My Heaven!

The first "swear words" that the Toddler has picked up! From me!

"My Hemel!" (Translated: My Heaven!)
We've heard it a couple of times over the past weekend.

It could have been a lot worse! There's more than these words being spoken , and Hubby and me remind each other regularly to tone it down...

I was not even aware that I use this phrase so often...


What is the first swear words that you have heard spoken by your toddlers?

Some Toddler stuff

Latest news in Toddlerville:

I love listening to the Toddler with her verbal skills at the moment.

She uses full sentences, such as "Mamma, het jy my bottel saamgebring?" (Mom, did you bring my bottle?)
I just want to eat her up when she uses the right words in the right context!
"By wie gaan ons kuier vandag?" (Who are we going to visit today?) - Yesterday morning preparing for the first day of the week
"Wat is verkeerd?" (What is wrong?)
"Voel jy sleg, Mamma?" (Do you feel sick, Mom?) - While I am panting exercising on the stationary bike.


Yesterday morning went off real smooth because she could take cupcakes to day care. They sell it for some extra money, and luckily Hubby got some in the shops the previous night. Not the same as the previous time when I had to make a plan with muffins when no cupcakes were left (Sunday night cupcake conundrum)...

The Toddler made her first stick figures on paper over the weekend. I definitely want to keep the evidence!



Potty training is going very slow, but over the weekend she announced that she was going on her own to the toilet, and proceeded to climb onto the big toilet. We were not allowed to help her...
Slowly, but surely! ( I hope!)

She had a nightmare about Bambi the other night, and woke up crying about Bambi's mother. We can only read the first part of Bambi, before it comes to the part in the story where the mother gets shot... She pages back in the book to the beginning when we read her the story now!
I think we can put the book away for a while! (I find it upsetting myself!)

What an adventure... enjoying the milestones with our Little O!

Please, please don't grow up so quickly!

But, we love seeing you reach another milestone!

(The constant ambivalent feelings... ;-) )

Two and a half years full of questions

Come and look!

Toad in garden

30 months today!

The toddler is a bag full of questions:

"Wat doen jy?" (What are you doing?)

"Wat is dit?" (What is that?)

And whatever we answer, she repeats it diligently!

She absorbs everything!

This is a wonderful age! I want to freeze-frame the cuteness of her!

The cute things she does

A couple of cute things The Toddler is doing at the moment. It is all connected with her command of acquiring new uses of the language...

Saying all Teacher-like: “Dis reg!” (It’s correct!), when we are doing or saying something that she approves off!

She uses the “Yes!” in a tone which says: Of course! (What else?)

She saw a plane passing by over the play ground, and told the teachers at day care the “vlieghuis” (fly house) broke the clouds.

I thought she said yesterday that her nose is bothering her. I gave her a tissue, and told her to blow her nose. She literally blew on it with her breath, and chucked it over her shoulder... A giant miscommunication! We had to smile! But it made me realise how trustworthy she is. She does something just because I told her to do it, without questioning me...

Today when I went to pick her up at day care, she started to run to me. But stopped abruptly, and turned back to the teacher: “Sweeties!” They had made a cookie and Smarties autumn tree in class today, and she had remembered to ask for it when going home!

She is afraid of heights! She does not like walking on the high beams or jumping into the sponge pit at the gymnastics class. But she loves playing on the jungle gym at our local mall where I sometimes cringe when she climbs onto the slide from the bottom or climbing up a rock climbing-looking wall...  It is a good sign that she only needs a bit of time to get used to the heights!

She holds the top of her bottle hold over one eye, and tells us to smile. Just as I tell her in the mornings to smile at my cell (Morning’s first photo at day care).  See the photos of this morning where I had to tell her to smile again, because she was giving me a really skew smile.

I love this age! (Huge smile!)

Toddler word creations: Flying House Bow

I want to record all the creative words that the Toddler uses while she acquires language. Her first language is Afrikaans, and it is not always possible to get the same connotation when trying to translate to English.

You tend to forget the cute word usage, as well as how they combine different word meanings.

