I never realized how tied up I get. There was a time in my life (I am sure many of you will remember) when you couldn't shut me up from talking about things that were bothering me. I would spew and spout about any and everything going on in my life and bore you to DEATH with how I felt about.
I have noticed in the last few years, however, that I really don't talk much about what I think and I can't help but wonder "why?" and "What's going on there?".
Over the last week or so I have been trying to trace it back to a specific time - to see if there was a point at which I went silent and it seems that, not surprisingly, I have really shut down since George's death last September.
Part of the reason is because therapy has made me better able to cope with things - so I generally have LESS I feel the need to talk about.
I have been trying for a year to reconcile the fact that I have lost my brother. It just isn't happening. There are days strung together where I rarely think about him - or when I do its with fondness and limited grief. Then, there are days when I simply don't want to think about him.
There are days when I sit on my couch at home, angry for no real reason - ever clenching my shoulders so tightly that the apples of my shoulder wind up around my ears. I sit - contemplate - and then realize that I haven't talked to anyone about anything for days. And, generally speaking, I am not easily worked up by stuff these days.
I am still plugging away on my 1yr Anniversary blog edition - its been the primary reason why I have been so absent lately. It's taking everything I have not to post it prematurely - and writing it is pretty exhausting. I will begin posting it on August 1, so I only have to wait till Monday.
If anyone is still out there and reading, I'm coming back! And it will be with a vengeance!!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
The Incredible Expanding Vocabulary
I wrote a few months ago about the mostly inaudible, mostly parent translated, vocabulary of my then 22-month old child.
Now, just five months later, her vocabulary has increased dramatically. At 22 months, she had 22 words she used to illustrate things that she wanted. Some were more clear than others - some were just plain guess-work.
I was talking to my father then other day - updating him on Olivia's newest vocabulary accomplisments. He hasn't seen much of her since we attended my brother's memorial in March and in that time she has grown SO much.
As I was sharing with him the newly expanded vocabulary list, I realized just HOW many words my kid has managed to pick up in just a few short months. And so, for my own memorialization, I present to you: Olivia's list of words...
Animals:
1) Bunny
2) Piggy
3) Elephant
4) tiger
5) Lion
6) Giraffe
7) Bird
8) Kitty Cat
9) Puppy
10) Horse
11) Pony
12) Duck
13) Cow (What's a cow say? "Mooooooo!"
Shapes:
1) Circle
2) Square
3) Triangle
4) Rectangle
5) Pentagon (close to it)
6) Octagon (close to it)
7) Oval
Colors:
1) Red
2) Blue
3) Yellow
4) Green (though she CONTASTANTLY tries to tell me that things that are GREEN are YELLOW
5) Purple
6) Black
7) Brown
8) Orange
**She isn't able to recognize ALL these colors yet, but she says them.
Kitchen Items
1) Sink
2) Plate
3) Fork
4) Spoon
5) Bowl
6) Knife
7) Cup
Food
1) Corn
2) Peas (Please)
3) Pizza
4) Bread
5) Raisins
6) Apple
7) Dip (anything you can dip into, including Ketchup)
8) Ketchup
9) Chicken
10) Hamburger
11) Cheese
12) Peanut Butter
13) Cracker
14) Cookie
15) Juice
16) Milk
17) Chex
18) Cereal
19) Coffee
20) Hotdog
Clothing:
1) Shoes
2) Sandals
3) Flip-Flops
4) Shirt
5) Pants
6) Socks
7) Hat
8) Bracelet
9) Glasses
Stuffed Animals and Pets:
1) Baby
2) Bunny
3) Bear
4) Piggy
6) Frog
7) LB ("Elbee")
8) WhiBunny (White Bunny)
9) Bailey
10) Jackie
11) Cozette
Other Words:
1) Up
2) Down
3) Upstairs
4) Stairs
5) Chair
6) Sit
7) "Coming?" (as in - "Mom are you coming?")
8) Please
9) Thank you
10) Welcome
11) Hot
12) Cold
13) Pet Nice (for the dogs)
14) Yes
15) No
16) No want it
17) Want back
18) Keys
19) Door
20) Outside
21) Inside
22) Ball
23) Balloon
24) Sun
25) Moon
26) Look!
27) See?
28) Bebo (nickname - she has a tendency to speak in the third person)
29) Mine - of course, what 2 year old doesn't know "Mine"?
