List #18: Levi at 17.5 months

I can pinpoint the exact moment Levi shifted from walker to climber.  It was the same time he was able to open a washable marker by himself.  Levi today is so different from last month.  It is bittersweet when he wrestles away from me to get down and roam around while outside.

This is who Levi is today:

Likes:
1.  Richard Scarry's books, especially the jumbo sized The Biggest Word Book
2.  Red trucks and trains
3.  Looking out the window
4.  The colors red and yellow
5.  Things that spin/roll
6.  Bubbles
7.  Painting and drawing
8.  Climbing
9.  Cats
10.  Being outside

Dislikes:
1.  Bees
2.  Diaper changes
3.  Fruit and veggies
4.  Rainy days

Does:
1.  Uses his hair as his napkin while eating
2.  Hugs his fire truck during book reads
3.  Slaps his cheek a bit too hard when signing the word bee
4.  Talks himself to sleep
5.  Flings his arms behind him as if flying when trying to run

Can:
1.  Recognize/sign the letters L, R, F, S, T, X, V, A, E, I  and O.
2.  Recognize the numbers 1, 2, 5 and 6.
3.  Hoist himself up on elevated furniture
4.  Blow

Says:
1.  Two word phrases regularly i.e. "red truck," "my book," "where grandma?" and "Joaquin home."
2.  Three word phrases occasionally: "Sheep eat grass," "Pop sorry hurt," "fire truck red."
3.  Four word phrases every now and then: "Levi mama want up," "egg fall broke horse."(this refers to Humpty Dumpty)

Eats:
1.  Ricotta cheese
2. Annie's crackers
3.  Tortilla chips
4.  Chicken
5.  Beef
6.  BBQ sauce & ketchup
7.  Yogurt

Drinks:
1.  Water
2.  Mama's milk
3.  Wheatgrass juice mixed with orange juice.

Sleeps:
1.  Once a day at around 11:30 for an hour and half.
2.  On the days his grandparents come, it's touch-and-go.

Wears:
1.  Overalls quite often
2.  Blue Vans (I had to hide his red sneakers--when he sees them he insists on wearing them, even though they are way too small)

Vital Stats:
Height: 30 inches, approx.
Weight: Unknown
Shoe Size: 5
Clothing Size: 18-24m

Brilliant Box

Okay.  It was 1:30 pm in the afternoon, after lunch and his afternoon siesta.  I didn't want to go to the playground just yet.  We had a box filled with packing peanuts and an hour before hitting the slides.

Levi looked at the contents of the box and said, "white."  Ho hum.

Do Right

This is our 16 month old son, Levi.  Douglas and I make decisions left and right for Levi.  Douglas and I are raising our son with so much love and so much thought.

Those with children know the gravity of making decisions.

There is a ridiculous amount of literature out there on the art of putting babies to sleep.  Pick up one book and it rallies against deadly co-sleeping.  Pick another book and it swears that the CIO (cry it out) approach is mentally damaging.   In the end parents decide.  Yet we all have the same want: to do what is right for our child and the family. 

There is a plethora of medical advice in terms of picky toddler eating.  There is the laissez faire approach that is very French ("They eat what we eat.  If they don't, they will not starve).  Levi's pediatrician advises that.  Other doctors suggest that we don't worry and give the kid vitamins.  There are also the all-day grazing and nibble tray advocates (Dr. Sears!).  

We do not always sway to the doctor's advice.  Sometimes we do.  I took Levi's pediatrician's advice and went for immunization shots all the way.  So many of my friends took a different path. 

What about deafness and language development?  

In Levi's playgroup, the majority of the children have been implanted.  Parents make that decision with the deepest belief that it is the right thing.  Douglas and I chose not to implant Levi because of the very same belief.  He came into this world with brown hair, ebony eyes that catch everything, a birthmark resembling a country and congenital deafness just like his parents.

What pains me is the fact that there is a gross failure to inform parents about language development.  For deaf children, to learn how to listen and speak is a skill.   I want my son to have that skill.  The more skills my son has, the more I can sleep at night.  

However, language precedes skill.  

From the very start Levi has had access to the most natural language--sign language.

Deaf children face linguistic deprivation when doctors decide for families that sign language will prevent them from acquiring speaking skills.  What about cognition?  Critical thinking?  The ability to ask why?  

