Thursday, July 19, 2007

The Language Barrier- "Dora Toast"


She's vocal, verbal, oral, whatever you want to call it, Ella talks a lot for a kid who's not even 2 years old yet. She can put sentences together, ask for the things she wants and needs, even tell you what hurts. That is, if you can understand her.

It's a fine art. One that I'm starting to master after many days and hours of practice. But Troy, has a hard time decoding the "Ellanese."

Today was a prime example. She was frustrated and furious with me because she wanted "Dora Toast." She asked several times, then she got demanding. You'd think it was a simple request, but I have no idea what she wants. I have toast. Dora is everywhere in this house, but that's not what she's asking for.

Here's my solution. "Show mommy what you want." I pick her up and she points to the shelf in the pantry with apple sauce. "Toast." "Toss." "Sauce." I can see where that comes from. But the Dora connection is still a mystery. So I set her down at the table, hand her the apple sauce, and she points to her place mat. It's Dora and we always use it for messy food. "Dora Toast." Now, it all makes sense.

One of my favorite "Ellanese" words was a mystery for days. I even asked Laura if she could help decode. But it baffled her as well. It came up every time she watched a DVD. It sounded like "David" or "Elephant." I called it "dayfunt." What is "dayfunt?"

I'd ask her to show me and she'd point at the TV cabinet. I'd show here anything with an elephant, but that didn't work. Finally I said I don't know what you want. If you want something "different" you have to show mommy what it is. That's it! DIFFERENT! dayfunt, DIFFERENT!! I'm a genius!

It may take me days to understand my child, but I will make every effort. Eventually, we'll bridge this barrier. In the meantime, I'm the best translator she's got!

Home Alone Survival Skills


We've officially been at this for 2 weeks. (Mom at home with Ella and Alex.) We're all sick, (1 sinus infection, 1 ear infection, 1 bronchitis, and who knows what Troy has) but we're all still alive and we still like each other!!! That has to count for something.
Troy says Ishould consider the good days and the bad days... they all equal out. Well, yes, I guess they do. Yesterday was a bad day. I had a fever, Ella was a maniac, Alex was miserable, and Troy decided to take his sick day by working--- just to get out of the house. That oughta tell you just how rough it can be when everybody is sick at the same time.

But today's another day. It was a good one. We weren't well enough for play group. (no need to infect other kids) But, we did venture out for lunch with my department at work and the kids were both on their best behavior. We had fun, they napped well, and mommy got some work done. I love days like this!

Seriously we've had some truly amazing moments together since mommy started staying home. I love them so much and I realize each day just how much joy I'm getting from their everyday lives. I'd miss that if I had to go back to the office. This is a great experience and opportunity for me. I hope to enjoy it for years to come.

I also feel a lot less guilty about leaving them with a babysitter. They went to Laura's Saturday night and Troy and I actually went out on a date. We saw a movie, we had drinks, etc... best of all, Laura needed our car for the baby seats, so we had her 1969 Mustang convertible for the night. We felt like newlyweds...
Of course, we came home, Alex had a fever overnight, and I slept sitting up with him on the couch, but that's parenthood. Wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.