30) Car
31) Truck
32) Helicopter
33) Bike
34) Plane
35) Train
36) Table
37) Tree
38) Leaf
39) Diaper
40) Towel
41) Brush
42) Breakfast
43) Dinner
44) Cooking
45) Grass
46) Walk
47) Couch
48) I LOVE YOU (my favorite, of course)
People
1) Mommy
2) Daddy
3) MeMaw
4) Poppy
5) CeeCee (Erica)
6) Steve (day care provider's husband)
7) George
8) Bubba
9) Kayla
10) Memay
Characters
1) Mickey Mouse
2) Minnie Mouse
3) Daisy
4) Pete
5) Donald
6) Pluto
7) Goofy
8) Rocket
Body Parts
1) Eyes
2) Ears
3) Nose
4) Mouth
5) Knee
6) Finger
7) Thumb
8) Hair
Shows she can name
1) Blue's Clues
When I count this up, this puts Olivia's current word count around 150 words (from 22 just five months ago!). I am not even entirely sure that I got them all (but I feel like I did)... that's INCREDIBLE to me. I can't believe how much a kid's brain can learn in such a rediculously short amount of time. Pretty soon, there will be too many to list. I wish I could stop time. I really do.
Now, just five months later, her vocabulary has increased dramatically. At 22 months, she had 22 words she used to illustrate things that she wanted. Some were more clear than others - some were just plain guess-work.
I was talking to my father then other day - updating him on Olivia's newest vocabulary accomplisments. He hasn't seen much of her since we attended my brother's memorial in March and in that time she has grown SO much.
As I was sharing with him the newly expanded vocabulary list, I realized just HOW many words my kid has managed to pick up in just a few short months. And so, for my own memorialization, I present to you: Olivia's list of words...
Animals:
1) Bunny
2) Piggy
3) Elephant
4) tiger
5) Lion
6) Giraffe
7) Bird
8) Kitty Cat
9) Puppy
10) Horse
11) Pony
12) Duck
13) Cow (What's a cow say? "Mooooooo!"
Shapes:
1) Circle
2) Square
3) Triangle
4) Rectangle
5) Pentagon (close to it)
6) Octagon (close to it)
7) Oval
Colors:
1) Red
2) Blue
3) Yellow
4) Green (though she CONTASTANTLY tries to tell me that things that are GREEN are YELLOW
5) Purple
6) Black
7) Brown
8) Orange
**She isn't able to recognize ALL these colors yet, but she says them.
Kitchen Items
1) Sink
2) Plate
3) Fork
4) Spoon
5) Bowl
6) Knife
7) Cup
Food
1) Corn
2) Peas (Please)
3) Pizza
4) Bread
5) Raisins
6) Apple
7) Dip (anything you can dip into, including Ketchup)
8) Ketchup
9) Chicken
10) Hamburger
11) Cheese
12) Peanut Butter
13) Cracker
14) Cookie
15) Juice
16) Milk
17) Chex
18) Cereal
19) Coffee
20) Hotdog
Clothing:
1) Shoes
2) Sandals
3) Flip-Flops
4) Shirt
5) Pants
6) Socks
7) Hat
8) Bracelet
9) Glasses
Stuffed Animals and Pets:
1) Baby
2) Bunny
3) Bear
4) Piggy
6) Frog
7) LB ("Elbee")
8) WhiBunny (White Bunny)
9) Bailey
10) Jackie
11) Cozette
Other Words:
1) Up
2) Down
3) Upstairs
4) Stairs
5) Chair
6) Sit
7) "Coming?" (as in - "Mom are you coming?")
8) Please
9) Thank you
10) Welcome
11) Hot
12) Cold
13) Pet Nice (for the dogs)
14) Yes
15) No
16) No want it
17) Want back
18) Keys
19) Door
20) Outside
21) Inside
22) Ball
23) Balloon
24) Sun
25) Moon
26) Look!
27) See?
28) Bebo (nickname - she has a tendency to speak in the third person)
29) Mine - of course, what 2 year old doesn't know "Mine"?
30) Car
31) Truck
32) Helicopter
33) Bike
34) Plane
35) Train
36) Table
37) Tree
38) Leaf
39) Diaper
40) Towel
41) Brush
42) Breakfast
43) Dinner
44) Cooking
45) Grass
46) Walk
47) Couch
48) I LOVE YOU (my favorite, of course)
People
1) Mommy
2) Daddy
3) MeMaw
4) Poppy
5) CeeCee (Erica)
6) Steve (day care provider's husband)
7) George
8) Bubba
9) Kayla
10) Memay
Characters
1) Mickey Mouse
2) Minnie Mouse
3) Daisy
4) Pete
5) Donald
6) Pluto
7) Goofy
8) Rocket
Body Parts
1) Eyes
2) Ears
3) Nose
4) Mouth
5) Knee
6) Finger
7) Thumb
8) Hair
Shows she can name
1) Blue's Clues
When I count this up, this puts Olivia's current word count around 150 words (from 22 just five months ago!). I am not even entirely sure that I got them all (but I feel like I did)... that's INCREDIBLE to me. I can't believe how much a kid's brain can learn in such a rediculously short amount of time. Pretty soon, there will be too many to list. I wish I could stop time. I really do.
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