Jamie continues to entertain and be entertained. ;-)
He has learned, as you've probably seen in the video, how to stand up on the seat portion of his little riding car. Well the other day I was in the kitchen and suddenly saw the lights go on and off in the living room. Hmmm. How did *that* happen?! I went in and lo and behold, there was Jamie, standing on a chair that we had under the light switch, turning both the fan and the lights off and on with great joy. He had pulled his car up alongside the chair and used it as a step stool to get up to the chair. He was just delighted.
I mentioned that Jamie started saying die-ah for tiger and loves to find them in his animal picture book and point them out to us. Well the other morning I had on a shirt w/ leopard and tiger markings on a portion of it (normally I wear solids so this was new to him.) He immediately touched the stripes and said, " Die-ah!" ;-) His latest words are fi (fish), fa (fan), guh and stah (go and stop) and he loves to say guh, guh, guuuuuuuuuuuhhhh! when we're driving in the car and start up after stopping at a light. I notice he doesn't put a consonant on the end of any word yet. That's interesting how people, kids or adults (like with some of my adult friends learning English as a second language from Burma) will not bother with consonants on the ends of words if people will get the first part of the word. Such as gah cah for golf course (where some of my friends work.) I thought of them when Jamie started speaking in English b/c it's the same. I just emphasize the last consonant and exaggerate it for him but don't tell him he's saying it wrong. I've read that if you do that you can contribute to a child starting to stutter. So if Jamie says "Gah!!" for cat (which is all day long) then I say, "Yes!! Cat!" and smile.
Jamie seems so trusting and content with us. He is allowing David more freedom now when he's home in the evening to actually do things besides constantly hold Jamie. David got to cook eggs for dinner the other night and Jamie played in the other room. I couldn't believe it! He didn't even ask to be held (he *still* says ma for up. Does anyone know if that is Mandarin for 'up'?) as soon as David got home Thursday and Friday nights. He wanted to immediately show him where the cat was near the Christmas tree and show him his toys instead.
I'm so glad that Jamie was able to get his seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccines done. Thankfully no side effects that we notice yet. He gets the boosters in about 3 weeks. He wouldn't have been able to get the H1N1 vaccine without a regularly scheduled check up so that is good. They are telling the people that just want to bring their kids in for the vaccine that they don't have any. Too bad for them. I didn't find out until we were with the doc and I said, " Well, when do you expect to get any in since you're out?" and he said oh we have it for regular appt people!
Jamie and David and I went out with David's parents last night for David's birthday dinner. David wanted them along so his mom could help us feeding Jamie so David could actually enjoy his dinner more. ;-) It was great having them along. Jamie *loved* having his Mimi dangle a spaghetti noodle over his head and he would eat it like a bird. He also got the biggest kick out of when she took a straw and put it in a glass of ice water then put her finger over the top to stop the flow and put it to his mouth and let it run in. He LOVED drinking water that way and was as delighted as ever. He was so delighted that he was drawing his shoulders up with delight and shaking his head a little and waving his hands. It was so much fun to witness!
Tonight some friends with young kids had an early dinner get together. There were 10 kids including Jamie. One was a younger baby by about 5 months, one was older than Jamie by about 5 months and the rest were 3-6 years. Oh, they all had a blast! Jamie LOVED it. Well he love3d the toys as much as the kids, lol. We knew he was a social kid at the CWI (orphanage.) He was all about looking through the multitude of great toys and running around with a huge grin on his face as the big kids raced around with toy trucks. Later on that evening there David and I found a large, life-sized soft stuffed kitty cat and I put it over by Jamie to see what he'd think. In the past he's been afraid of stuffies but lately he's into his small stuffed squirrel more (carrying around on his car and feeding with plastic spoon) so I gave it a try. Oh boy! He was sooooo sweet with the cat stuffy! He took it with a big smile and immediately loved on it, hugging it and laying his head along its head several times. Then he turned it so he could see its face and stroked the plastic whiskers gently. Oh my, my eyes starting getting a tear welling up in them, he was so gentle and really loving with that stuffed kitty! I want to get a life-sized one now for him! That was the first time I"d see him act that way with a stuffed animal. It made me think how much he wishes he could do that with our cat. Believe me, he would if she'd let him! Today and yesterday he went to her and tried to pick her up, gently putting a hand on either side as she stood on the floor. Well you know she wanted none of that and walks away. She is too delicate and old for him to be able to pick her up anyway, but I wish she'd let him love on her more. He gets such delight from going over and brushing his hand across her fur and he's been easy to correct with her. Also, and this is a bonus for me, he just started enjoying screeching at the very top of his lungs two days ago. UGH. Well, it was obviously bothering our cat, so I told him, "Shhh! Quiet Jamie! (saying in a whisper) Kitty cat doesn't like loud. Be quiet!" Then Jamie made noises at a normal level (not quiet but normal, lol.) Twice he's done that. I know he'll go into screeching fests galore I'm sure, but I like that I might be able to use the kitty not liking it as an excuse to get him to stop! ;-)
On the pictures, I wanted to take a bunch of pictures of Jamie with him angled so I could get those adorable 'balloon' like cheeks while he still has them! I wanted to capture them b/c who knows how long they stay. Those cheeks are utterly adorable and love caressing them. So I included a close up w/ his cheek for you to enjoy too. ;-) (Notice his trademark 2 fingers backwards finger suck. He has callouses on both fingers, lol.)
Jamie really loves his picture books (ones with real photos) and asking what everything is by pointing. The other night he decided he wanted to look at three books at once and so I included a picture of him 'multi-tasking'. ;-)
He has learned, as you've probably seen in the video, how to stand up on the seat portion of his little riding car. Well the other day I was in the kitchen and suddenly saw the lights go on and off in the living room. Hmmm. How did *that* happen?! I went in and lo and behold, there was Jamie, standing on a chair that we had under the light switch, turning both the fan and the lights off and on with great joy. He had pulled his car up alongside the chair and used it as a step stool to get up to the chair. He was just delighted.
