Claire, aged (almost) 2

[pyat]

Claire is the most energetic and fearless 23-month-old toddler I know. On Thursday evening we dropped Elizabeth off at her music class, and Claire and I explored Burlington's Central Park.





Claire flings herself down slides that Elizabeth is afraid of, and boldly tries to climb ladders and poles intended for much older children. One of her favorite games is leaping off the back of the couch. She's small for her age. Her one-year-old cousin is the same height as she is, so watching Claire is a bit like watching an animated doll.

When Elizabeth was this age, she was talking in complete sentences. Claire has trouble forming words, but her Ewok-babble is consistent and purposeful, and she understands just about everything we say to her.

Comments

[velvetpage.livejournal.com]

It's getting a lot more frequent that I listen to her babble and suddenly an entire sentence pops out at me, complete with more-or-less accurate pronouns. She's talking, and she's talking in whole sentences, beyond what is expected for a child her age - but her diction is behind other kids her age so we don't usually understand her.

Over the summer I'm going to take her to the local Early Years centre and see about talking to their speech pathologist, but I suspect a lot of it will just be time and growth. She's smart as a whip and stings about as much, that's for sure. :)

[oakthorne.livejournal.com]

That's how it was with my younger brother, Chad. I actually used to literally have to translate for our mother, who couldn't understand a word of his "Chadese."

Then, suddenly one day, he was clear and intelligible. :) Very nearly overnight.

[hannahmorgan.livejournal.com]

Same with me and my older sister - she used to have to translate my babble for my mom. Later on (when I was 19, and about to have my wisdom teeth out) it developed that I had a very short frenulum (the little membrane that anchors one's tongue to the "floor" of one's mouth") . The surgeon offered to snip it for me - which I declined - but he did say that it might very well have contributed to my talking problems as a toddler.

(This next part's more for pyat: But it's been my observation that second children with very bright, articulate, helpful older sibs do talk later - I think they don't *need* to be understood as much as their older sibs did. And I think we as parents depend more on our first kid talking to figure out what they want - by the second one, you're a bit more informed as to the needs of young children. But that's just my opinion based on my limited experience.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

I suspect this is the case. And I suspect her daredevil nature comes from us being more laid back about letting her wander, and from watching her big sister.

[zorinlynx.livejournal.com]

Awesome :) Claire has not yet learned fear. Hopefully this doesn't bring you undue burden as you try to keep her from hurting herself on a constant basis!

Nice photos, by the way. Using flash properly is something many people fail utterly at, including myself sometimes!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Thank you, Zorin! I wish I had a better camera, but from time to time I'm surprised by the quality of shots I can get.

[foomf.livejournal.com]

She already speaks Ewok? Coool! Proto-geek! :)

[pyat.livejournal.com]

SHe's on the road to it!

[ladyringo.livejournal.com]

Your daughter is absolutely beautiful. <3

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Thank you, on her behalf! She just pointed at the screen and said "Yubnub" when I told her.

[ladyringo.livejournal.com]

What does "yubnub" mean? ;)

[pyat.livejournal.com]

It means "Hooray!" in Ewok, though for Claire it has multiple meanings.

[mrs-dm.livejournal.com]

Yes, she does sound very much like an Ewok. Perhaps you could dress her up as one for Halloween.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Hopefully by then she'll be talking. I should be recording her babblings now, before language takes over!

[koogrr.livejournal.com]

She is amazingly cute.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

She surely is!

[mar2nee.livejournal.com]

She's so cute.

Adam has always been like that, as well. He could climb before he could crawl, and always scared the crap out of people. Drove him crazy if I tried to stop him, though, so my usual phrase became "I don't recommend that." Hard to believe, now, but at 2 he was climbing to the top of backstops, or walking along the highest bleacher, just because he could climb up it.

He still likes to be at the top of trees, and he and his friend Eric, well, I don't even want to know why they come back from the conservation area covered in mud and soaked through.

About talking - kids who are advanced with motor skills often fall behind verbally, and vice versa, during their second year. Won't hurt to have Speech and Language have a listen to her, but doesn't sound worrying at this point.

[pyat.livejournal.com]

He still likes to be at the top of trees, and he and his friend Eric, well, I don't even want to know why they come back from the conservation area covered in mud and soaked through.

Maybe you should introduce him to the local LARP groups?

[mar2nee.livejournal.com]

Because they like 13-year-old gamers, or because that would keep him out of the creek?

[pyat.livejournal.com]

No to both! I think he has to be 16 or 17, and they tend to get very dirty.

[mar2nee.livejournal.com]

So, it would end up the same, then. I wouldn't really want to know what he was up to, and he'd be messy when he came home!

[pyat.livejournal.com]

Yes, but you'd also have to get him a costume and pay entrance fees!