This month Sonia enjoyed a couple fun visits from family and improved on her language concepts from last month, leading to many new parenting and learning opportunities.
The month started out on a rough note, however, as Sonia developed the separation anxiety that is pretty common at this age. After a couple days and nights of sitting in the rocking chair until she fell asleep, and sleeping on the floor when she woke up in the early morning hours crying, we found that if we left the door to her room open while she slept, she was totally fine. We did spend some time explaining to her where Mommy & Daddy sleep and where she sleeps which might have helped too. Now at night, she wants to chat through our lullaby, saying things like “big light off, night light on” and “Mommy leave door open.”
The first visitors were Grandpa Wes and Auntie Cindi. Sonia enjoyed lots of playtime and reading time while they were here, and got out to the park, to downtown to visit Daddy’s work, and to the LA Arboretum.
The next weekend, Auntie Julia came and we visited the California Science Center for the first time, and Sonia got her first pony ride and time in the petting zoo at the farmer’s market. Sonia didn’t know what to make of the big airplane at the science center but loved to watch the fish at the kelp forest exhibit. She even enjoyed the touch tank.
Throughout the month Sonia’s language development continued as she added more consonants to the end of her words, improved her grasp of the negative, and expanded her use of full sentences. She can now say things like “Sonia don’t like cereal,” and answers with a long “Noooo” when we ask her if she was supposed to do something she isn’t for example.
I’ve also noticed for the first time that she is asking us to tell her how to say certain things. She will point to something and say “this,” or be doing something and say “What Sonia doing?” until we tell her. Then she will repeat what we say, and after a couple times of that will be able to answer with it when we ask her or will say it randomly. This girl really narrates her life and will say things over and over and over until we say “Yes, Sonia” and repeat it back to her. Of course I will not complain because it makes things so much easier that she is so verbal!
One of Sonia’s new sentences, “Sonia need that” has led us to a new parenting opportunity – sharing. As expected at this age she doesn’t like it when someone else plays with her things, both at the park and with Dalton. We’ve been slowly teaching her that we take turns, that she can have something she wants when someone else is done with it, and that she will eventually get back whatever is hers. I have already seen improvements, unless the thing she “needs” is something of ours she’s not allowed to have, like a knife for example, then it often still ends in a melt down.
In general, Sonia has taken a more positive interest in Dalton, asking to “see Dalton” and even “Sonia hold Dalton” once in awhile. She is becoming more gentle with him when she’s paying attention, but still often doesn’t think about him being there and almost hits him while she’s trying to get up on the couch next to us for example.
Since Sonia is now able to say “Sonia poop in toilet” and knows when she is pooping, we decided mid-month to make an attempt at toilet training. She peed in little potty the first day and pooped in it the next, but after that began to fight it, so we decided to wait it out and not push her.
Physically, Sonia continues to get more stable, and has added hanging and jumping in one spot with her feet off the floor to her repertoire of skills. She also likes to “do yoga” with Mommy and has a pretty good down dog. She just makes me nervous though because she likes to stand on her head, which I always envision ending in a broken neck.
At the end of the month Sonia took the big step of going to toddler school for the first time.
With all these developments under her belt, she of course did better than we ever would have expected. I was planning on doing a whole week of half-days with me there at the school, but on Day 1 she was already asking to stay for nap time, on Day 2 she said goodbye to me half-way through the morning and napped there with ease, and on Day 3 she was totally fine that “Mommy say bye bye right away” and spent the whole day there happily. We’ll see if she still enjoys it once she realizes it is all day every day, but we are already noticing that she is singing more songs, and has memorized the names of her teachers and a couple kids in her class. I almost feel like we’ve been holding her back by not starting her in school sooner.
Things are already getting to the pace that I am losing track of all the new developments each month since there are so many. Now that Sonia is starting school, I expect that the developments and number of new parenting challenges to increase even more. I hope we are ready for it, because she certainly is!