more interesting tricks is her ability to reach up and turn the deadbolt, either letting herself out of the house or locking us on the outside of the house. And she is now able to write an M and an O when she signs her name. And she will then say “I’m going to do the RGAN different.” And then she makes a separate and distinct scribble for each of the four letters.
Language Milestones: Follows a 2 or 3 part command, such as ‘go to your room and bring back the teddy bear and the dog’; recognizes and identifies almost all common objects and pictures; understands most sentences; understands physical relationships (on, in, under); uses four and five word sentences; can say name, age, and sex; uses pronouns (I, you, me, we, they) and some plurals (cars, dogs, cats); Strangers can understand most of her words. She knocked all of these out of the park ages ago. She knows her last name as well as her first. She knows the name of the road we live on and the road prior to that. She knows the name of the city we live in. We pass 2 gas stations on the way home and she often says “When there is one gas station we say gas station. When there are two we say ‘gas stations [with an emphasis on the final s].’”
Cognitive Milestones: makes mechanical toys work; matches an object in her hand or room to a picture in a book; plays make-believe with dolls, animals, and people; sorts objects by shape and color; completes puzzles with three or four pieces; understands the concept of two. Again, she’s been doing all of this for a very long time.
Social milestones: Imitates adults and playmates; spontaneously shows affection for familiar playmates; can take turns in games; understands concepts of ‘mine’ and ‘his/hers.’ Again, she’s been doing all of this for a long time.
Emotional milestones: expresses affection openly; expresses a wide range of emotions; by age 3, separates easily from parents; objects to major changes in routine. She does all of this. She even recently has started telling me she loves me. She had dragged her feet on this for quite a while. In fact, when I would say “Mommy and Daddy love you” she’d smirk at me and say “I love Daddy.” Which oddly enough made me smile. I’m quite certain my mom thinks it serves me right in some way.