Singing, Dancing, Reading, and Roxanne
Raina sings and dances many times a day. She spontaneously breaks out into the Alphabet song or "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" or "The Wheels on the Bus." She sings all the words (or what she thinks are the words) but cannot carry a tune. It's tremendously endearing and somewhat painful when she sings. She frequently requests the "D song" -- an excellent They Might Be Giants song -- so we listen to TMBG on a daily basis. She also sings along with these songs, but she doesn't know the words as well, so she averages a word per line (usually the last word).
Of course, where there is music there is Raina dancing like a little dervish. She spins around in circles, head bangs, jumps, and flings her arms around. She has progressed past the casual rocking on her feet; now dancing is a full body action.
Yesterday, a teacher friend commented "At one, they walk; at two, they talk." It's true. All Raina does now is talk. She has a comment or commentary about every subject or experience possible. It's strange to have a real conversation with Raina. She has no concept of time, so many of her comments are technically inaccurate, but they all are based in her personal experience.
Raina is familiar enough with certain books that she "reads" parts aloud. She recites parts of Bad Kitty and she did a spectacular rendition of Hop on Pop tonight. I knew that, eventually, she'd get to this point, but I had no idea that she'd be here so soon.
We have a dog in our lives now. Roxanne, a 1.5 years old Great Dane, has joined the Whompton family. Raina historically has been terrified of dogs, and we were quite fearful of how she'd respond to an 108 pounds non-human creature. The answer: swimmingly. Raina loves watching Roxanne play and walk and sleep and all the other mundane things dogs do. Raina continuously says "Roxanne funny" and laughs hysterically when Roxanne does anything active. She doesn't trust the dog completely -- Raina limits herself to the couch when Roxanne is out -- but she does want to spend all her time in the same room with the dog. The relationship is far more harmonious than we anticipated, and we are tremendously grateful.
Of course, where there is music there is Raina dancing like a little dervish. She spins around in circles, head bangs, jumps, and flings her arms around. She has progressed past the casual rocking on her feet; now dancing is a full body action.
Yesterday, a teacher friend commented "At one, they walk; at two, they talk." It's true. All Raina does now is talk. She has a comment or commentary about every subject or experience possible. It's strange to have a real conversation with Raina. She has no concept of time, so many of her comments are technically inaccurate, but they all are based in her personal experience.
Raina is familiar enough with certain books that she "reads" parts aloud. She recites parts of Bad Kitty and she did a spectacular rendition of Hop on Pop tonight. I knew that, eventually, she'd get to this point, but I had no idea that she'd be here so soon.
We have a dog in our lives now. Roxanne, a 1.5 years old Great Dane, has joined the Whompton family. Raina historically has been terrified of dogs, and we were quite fearful of how she'd respond to an 108 pounds non-human creature. The answer: swimmingly. Raina loves watching Roxanne play and walk and sleep and all the other mundane things dogs do. Raina continuously says "Roxanne funny" and laughs hysterically when Roxanne does anything active. She doesn't trust the dog completely -- Raina limits herself to the couch when Roxanne is out -- but she does want to spend all her time in the same room with the dog. The relationship is far more harmonious than we anticipated, and we are tremendously grateful.
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