I love to explore.

  

A usual Sunday Afternoon

 

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

BOO! Happy Halloween everyone! Today Zoey had a full day of Halloween excitement. She came home from daycare with a bag full of goodies. She wants to thank everyone at daycare for the wonderful Halloween treats! Then we went over to Nana and Grandpa's house to show off the costume. We went trick-or-treating at one house. Zoey went completely shy, but of course charmed everyone. We are now home and warm--getting ready for bed.

Can you guess what we are?

Quack!

Zoey and Nana discussed her fashionable duck purse.

Zoey thought is was hilarious how Daddy wouldn't share the candy with her. If only she knew that she won't get to eat any of her candy--would she still think it was hilarious?

This is from last week, but I wanted to show how Zoey points. We have dubbed it the "hex" because when she points to things she tilts her head forward toward the object and points with three fingers. It is pretty funny and makes us giggle.

Zoey's Language Acquisition

As language teachers, Judy and I are both fascinated by Zoey's growing vocabulary. In addition to all the words Zoey can clearly say, she also imitates our words more often than ever before, and she's begun to babble in phrases and sentences. While it's fun to hear all of her words and share, "Guess what Zoey can say now," I think it is even more fun to observe the associations she makes with the world of words around her.

Here are a few examples that come to mind. This could be a growing list, so stay tuned...

* We put in a space heater in our basement for the winter. Zoey discovered the buttons on the front, and as a big fan of pushing buttons, Zoey turned it on and off. We cautioned, "Be careful Zoey, that can get hot." Upon hearing our warning, Zoey bent close to the heater and blew on it, just like she would for food that is hot.

* When singing a refrain in Lauryn Hill's "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" ('Ohh-oh, pree-ty, ba-by"), Zoey points to herself and says the word "Baby."

* When looking at books, Zoey likes to point at each character to have us name what they are. Later, we'll tell her to "point to the bear" or "can you find the doggie?" When we ask her to point to the "Daddy" or "Mommy" in a picture, she turns around and puts her hand on our chest.

* While reading a counting book, Zoey will tap each page and say "Doo, doo, doo" as if she's counting too. This is more mimicking behavior than an acquisition fumble, but it is cute and leads me to another mistake. The number 10 is represented by "Ten Different Buttons." When Zoey hear's the word "button" she immediately pulls at her shirt, trying to find her own belly button.

I know there's more, but that's all I have for now.

Cheers!