(Don’t forget to write down these cute words. It stays a source of great delight when reading it back years later... Wink smile)

The Toddler came up with “vlieghuisboog” on Wednesday. “Vlieghuis” is her word for airplane. Literally translated it means “flying house”. In Afrikaans it should be “vliegtuig”, but no matter how many times we have tried to correct her, she still uses the same word.

We saw a rainbow (Afrikaans: reënboog), and showed it to her. The next moment she came up with this word: “vlieghuisboog” – “flying house bow”!
It just shows how the little mind works…

Cute! (I am allowed to say it!)

A year ago Thursday Blog Hop #2 – The toddler is 22 months today

Mieka at 22 months

Today, a year ago: The toddler was ten months and I was still raving about bonus days I got for taking the baby to clinic and getting a whole day to do it. She had no hair and a McDonalds play thing on her head.



Mieka at ten months

 I am joining Mommy Only Has Two Hands in her going down memory lane Thursday Blog Hop. Go and check her rules when you want to join in.

Today the toddler is 22 months. I know I say every time she can’t get cuter than his, but she does! We are really enjoying the little person she is becoming.

The vocabulary is coming along very well. I was worried at one stage, but she says a lot more than we are able to understand. She stands in front of us and give us a whole blast of words! We hear babble, but sometimes we catch a recognisable word. The head nods very seriously while she tells her whole “story”! (CUTE!)

Some more 22 month things:

• She loves drawing. She insists that we sit with her and draw with her.
• She has a fascination with “goggas” (insects). She wants to look at them, but not yet touch.
• We get feedback from the school that she hits and bites some of her class mates. I feel terrible about it! We try to talk to her. I do hope that it is a passing phase...
• When I leave her at day care in the mornings, she’s got a new thing. She does not want to kiss me, but immediately turns her head when I put her in the arms of a teacher. Then she looks out of the window until I pass on the outside and she waves to me. She smiles and she waves... That helps me a lot during my working day...

She was sick again from the weekend. Nose and ears and eyes! Nothing new! I had her at the doctor today, and now we are throwing drops in all of the “openings”. Not a favourite thing for the toddler! The doctor says that Johannesburg is the worst place for children with regards the pollution. That’s why we struggle so much with the allergies. The fact that it does not rain, makes it even worse...

What happened with you a year ago?

What little girls are made of?

I saw a discussion on Mommaliscious Mamma’s about the naming of private parts. I find it very interesting that people are still teaching their children funny or cutesy names.

The following came up:
Flower
Fluffy… (?)
Willy
Winky
Daisy
Fanny
Butterfly
Cooks
Cookie pot
Peenie
Cookie Monster

I did a quick search on Google, and saw that most of the search returned top for the use of appropriate names. We taught the teen appropriate names when she was small, 15 years back. “Vagina” and “Penis” were the only names she knew, and she had no hang-ups about it. She came to tell me a few times about children that use strange names, and it had everybody guessing for a while at the crèche. Names also like “paddatjie” (froggie), if I remember correctly.

I believe that it is much easier to make no issue about it, and to name any part of the body as correctly as possible. Badparenting believes it is a bad parenting technique, because toddlers can embarrass you when you expect it the least. Funny! (I’ve found it helps to keep a straight face…)

A family member teaches her sons about “verkeerde plekkies” (wrong places). When the Survivor series was on, the survivors were eating “verkeerde plekkies” of animals, according to them.

What do the funny names teach our children? That a normal part of their anatomy is not normal, and somehow “wrong”!

No! We are teaching the toddler the appropriate names. There’s enough for her to cope with already, and not to struggle with figuring out why there is strange names for some body parts. Hopefully not to end up with sexual hang-ups…

The toddler saying her own name - not yet

The toddler does not say her own name.  She is 21 months. She says the names of her friends, and of her sister, but not her own name. Mieka is not a difficult name to say.

She copycats us when we tell her to say something.  She does not always get it right but she usually tries. That’s why it is strange that she doesn’t want to say her own name yet... A friend with a boy just three weeks younger than Mieka also says that her boy does not say his own name. He is also more verbal than Mieka.

