Toddler Talk

When I accepted Isabelle's referral, she was 6 weeks old. I was under the impression that it would take 8-10 months, maybe a little longer with laws changing and things like that. But I still thought I'd be bringing home a baby. WRONG!

I find myself the mother of a toddler. Yes, I missed a lot of the first 15 1/2 months, but in a lot of ways knowing that I only have 3 months to be a 'stay at home mom' this is a great time to do it! She's old enough to do things with and interact with and take places, etc., etc., etc. It's fun.

But one of the issues from the beginning has been language. When I thought I'd be bringing home a baby I didn't think too much about language because babies aren't talking (that's my profound statement for the day...). And they aren't following directions or things like that.

Isabelle, on the other hand, was old enough when I got her that she had some understanding of the language being spoken around her. She responded to things the foster family said to her. I've tried to keep some of the Spanish (especially commands, which I remember well from high school Spanish...) and we read books in Spanish and I say the colors, animals, etc., in Spanish but I know it isn't the same.

Since she's been home I've felt like I'm talking to someone who understands nothing I say. Granted, I know some of that is age. But some of it, I know, is language and I feel bad about that. Even the things I DO say in Spanish I know are with such a different accent that it's probably almost as foreign to her :)

The last few days, though, I've really felt like she's beginning to understand me. I can say, "Isa, the crayons have to stay at the table," and she puts them on the table. Or if she doesn't, she gives me that grin that means she KNOWS she's being bad. I think she understands.

I've felt like she understands "Isa, put it back." That goes for the dog treats (yeah, she's found that drawer and Faith LOVES it!), dish towels, bibs, and all the rest of the stuff she hauls out.

She knows "Good job" means she did something right and she claps.

So tonight in the bathtub I thought I'd test things out, confident that we really had had a breakthrough. She was still sitting in her little tub but I had gotten out and was standing over by the sink. She looked at me and started to stand up in her tub. Multiple times I've said "Isa, sit down" or "Isa, sientate (sit down in Spanish)" and she sits.

So the first time she stood up I said, "Isa, sientate." She sat. It happened again. So I said, "Isa, scratch my leg." She sat. It happened again. So I said, "Isa, scratch my bu**." She sat.

Go figure. Maybe we haven't really gotten anywhere with language. Oh well.


This is how you can find Isabelle much of the day. With her books. Plural. Here she's got Brown Bear, Brown Bear in English and in Spanish. Tonight I started reciting the book in Spanish from memory and she went over and got it and brought it to me. That's something!

Isabelle doesn't read A book. She reads bookS. If she wants me to read to her, she brings at least 2, and usually 3 or 4. She looks through one while I read another one. It's very cute :)

As you can tell, it doesn't seem to bother her if the books are upside down!

This morning Faith was too wet from being outside and had too much grass stuck to her feet to have free reign of the house, so I put the baby gate up and put her in the laundry room ("her" room). She was crying to get out and Isabelle was crying to get in. Finally I just put them both in...here they are with Isabelle trying to get Faith's leash on her...I'm convinced she's saying, "Here, put this on and I'll set us both free!"