Caveman Baby

So Baby M is now almost 16 months old and still hasn't said a word. No "mama" or "dada", not "ball" , not even that old todler standby "no". Oh sure he makes sounds that are technically words but they are never applied consistently to the appropriate people or objects. I hear a lot of "yeah yeah yeah"'s and some "dada"'s, "yoyo"s, etc. There was a day I thought he had mastered "socks" but then it disappeared never to return.

It's quite clear that Baby M understands much of what we say. He will shake his head for yes or no, can follow simple commands like "bring me the ball" and even somewhat demeaning commands like "shake your booty." The other day while washing dishes in attempt to free my right leg from his vice-like grip I asked him to bring me a book about trucks. He promptly released my leg walked into his bedroom and returned a few moments later with the book Big Trucks. So he definitely understands language he just doesn't seem to be too interested in producing language. I guess he figures his combination of grunting, pointing, whining and tantrum throwing is working for him, so why change it? However, this mode of communication is not working for me, in fact every day it grates on my nerves just a little bit more. Especially now that he has started pointing in two directions at once and then bursting into tears when I stare back at him in confusion.

So I am redoubling my efforts to get Baby M to speak. Now, instead of handing over whatever Baby M points at, I try to get him to say something, anything, before giving him what he wants. It usually goes something like

Baby M: uunh! (points at rice on my plate)
Me: Oh you want rice? Say rice.
Baby M: mag-dah
Me: (feeds him rice)

Not terribly promising, but we'll keep trying. I also read that getting your baby to mimic silly sounds is a good way to start him on the road to language acquisition. So we started playing a game where Baby M hits my head and I say "Dong!" in a funny voice. Pretty soon he was joining in with the "Dong!" having a grand time and I felt very encouraged. But after a day he stopped making the noise and now he just hits me on the head. So I am living with a midget who grunts, throws food everywhere and whacks me on the head for fun. Whoever said toddlers are like little cavemen may have have been on to something.

You're a Mom?

Yesterday we attended Baby Z's first birthday party at her home in Pasadena. During the party Baby M needed a diaper change and so I snuck off to the baby's room to change him. Baby M does not like to have his diaper changed. He screams, he squirms, he grabs at his diaper, he rolls over, he stands up. Diaper changes are always a struggle and I dread changing him away from home.

So I was battling Baby M on the changing table when two girls around 4 years old came into the room. "What are you doing?" they asked. "I'm changing his diaper." I replied wincing as Baby M's foot narrowly missed landing in a pile of poop. "Do you know him?" they asked skeptically. "Yes, he's my son." I answered as Baby M tried to backflip off the table. The girls looked at me incredulously and said, "YOU'RE A MOM?!"

At first I was flattered and assumed that in my new Joe's Jeans I looked too young and hip for these kids to think I was a mother. But on second consideration, they probably figured anyone so obviously incompetent at diaper changing could not possibly have a child. I can only hope that Baby M's aversion to diaper changes means that potty training will be a breeze.

Zimmer Children's Museum

Last Friday my husband and I took Baby M to the Zimmer Children's Museum. The goal of the museum is to teach people about global citizenship, community responsibility, and cultural sensitivity through interactive exhibits, some of which have Jewish cultural themes. However the message is pretty subtle. This is not a junior version of the Museum of Tolerance. There are no genocides to ponder or Holocaust victims to mourn, you will have fun at the Zimmer.

In fact we had such a great time at the museum we can't wait to go back. There is a giant pinball machine, an airplane cockpit with working navigational tools, a Main Street area with shops to play in, a dress up theater, a full sized ambulance and a very cool water table. Everything is perfectly scaled to 15 month old Baby M, there is even a bounce room that is restricted to children under 2 years old. Baby M was so happy runnning around the oak tree and looking at the light-up bugs at the entrance to the Main Street exhibit that we literally had to drag him down the street into Bubbie's Bookstore and the Blue Bagel Cafe. Once we had made it through Main Street we ran into more trouble getting him out of the ambulance and away from the water table. (Okay, maybe I was the one who didn't wan't to leave the water table. It's heated and kids can use plastic dams and gates to explore how currents flow. If only they'd had one of these in my Fluid Dynamics class I wouldn't have needed all those cups of coffee to stay awake!)

It 's nice to find a place that is welcoming for younger toddlers. At 15 months Baby M is a pretty good walker, but he still topples over once in awhile and he's short enough that older kids sometimes don't see him. The Zimmer exhibits are safe and interesting for a wide range of kids and seem to be organized in such a way that the older kids don't end up trampling the younger ones. Oh, and one last plus for the Zimmer-- Free Parking!