Mieka is pointing to us and our faces. She says “Mama”, and “Papa”. She point to her own face, and we repeat with “Mieka’s nose, Mieka’s eyes, Mieka’s ears, Mieka’s cheeks” etc. She knows and points correctly. Maybe she still thinks we are extensions of her, and that’s why she does not verbalize her own name. (?) She gets it perfectly right to say “Arnia”, the name of her sister! Arnia is very difficult to say with that “r”!

Waiting for another milestone to cross...

When did your young ones say their own names? Can you even remember? I can’t remember when the teen said her name, 15 years back...

(Photo: Mieka with her sister, Arnia, reading in the background)

The toddler uses a language of sounds

I regret that we did not make more effort to learn the toddler sign language. She still gets by with her pointy finger and lots of grunts. But I realize that she uses a lot of sounds to indicate what she wants. And it works for her, because we understand her… Perhaps the sounds are not such a bad thing, and it works on the same principle as sign language.

Sounds used by the toddler: (I hope I get it right)

“Ah-Ah-Ah” with open mouth – she wants to be breastfed
“Woef” – used for the dog
“grrrr” – ants
“sswee-ssweee” – going to the toilet
“weee-weee” – planes (with hands making a sweeping movement above her head)
“uh-uh” – anything she wants, with pointy finger
Negative “eh-uh” – NO!
“poef” – dirty nappy (with finger trying to pull nappy down)
“s-s-s-s” – fish
“hawrrrrr” – roar used for lots of animals, such as lions, tigers, foxes

That’s about it! It is remarkable that she can do so much with these sounds. Luckily we hear that she is beginning to copy us when we say something…

Related post:
The toddler is 20 months

Playing Friday Follow 40 and over. Check Java for the details at Never Growing Old.

The toddler is 20 months

The months are rolling by with the toddler! 20 months!

It is such a fun age:

She understands us. Every little task we give her, she is able to do! I love that we are able to get some communication going.

But sometimes she gives us a big IGNORE. When we ask her to tidy up, or put back something, she will continue as if not hearing us... (We know she knows that we know, but she is still able to play her little game!)

She is getting difficult! I think they call it the “Terrible Two’s” or just plain “Tantrums”. Missy wants to do what Missy wants to do, and she gets stomping feet upset when she don’t get it her way.

I think we are beginning to see the beginning of potty “readiness”. She sometimes tells us there is a “pooh”, or she starts pulling down her pants. She has an extreme fascination with the toilet, but do not want to be put on it at this stage. She has a small potty that she spends hours playing with. I see that we are going to have to exercise extreme PATIENCE with regards the potty training thing, and that you cannot force her to do anything she is not ready for...

At day care she has developed a very strong bond with Cindy, one of the assistants, and cry after her when she moves out of her sight. She even sits on the chair in front of the door when Cindy goes to the toilet. She has been crying more and more mornings when I leave her at day care. It leaves me with a feeling of uneasiness for the rest of the day. But it helps to know that she has someone specific to go to...

It is getting more and more difficult to go shopping with the toddler. Dries took her with him today when he went to shop at our local Look & Listen (music shop). He phoned the teen and me to tell us that he is bringing her to us in the mall. He was not able to complete his shopping expedition with her wanting to get out of the stroller, and complaining... It takes two of us to keep an eye on her and to shop! Going to a restaurant also takes creative skills to keep her occupied. I have to take extra titbits of food and crayons and toys to keep her seated at the table! Which does not last for very long...

We love our little girl more and more! We marvel at the wonderful unique being in our lives. She takes up all our time and our ENERGY, but we love being with her! We know it is not going to last...

Related posts:
The toddler at 19 months
The toddler is a year and a half
17 months - toddler update

Cute toddler things

The toddler is doing so many new cute things; I can’t wait for the monthly update. Things change so fast, and I am afraid I will forget some of it.


The most favourite word at the moment is “klaar” (finish). The food is “klaar”. The programme is “klaar”. The bottle is “klaar”. And the arms make a wide open swinging movement!

