January 11, 2010
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Happy 2010!
How is it 10 days into the New Year already?! Happy belated New Year, everyone. Our year is off to a great start, but things have been busy, so I haven't gotten as much of a chance to update. Just wanted to pop on really quickly and share some pictures and videos.
Here's Derek -- he's six months old now! Where does the time go?
One of Jack's favorite pastimes is to "help" Derek play with any toy that lights up or plays music. Here he's saying, "Good job, Dee-Dee!" (That's the Mandarin word for "little brother.")
And ... Derek is now eating solids! Just really simple stuff so far, but still exciting nonetheless. My kitchen is turning into a baby food factory again.
On the left: Derek's in Jack's old high chair for the first time, trying to figure out a sippy cup. On the right: Derek's not such a huge fan of pureed peas, but we'll keep trying. He loves butternut squash, of course.
Jack's been into his Mega Blox lately. Here he's putting out a fire with some "water."
He's also making spraying sound effects. Cute!
Just some more Derek cuteness. I wish I could remember what was making him giggle in the second pic!
He loves his exersaucer!
I'm sure this comes as no surprise to anyone who knows us, but Jack's an attention-monger. Johnny and I were merely talking about the camera at dinner one night, and Jack turned to us to request, "Take picture Jack, OK?" When we obliged, he struck this pose:
"I'm cute, and I know it!" (Also, looks like Jack's mastered the old "tilt the chin down for a more flattering angle" trick.)
What good is a baby if you can't put him in hilarious positions?
We took a trip to the Madrona Marsh last weekend. It's a vernal preserve right here in Torrance. The scenery changes each season -- during the rainy months (I'm not sure when those months are, but supposedly they exist), the water level gets really high. Anyway, it's 10 acres of fun for an energetic toddler!
Look at these iconic toddler photos!
I had fun wearing Derek in the Babyhawk while Johnny ran around with Jack.
Finally, I have two great videos to share. Thanks to a PBS Kids show called Super Why, Jack's begun to show an interest in phonics. One day, he just started saying what sounds letters make. Sometimes he makes mistakes, but more often than not, he gets it right. It started with Jack saying, "Buh buh buh butterfly!" whenever he saw the letter "B" and just went from there. Tonight Johnny and Jack lined up all the plastic letters and played a game of "letter sounds." This video shows Jack's newfound skills:
And then there's this video, which just goes to show that this will be a long learning process, indeed (as it should be):
Fun stuff. I'm really glad that Jack is showing such an interest in reading. We've read to him since he was Derek's age (even younger), but never pushed anything on him. Both of us love reading, and one of our greatest hopes for Jack and Derek is that they enjoy it as much as we do (or even more). That being said, although we can take credit for Jack's love of books thus far, we can't really take credit for Jack's great letter recognition or for the phonics thing. We have TV to thank for that -- those Preschool Prepco videos got him started on letters, and now there's Super Why and Word World. While researching for one of my Examiner articles recently, I came across a statement by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that said that they don't recommend any TV for children ages two and under. I welcome the AAP to visit our house in the late afternoon, when dinner prep, bedtime and a cranky baby all collide, and not turn on the TV -- a hundred bucks says they'd amend their statement after that.
Hope everyone's having a great January so far!
Comments (7)
I never fully understood the AAP recommendation, because it doesn't seem to take into account that while Sesame Street wouldn't help a preschooler learn too much (I mean, it will, but not a 2 or 3 year old, typically), Word World and the like will help a 2 year old or so.
I think when we think of children's programming, we tend to think of "My friends Tigger and Pooh" instead.
Love the pics and the videos! It looks like you're having fun, and how did Derek get to be 6 months old already??!! And I can't believe we're in 2010 already. Geez.
to cute! i love that jack is so into phonics. that is awesome. i am sure he will be a reader if he already loves yall to do it for him... Derek is just to cute as well! i cant believe his is already 6 months old. where did the time go?? we did our nursery in the plane theme that is the same as the sheets derek is usuing in the first picture. i love that theme
Those videos are just too cute! I can't wait till Ella starts talking....it's going to be hilarious! I know i'll be laughing and smiling all the time. How old is Jack because he seems WAY ahead for his age. I'm impressed!! He definitely already knows his ABC's and i think that video has really helped him learn sounds. I was reading that it wasn't recommended to sit a child in front of the TV before the age of 2....Jack is older than that, right? I'm not very good with toddler ages...sorry!
We haven't done any TV for Ella yet, but you better believe when i'm cooking dinner with a toddler and a newborn, i'll be using some sort of educational video! I will definitely consider the one you've been using. He is such a smart little guy.
@ShamrockLover - Awww, thanks! Jack will be exactly two and a half tomorrow. I'm not good with toddler ages, either, outside the immediate range I know! I think Jack is just average for his age. He didn't really start talking until after 18 months -- I mean, he had lots of single words, but it wasn't until sometime around 20 months or so when he started putting them together in "sentences" (and I use that word loosely). Now he's talking in pretty much complete sentences, but each child is so different when it comes to verbal development. Those videos are amazing, though. Even before Jack was talking in complete sentences, he had complete letter recognition. He also watched the numbers, shapes and colors ones. This morning at the post office, as we were waiting, Jack pointed to a sign (that showed all sorts of hazardous materials that you can't mail, on diamond-shaped "caution" signs) and said loudly, "Look, Mommy! Many diamonds!" and proceeded to count them. I was proud!
Oh my goodness ... Those videos are RIDICULOUSLY cute! That's very impressive at 2.5, I think. Clearly Jack is well on his way to that summa cum laude degree from Northwestern!
@annbagel - Oooh, summa cum laude. That would mean he would one-up his mom!
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