Month: December 2009

Flashback: Why are all these hands coming at me?

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“I’m feeling shy.”

Austen sometimes struggles with feeling caution and uncomfortable when she first enters a situation. Even when at a party at a friend’s house, you see her standing around quietly for the first ten minutes before she starts partying like her wild self.

Her tendency to need a warmup period and to start slow causes her to cling to the people she’s familiar with. She gravitates towards the friends she’s known since she was 6 months old. Her preschool teacher insists that she is friendly with all the kids, but Mommy worries when she seems flustered upon first entering the crowded classroom. She always looks for Jack, who’s her oldest friend in the class.

Imagination and Fiction

Austen has an amazing ability to recall storylines and retell them (albeit leaving things out). She is so imaginative, constantly talking to imaginary people, sings made-up songs, talking in her own silly language, laughing at noises and pranks. Our favorite inside joke: “How do you spell TV?” The creative side of her keeps blossoming.

Often fantasy and reality are blurred. At a birthday party she got incredibly upset when a magician pretended to cut Gage in half with large plastic scissors. She cried and yelled at him about “hurting her baby.” The guests were thoroughly amused but Austen took it all very seriously.

Throwing things

Gage’s throwing has gotten out of hand. He tosses his bottle, his pacifier, and his food in anger. He’s very strong and can throw heavy things like phones and remotes. No more laughing when he does it.

Scurrying down the hall …

… toward the library, Gage tries to outcrawl Mommy, who is following him on foot. He knows he’s not supposed to go into the library (where Austen’s dangerous craft supplies are in easy reach), but he sees that the door is open, so he tries to reach the easel before Mommy can catch him. Once there, he quickly pulls himself up to his feet and grabs a piece of giant chalk, trying to hold onto it with all his might as Mommy twists it out of his hand. He’s going after what he wants whether you like it or not.