She even got it down to a perfect pitch. The teen caught her doing the following: she got a sandwich at day care, and saw the teen looking away. She dropped the sandwich, and when the teen looked again, she said: “Klaar!” (With conviction!)

She loves her bath. When we announce that it is bath time, she starts climbing up the stairs and we have to rush to follow her up the stairs. A friend of mine told me yesterday that her boy (who is three weeks younger) refuses to bath, and that she has been sponging him for the past seven weeks. Margot at joumaseblerrieblog also complains that her Felix throws tantrums when he has to bath.

Luckily our Mieka enjoys it and “helps” us with the washing, focusing mostly on her right leg. Not sure why (?). When she gets excited the Epizone E cream (we use it against the eczema) goes all over her hair as well! She loves doing the hair “washing” (anytime), because yesterday she came home with sticky hair (still trying to figure out what THAT was).

The sleep is a bit of a struggle at the moment. She is more in our bed, than in her cot. I suspect it was the holiday room-sharing that did the trick! Missy loves sleeping in the middle, and she kicks all the blankets off, and we pull it up again. She kicks, we pulls... The winter cold does not seem to have any effect on her. *Shiver*

The tantrums are here, but we are able to distract her. I try to ignore it as much as possible. So far it has been working. It is getting more difficult to go to restaurants. She is not as contented to sit in her table chair as she used to be. Same problem with the chair in the car as well... She goes stiff, and throws her back in an arch! (“This too will pass!”)

The teen says that Mieka seems to stay more with the teachers, than venturing around when they are outside. I see the same behaviour with us; she stays in our vicinity, and gets us to walk with her in the arms. I hope it is something that she will outgrow, because it sounds so very much like me. I was stuck to my mother's side when I was small, and they had endless problems to leave me. Luckily she goes to day care. I believe it helps a little with helping to get over the “cautiousness “(if that is what you call it?).

But: We are enjoying the personality more and more as the lights are being switched on! Really!! (no sarcasm here)

The toddler is a year and a half

Mieka & Arnia at Ballito - the nearest she wants to be at the beach

18 months! Time is flying by!


Update:

She is not speaking as much as I think she should. Just a few words here and there. The rest is still done with the pointy finger and a grunt. She’s learnt the negative uh-huh, and uses it very strategically.

We are not worried. Yet! We are also not known for our verbal proficiencies! Tracing it back to both sides of her gene pool; especially mine. Uhmmm... Mom is the guilty party! (Tongue-in-cheek)

She is a very cautious little girl. We see it now with the great experience of beach and sand. It was her second day today at the beach, and she did not want to put one little toe on the sand. Forget about going near the crashing waves! Apparently the beach is a very scary place! We left after half an hour after she dived for my breasts (for comfort), and fell asleep!

She loves her granddad and grandmother (my parents), and enjoys spending time with them. She gets them to get up by taking them by the hand. As soon as they are up and moving, she turns around, and wants to be picked up. From there she directs where she wants to go. Very smart! (She does it with us as well.)

She loves singing to us. No words yet, but wonderful mermaid songs. We can’t help but smile at the “melodies”. All made up!

She had a bit of a stomach bug yesterday, but today all was sorted. I am very glad I am still breastfeeding. I know it is one of the best remedies to keep her hydrated and get a bit of nourishment in. It really helps while we are on holiday.

It is such a wonderful time to spend it with a toddler. We are very lucky!

17 months - toddler update

Drums: Dum-Dum-Dum-Ta-Dum! The toddler is 17 months today!


Quick update: (Why it is SOOOO nice that they actually grow up!)

- The sleeping is going better and better. We have more and more nights where Mieka sleeps until 5/6 in the mornings. (Ta-Dum! Our sleep deprived nights are getting fewer and further in between!)

- She has 12 teeth. We discovered an extra four in her mouth about two weeks back. Big bonus – we did not notice teething-relate niggles! (It was probably those few many nights we did not sleep through... Who knows?)

- The breastfeeding is working well. I am planning to continue until the two year milestone, or until Mieka decides to quit. I read somewhere (on KellyMom?) that when you wait for the toddlers to wean themselves it is usually between 3-4 years of age. (Gulp!) We’ll see! I did not expect it to last as long, but it is one of the most rewarding experiences ever. And the bonus – it is very good for them! (Pat on back! You go, Powerwoman!)

