Abby's communication update

Abby is communicating with us so much!  Not only is she endlessly repeating words we say, but she is using her words to tell us her thoughts.  She is also putting words together to make some simple sentences.  

As my SLP eyes watch Abby absorb language, it makes my heart proud that she picks it up so quickly and readily uses it.  I'm amazed at typical language development.  Doing what I do, I often lose sight of what "typical" language and overall "typical" development looks like.  Abby, thankfully, grounds me with that realization and can only make me a better SLP.  On the flip side, it saddens me so much that Abby has surpassed the preschool children that I work with in terms of speech, language and overall communication skills.   

Just last night Abby and I were hanging out in the front yard and Abby signed "closed" and said closed.  She then pointed to the front door.  Without looking, I responded with something like "Oh, do you want the door closed?".  She nodded with a huge grin on her face knowing that I understood her correctly.  I then turned to see that our front door was standing wide open.  Thanks Abby for telling Mommy!  

New words Abby is saying:

outside
no mama
no dada
hi dada
bye dada
up mama
Papa (Grandma isn't there yet)
more milk
please 
more wawa (water)
eat (she's doing this much more spontaneously to tell us she's hungry!)
sunglasses
pants
shirt
Elmo
other sesame street characters - Grover, Oscar, Ernie, Bert, Cookie Monster, Big Bird...)
change (knows sign too!)
diaper (knows sign too!)
clean (knows sign too!)
I pooped (she will tell us when she poops!...I think potty training is just around the corner!)
Oh, snap!
Aw, man!

She is beginning to learn her colors - she's learning them in sign language too.  

I love to have her repeat silly words: "bomb diggity" as in Dada is the bomb diggity.  

I have a feeling that we'll be spending lots of time outside this spring and summer as Abby loves to be outside!  In a stroller, on a slide or just running around the yard, she loves to be 
"ow-si"  and cries when we have to come in.  

Book Worm

Who doesn't love a good read in the car?  And the book is that much better when I'm wearing my shades!  

Plane Fun

Over Easter weekend, I got to fly solo with a toddler to Kansas City.  Jealous, right?  Actually, it wasn't as bad as you may have imagined or may have witnessed with other toddlers on planes.  With Abby being a pretty laid back girl and with a relatively short plane ride, I knew I had to expect the best, but be prepared for the worst.  I prepared myself with several things.  I then responded in red in how successful the items were for Abby and myself. 

1. New books that Abby hadn't seen before - thank you Target dollar bin!  These books came in handy - she loved having me read them and label all the pictures and words. 

2. An empty water bottle with several pipe cleaners in it. This wasn't as entertaining to Abby as I thought it would be.  It did entertain her for a short time, however.   

3. A travel sized magna doodle.  She has seen one of these before, but we don't have one, so it was still somewhat novel.  Again, not the winner I thought it was going to be, but it did entertain her.  However, she didn't care for the drawing so much as taking the writing utensil in and out (and in and out...) of it's holder. 

4. A phone full of photos of videos of herself and other familiar people, so when she requests "mo-mo" (movies), I can keep a toddler happy.  This helped while at the gate. 

5. Dental floss.  I read on a blog somewhere that their toddler was entertained with dental floss.  It's small enough to pack, so why not throw it into the mix?  Didn't even get this out.  I think the folks around me would have thought I was a looney toon if I purposely searched my bag for dental floss for my child to play with.  I did have it if I got desperate. 

6. Lots of snacks.  Don't want a hungry toddler on your hands. Fo shizzzle!  She was a snack queen!  Yogurt melts, granola bar, airline cookies, cheerios, goldfish, teddy grahams, you name it, I had it!

7. 2 sippy cup filled with water and milk.  The TSA folk had to check the sippy cup of milk to be sure it wasn't tainted with any illegal substance, but it came in handy!  Of course!  Don't go anywhere without a sippy cup! 

8.  Don't tell Abby this, but I packed a pacifier too.  She hasn't used one during the day in many many months, but again, if I got desperate...  Didn't use at all.  (Thank goodness!)

The flight to KC was full, so we spent the flight in constantly changing positions on my lap (without kicking my neighbor!), standing akwardly in between my legs (she could only face me, if she turned away, she had to lean back), or standing/sitting in the aisle.  There was a younger baby across the aisle, so Abby was slightly entertained in the "baby" across the way. 

Nothing beats a good ol' airport McDonalds breakfast!

 

A repititious game of put monkey in stroller, take monkey out of stroller, put monkey in stroller, take monkey out of stroller....repeat...



At the end of the first leg - a happy (and quiet) toddler!

After a quick nap in the car, we joined Grandma's friends for a girls' lunch!  Abby was a delight!

On the way home, I was equally as prepared with activities.  As I was boarding, the flight attendant even saw that I had a child and automatically changed my seat to an empty row (score!).  I was excited for Abby to have her own area to play in and not be worried about kicking our neighbor.  I was surprised, however, that unexpectedly, she fell asleep on my chest before we even took off!  She conked out for the entire flight and woke up right when we began to descend.  I wasn't expecting it, but I'll take it! 

Overall, Abby was an EXCELLENT traveler and honestly, I knew she'd be great.  Can I say that?  Does that sound conceited if I do?  Well, I said it.  Our next plane ride will be later this summer when we fly to Boston for our Davis family reunion!  Hopefully, I can say the same for that trip.  Plus, I won't be solo, I'll have extra hands and extra entertainment!  

KC Grandparents

While we were in KC, my dad got his "grandpa name".  WHenever I would say "Grandpa", she would say "Papa", so that is his new name.  Grandma has yet to be determined.  She says something, but I can't make out any true words in there and it seems to change every time.  So...we wait.  Grandma will get her name, I know it. 

I love the way Abby and Mom are looking at each other.

Abby often requests "mo-mo" to watch a movie on my phone.  So I scroll through my photos and videos and play this video repeatedly.  She grins from ear to ear watching herself jump into Papa's arms!  I love it!