I mentioned that Jamie started saying die-ah for tiger and loves to find them in his animal picture book and point them out to us. Well the other morning I had on a shirt w/ leopard and tiger markings on a portion of it (normally I wear solids so this was new to him.) He immediately touched the stripes and said, " Die-ah!" ;-) His latest words are fi (fish), fa (fan), guh and stah (go and stop) and he loves to say guh, guh, guuuuuuuuuuuhhhh! when we're driving in the car and start up after stopping at a light. I notice he doesn't put a consonant on the end of any word yet. That's interesting how people, kids or adults (like with some of my adult friends learning English as a second language from Burma) will not bother with consonants on the ends of words if people will get the first part of the word. Such as gah cah for golf course (where some of my friends work.) I thought of them when Jamie started speaking in English b/c it's the same. I just emphasize the last consonant and exaggerate it for him but don't tell him he's saying it wrong. I've read that if you do that you can contribute to a child starting to stutter. So if Jamie says "Gah!!" for cat (which is all day long) then I say, "Yes!! Cat!" and smile.
Jamie seems so trusting and content with us. He is allowing David more freedom now when he's home in the evening to actually do things besides constantly hold Jamie. David got to cook eggs for dinner the other night and Jamie played in the other room. I couldn't believe it! He didn't even ask to be held (he *still* says ma for up. Does anyone know if that is Mandarin for 'up'?) as soon as David got home Thursday and Friday nights. He wanted to immediately show him where the cat was near the Christmas tree and show him his toys instead.
I'm so glad that Jamie was able to get his seasonal flu and H1N1 vaccines done. Thankfully no side effects that we notice yet. He gets the boosters in about 3 weeks. He wouldn't have been able to get the H1N1 vaccine without a regularly scheduled check up so that is good. They are telling the people that just want to bring their kids in for the vaccine that they don't have any. Too bad for them. I didn't find out until we were with the doc and I said, " Well, when do you expect to get any in since you're out?" and he said oh we have it for regular appt people!
Jamie and David and I went out with David's parents last night for David's birthday dinner. David wanted them along so his mom could help us feeding Jamie so David could actually enjoy his dinner more. ;-) It was great having them along. Jamie *loved* having his Mimi dangle a spaghetti noodle over his head and he would eat it like a bird. He also got the biggest kick out of when she took a straw and put it in a glass of ice water then put her finger over the top to stop the flow and put it to his mouth and let it run in. He LOVED drinking water that way and was as delighted as ever. He was so delighted that he was drawing his shoulders up with delight and shaking his head a little and waving his hands. It was so much fun to witness!
Tonight some friends with young kids had an early dinner get together. There were 10 kids including Jamie. One was a younger baby by about 5 months, one was older than Jamie by about 5 months and the rest were 3-6 years. Oh, they all had a blast! Jamie LOVED it. Well he love3d the toys as much as the kids, lol. We knew he was a social kid at the CWI (orphanage.) He was all about looking through the multitude of great toys and running around with a huge grin on his face as the big kids raced around with toy trucks. Later on that evening there David and I found a large, life-sized soft stuffed kitty cat and I put it over by Jamie to see what he'd think. In the past he's been afraid of stuffies but lately he's into his small stuffed squirrel more (carrying around on his car and feeding with plastic spoon) so I gave it a try. Oh boy! He was sooooo sweet with the cat stuffy! He took it with a big smile and immediately loved on it, hugging it and laying his head along its head several times. Then he turned it so he could see its face and stroked the plastic whiskers gently. Oh my, my eyes starting getting a tear welling up in them, he was so gentle and really loving with that stuffed kitty! I want to get a life-sized one now for him! That was the first time I"d see him act that way with a stuffed animal. It made me think how much he wishes he could do that with our cat. Believe me, he would if she'd let him! Today and yesterday he went to her and tried to pick her up, gently putting a hand on either side as she stood on the floor. Well you know she wanted none of that and walks away. She is too delicate and old for him to be able to pick her up anyway, but I wish she'd let him love on her more. He gets such delight from going over and brushing his hand across her fur and he's been easy to correct with her. Also, and this is a bonus for me, he just started enjoying screeching at the very top of his lungs two days ago. UGH. Well, it was obviously bothering our cat, so I told him, "Shhh! Quiet Jamie! (saying in a whisper) Kitty cat doesn't like loud. Be quiet!" Then Jamie made noises at a normal level (not quiet but normal, lol.) Twice he's done that. I know he'll go into screeching fests galore I'm sure, but I like that I might be able to use the kitty not liking it as an excuse to get him to stop! ;-)
On the pictures, I wanted to take a bunch of pictures of Jamie with him angled so I could get those adorable 'balloon' like cheeks while he still has them! I wanted to capture them b/c who knows how long they stay. Those cheeks are utterly adorable and love caressing them. So I included a close up w/ his cheek for you to enjoy too. ;-) (Notice his trademark 2 fingers backwards finger suck. He has callouses on both fingers, lol.)
Jamie really loves his picture books (ones with real photos) and asking what everything is by pointing. The other night he decided he wanted to look at three books at once and so I included a picture of him 'multi-tasking'. ;-)
There's a near life-size kitty stuffy at home, the last one they had at Ikea per our FB conversation. I hope to get to the post office later this week. If it's not there by Christmas, look for it after :)
ReplyDelete--Mandy
Oh boy oh boy oh boy!! Oh, and Jamie will be excited too! Mandy you should have seen how he loved on that kitty. I wish I had the video camera with me at that moment.
ReplyDelete