- Mieka got her MMR injection on Wednesday. She was two months overdue. She had a runny nose the whole time. I was also a bit apprehensive because of the link between MMR and autism, and because a lot of babies get sick after the injection. The teen got measles from the injection 15 years back! A doctor convinced me that it is better to get the injection sooner than later... (Thumbs crossed.)

- Mieka “told” me her first story this week. I was breastfeeding her, and she started to poke her eye, and saying something like “seer” (sore). I eventually deduced from that that she got sand in her eyes at day care.

- It is going very well at day care and the new class. She enjoys the activities and singing, and we can see the difference at home. (The “lights” are brighter!) She swings and rolls her arms while “singing”, and loves-loves building puzzles and blocks and sketching.

- She prefers spending time on our hips (big back-breaker at the moment (literally)): She gets us to take her finger, and as soon as she gets us up, she wants to be picked up while she directs us in the direction she wants to go! When she does not want to be put down, she folds in her legs, and no ways is it possible to get her to stand... (This too will pass.)

Oh, we love this little girl! She is a big pleasure in our lives! And she is growing up... Very quickly! (Big smile!)

Our little Princess at 16 months; an update

(The detour at the hospital yesterday, with the abscess, got us a little bit side-tracked.)

What she is doing now at 16 months :

- I am a little bit worried about the language development. A friend said she should be speaking 10 words by now. Let me count: Mamma, Pappa (daddy), tatta, hello, Arnia... She is even calling every other object “pappa” now? And the rest is mermaid-speak. Should I be getting worried?

- The finger still points and she now comes to fetch us to walk with her. Not that it is always clear what she wants. It seems she is happy to go in any direction, as long as we are going with her.

- The new class at day care has definitely “turned on a few more lights”. She seems to be more interested in drawing, building puzzles and reading. It was a good thing to have moved her from the baby class. They also don’t have any problems with her going to sleep on the mat. She spends two hours sleeping in the early afternoon, a bit longer than the rest of her friends. (But she used to sleep twice during the day in the baby section).

- I am still breastfeeding. The two year goal is within reach! I think it is a comfort thing during the night. She loves to sleep while being latched on. I am treasuring these wonderful bonding moments. After I have seen the Avatar movie, I think of breastfeeding in the same context as the species on Pandora who latches on to the Tree and the animals with their “hair”.

- I am struggling to get her 100% healthy. She has missed the MMR vaccine at 15 months. It seems that she has an allergic type of sinus problem. I think milk is number one suspect, but I have looked on the shelves, and don’t think that soya is a good alternative. I feel a bit unsure to cut it from her diet at this stage? (Which a friend suggested.)

- She is sleeping much better. The problem is getting her to fall asleep. I feel that 8-9 is a bit late, but that is usually the time she goes “down”. She wakes up once or twice, and sometimes she goes right through until 6. I hate it every day I have to wake her for day care. Powerwoman is allowed to say it, and to keep on hating it! Not nice to be a working mother when you leave a sleepy baby in somebody else’s arms...

- She loves shoes! She has no problem in the mornings to sit down for us to put on her shoes. And she doesn’t take it off until she goes to bed at night. It was a struggle yesterday to take it off in hospital. She was trying to put it on again the whole time. She is a girl, for sure! (Smile)

Mermaid-speak

The toddler has been speaking to us in recent times in a rounded vowel–type of language. It sounds as if she is speaking underneath the water. She looks at you, very seriously, and rolls beautiful sounding “words” out of her mouth. (I am struggling to describe it.) I am calling it mermaid-speak. We do not recognise any words in this mermaid language of hers.
It is SOOO cute; we starts smiling as soon as she starts a conversation, and sometimes we find ourselves bursting out with laughter. It is too difficult not to smile, at least.
I hope it won’t impact her negatively; the fact that we are not able to hold a straight face/s.

I hope that she understands that we think she is adorable when she speaks in her mermaid language?