Language spurs the ability to function in so many other areas.  With language, children are able to rationalize and internalize the world around them and develop important skills such as math skills, reading skills and oh yes, speaking skills.    

It makes my heart sing when I see parents in Levi's playgroup signing to their implanted children.  It reinforces my belief that we all start out with the same intentions: 

We want our children to rock this world.  

Word Count

 Levi talks.  A lot.  In the beginning I understood nearly everything he said because he would say the same thing over and over again.  Now he strings together words that sometimes make no sense.  For instance he says things like

Grammy Airplane

We start out with so many ideas.  Some funny, some profound, some way off track.  Some right on target.

I believed that the world stopped whenever I went to sleep.  Everything on pause.  Dark.  Screeched to a standstill and remained there until I woke up.

Whoo, glad I got out of that egocentric mindset.

I refused to eat mushrooms because I believed that elves and fairies dwelled within.  The notions children have!

As a teacher, I got glimpses of the funny ideas my students had.  One boy thought his foot was literally on fire whenever it fell asleep.  He claimed that smoke would come out of his foot if he did not stamp the fire out.  Another boy believed that when people died, they went to New Jersey because that was where heaven was.  One girl said quite profoundly, "My grandparents are always with me.  Right now they are in the coat closet watching us."  Spooky.

With the onset of language, Levi's ideas are glimmering into view.

On Friday I attempted to convey to Levi that his Grammy was coming from Chicago.  This involved complicated roleplaying and photo references of Grammy from her last visit.

Levi looked at me and signed, "Grammy airplane."  Stopped me in mid-air.  Yes, that's it.  He said it quite casually.

I wonder about that moment.  How does he perceive Grammy who comes every couple months and stays for a few weeks?  Grammy Airplane?  What does he envision?  Does he understand that she boards a plane to come here?  Or does he imagine her as a literal plane?  What about Grandma and Grandpa who come here every Thursday by car?

What notions are growing in that little wonderful head of his?  I kind of hope he'll refuse to eat mushrooms because he believes in elves and fairies.

Cooking Crayons

Levi loves his crayons to pieces.  Literally.  He holds them so hard that they snap, rendering them pretty much useless until I had an idea.  Cook the crayons!  I know, I know.  Not very original but the timing was oh-so-brilliant!  So cook the crayons we did on this wet, gray, stay-inside-all-day day..

This was Levi's  first cooking project ever.  I gathered the materials and had everything ready, mise en place:  cupcake liners, muffin pan and crayons.

We lined the muffin pan.  Levi had a field day with this...

I had to remind him that the liners were not for eating a few times.  I turned the oven to 275 degrees, the lowest setting on my stove.  Then we placed bits and pieces of one crayon in each muffin.

This turned into a whole categorizing and sorting activity in itself.  While we sorted (and unsorted) the colors, I kept on saying, "Orange crayons.  _____ crayons.  We're going to bake the ________ crayons.  The _______ crayons will melt."

Then I popped the pan into the oven with Levi standing way back.  He is terrified of anything that is labeled "HOT" by me, so he remained rooted to the spot while I slid the crayons in.  Levi peeked through the oven window to see the crayons oozing into their new shapes.

This took about 10 minutes then I took them out to cool.  Levi indicated he was ready for his nap.  While Levi napped, the crayons cooled and hardened.

By the time Levi woke up, the crayons solidified.  I was going to remove the crayons from the pan, but then I realized the value of Levi seeing crayons the same way he last left them so I left everything exactly the way they were when he went down for his nap.  When Levi popped the crayons in their new form, his face--priceless.

Levi has repurposed his crayons--they are now his special stackable crayons. 

During this project he signed "cook colors," "hot," and "melt."  He sorted the crayon pieces by color (with my help).  Labeling, categorizing and fine motor skills were hard at work play.  This simple project goes such a long way.  I just hope Levi keeps on smiling like this until he's 65.

Hat Play

When Douglas gets ready to go to work in the morning, he puts his hat on.  That is a cue for Levi that Pop is about to leave.  He signs "hat" and drops whatever he is doing at that moment to say goodbye.  He also started signing "thank you."  When he hands someone an object, he signs "thank you."  Um.  It's the other way around, sweetheart.

The teacher in me saw an opportunity.  So I pounced.