Its been a while since I posted about Wren's daily games and Herculean abilities so here goes.
Chatter box in a strange language
Wren can speak his own version of English. It has some resemblance to the one we speak but can require imagination to understand his dialect. He says the following words in his own way:
bu-bye
ello
dada
mama
teezzy (Kitty)
bub-bil (bubbles)
muk (milk)
vroom (car)
baa (sheep)
he snorts for a pig
he goes "aaar" for a tiger
He signs:
UP
MILK
NO (vigorous head shaking)
Waves BYE-BYE
Waves HELLO
ALL-DONE
CHANGE (for diaper change)
Understanding Instructions
It is clear that Wren understands what we are saying and has a sense of the routines of the day. Last night, when Josh mentioned getting a book, Wren went to his room and returned with a board book. (By the way, he loves reading books.) I tell him its time for bath and he toddles off to the bathroom. If I suggest he gets a ball he looks around and fetches one for us to play with. Sometimes, if one is not in sight, he lies on his belly and peers under the couch and table to see if a ball is under there. In the early mornings (yes, he is waking pre-dawn again) I suggest he plays with his animals and he goes to the cupboard and starts offering me pigs and Dalmatians and tigers until I turn on the light.
A Fascination with lids
Wren has a few passions that are all his own. Firstly, he is obsessed with lids to containers - the smaller the lid the better. His favorite are bottle lids. He doesn't play with them as much as feel a very very urgent need to replace a lid I remove. If he sees me take the lid off the milk carton to pour some into cereal he lurches forward out of my arms hooting in alarm until he can grab the lid. He replaces it on the carton and twists it to try and fasten it back on. Unfortunately, he continues to hold the lid while twisting both ways so the lid seldom engages on the thread but I manage to satisfy him by screwing it on and putting it away. He is really upset if I leave a lid off. For example, while making vegemite toast I often leave the vegemite jar open. He will yell and hoot until I allow him to replace it.
Fear of foam and cream and slime
Wren's greatest antipathy is for slimy, creamy or sticky things. He hates having anything clammy and wet on his hands. This week the poor babysitter offered him fingerpainting. He was curious until he touched the paint and it remained on his hand. Then he became inconsolable until cleaned up. He dislikes foamy soap on his hands and is actually afraid of the small pieces of soap left in the soap container since he had a bad experience with them (I don't know what). He is horrified by the kids shaving cream soap Frost played with in the bath once. The moment it is squirted into the water or on the side of the bath he cries and reaches out out out, signing "all done, all done" and trying to climb out if I am not quick enough. He does not mind dry dirt or mess on his clothes... its just the wet squishy stuff on his hands that bothers him.
Pounce pounce BONK!
Wren loves to pounce on soft things. Put him on the bed near a stuffed animal or pillow and he stretches tall and makes the most almighty belly-flop into the soft thing. He does not have good aim and sometimes pounces head long into the side of the bed or smashes his head against my nose or Joshua's eyebrow as he overshoots our soft bellies. Still, the joy of pouncing is eternal and he can be distracted from just about any bad mood by a (naked) bed pounce.
Cat bashing, or "gentle" flesh and fur clutching
He still loves the cats but is only marginally better at molesting them. He throws things at them and chases them under tables but if reminded he clutches their fur gently and strokes their air above their bodies for a few moments. Then it is back to grabbing chunks of cat or thudding in joyful hoots. The only exception is when Kitty Haiku is sleeping on one of the dining room table chairs. SHe likes the nook when a chair is pushed in under the table and Wren has learned from a painful scratch that she is not very tolerant of being abused while there. So, every morning he checks under the table and if he finds Kitty Haiku asleep on a chair he shouts and points in a warning cry until I acknowledge that its "kitty, sleeping, carful!" Then he walks off, satisfied.
Throwing dangers
It is not only the cats who are in danger from Wren's enjoyment of throwing. Wren is a good thrower but is unable to differentiate between safe and unthrowable objects. While it seems self-evident to most of us that balls are for throwing, Frost and I suffer daily injuries from being hit on the head or body with heavy missiles such as blocks, plastic animals, cups, books and even cutlery.
Wren is about to wake from his nap so I shall have to go and get him up. I shall try and post our pictures from playing outside in the garden yesterday. It is very cold in Seattle at the moment with sheets of ice remaining all day in the shade. Still, we are so excited by dry sunshiney days that we are outside at every opportunity getting red cheeks and lowering reserves of hot chocolate in the pantry.
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