Since my last long post, scarcely a day has passed when the kids have not done something worth reporting here. Yet such is their flurry of their activity that it’s been over a month since I’ve found time to write.
When I last left you, Solvi had yet to fully crawl, a talent she finally mastered during a “girls” weekend in San Francisco mid March. Within a week it was as if she’s been crawling all her little life, going like a bat out of hell on all fours. Still cruising and just shy of walking, one of Solvi’s new favorite activities is walking behind her push cart. The glee on her face as she “walks” down the halls is fabulous. For a couple weeks now, she’s also been standing on her own for brief periods. This proves particularly useful in dance class now that she’s able to actually boogie down (aka bounce while standing, her arms in the air). She’s got great rhythm - a fact that Grampa Hand can attest to. Solvi also climbs all over everything she can reach and has already taken to riding Oliver’s Beamer.
Making strides on the conversation front, Solvi seems desperate to join the conversation. She points at absolutely everything seeking with a grunt the spoken word and/or sign telling her what something is. Thus she has mastered a few more signs, regularly using “more,” “eat,” “finished,” “pooping” and recently adding “tree” and “bird” and “duck” to her repertoire. Whenever she doesn’t know a sign, she just flails her arms around in an attempt to communicate despite her limitations. Solvi definitely knows her “yes” and “no” nods now and will nod correctly whenever she overhears either word. She also say "baaa' whenever she sees a sheep. Our little miss social also often joins in whenever anyone laughs. She crinkles up her nose and eyes and bares all 6 oversized teeth in a big guffaw. Spoken words include: “Hi,” “bye,” “mama,” “duck” (pronounced “da”), “dog” (also “da”), “teeth,” and “tickle.” Funny story about that last one. It’s my new favorite of all her talents:
One of Solvi’s favorite books is MAMA HUGS, which is about how different animal mothers hug their babies. For each page I demonstrate with a squeeze, and cuddle, etc. About a week ago whenever I read: “Mommy monkey hugs her baby with a pat,” Solvi would pat her own head. Then a few days ago when I read, “Mommy polar bear hugs her baby with a tickle.” Solvi tickled her own belly and said, “tickle, tickle, tickle.” It is THE cutest thing ever.
Olie and Solvi play more now. They other day I caught Olie sticking a toy spoon in her mouth. Say “ahhhh,” he commanded. “Ahhhhh” Solvi complied. They also love to play peek-a-boo on opposite sides of the coffee table, both squealing with delight. And they’ve already started ganging up on us, both screaming together in the highest pitched voices you’ve ever heard. It's great!
partners in crime
As an aside, I don’t believe I’ve recorded all of Solvi’s nick-names. Oliver calls her “Solvi-Olvi.” I call her “Da Bootifulness” or just “Da-Boo” for short, and also "Boody shmoo" - corny, I know.
With the burgeoning of spring, Oliver has become increasingly interested in flowers. He can easily identify the harbingers of warmer weather: snow drops, crocuses, daffodils, forsythia and “broccoli trees.” (I think these last are cherries, but the bud clusters definitely look like broccoli.)
Oliver’s vocabulary and communication skills continue to grow with increasingly large words like liopleurodon (biggest pliosaur) and quetzalcoatlus (biggest pterosaur) and increasingly involved narratives. Oliver’s loves to engage in dramatic play, but he’s the total director and play write. His character will say something and before you can respond for your character, Oliver will direct, “You say…” One of my favorite recent character descriptions involved a seismosaurus, which Oliver said was “strong, powerful, hardworking” and “needed to go to bed.” Unfortunately, popping up in Oliver’s ever growing vocabulary are some unwelcome interlopers like, God forbid, “LIKE” and “ya” instead of “you.” All adults are put on notice to avoid these pitfalls of proper English. Olie also uses the slag version of “cool.” I let that one go because I think it’s, well, cool.
In the past few weeks, Olie has also started building amazing structures – intricate, towering high rises and even whole cities.
Oliver also continues to demonstrate his empathy for others. A couple weeks ago when my mother was due to visit, I warned Olie that he should hide Hissy due to Gramma Bird’s fear of snakes. I didn’t mention it again, but apparently he took it to heart because near bedtime on Gram’s first night I heard a blood curdling scream. Well intentioned, Oliver had indeed hidden Hissy, but unfortunately in the worst possible place – in Gramma’s bed! He made up for it the next morning though when sitting on the very same bed, he played New York tour guide. “Gramma you can look at pigeons. We have birds in New York City too.”
And lastly Oliver seems to be quite ambitious. Last night when Chad asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up, he said, “a fisherman, a firefighter, and paleontologist and a pilot.”
"Pteranodon"
