Topsy Turvy
Language development is an amazing process. You can almost see the tiny hamster wheel spinning inside a child’s head as he wraps his mind around words. Something clicks, possibly the wheel’s hinge loosening a bit as the hamster jostles it free, and the child realizes that this sound followed by that sound form a word representing something. The child then endlessly repeats the word, trying to perfect it, in the hope that each utterance will bring him a special treat, especially attention. At least, that’s how I hope it goes. I’d never seen this in action until Tory gave me such an experience tonight, and I’m hoping that’s what normal children do as they develop speech.
As I prepared everyone for bed, Tory ran away. Nothing unusual there; all three kids quickly learned that the easiest way to delay the inevitable bedtime is to run away and make it difficult for me to finish the bedtime routine. Tory crawled down the hall as I chased him for maximum speed over a short distance. There’s no time to waste standing up when daddy is hot on your tail.
When I caught him, I could’ve grabbed him under the arms and hoisted him onto my hip. I assumed, though, that Tory would be unhappy that bedtime was gaining on him almost as fast as I did, and would thrash wildly in my arms when I lifted him off the floor. Instead, I grabbed him around the waist, and brought his midsection to my shoulder, face pointing out, head pointing down. My objective was to startle him, give him something to think about besides lights out, and maybe reduce his squirming. Plus, if I give him the sensation that daddy barely has hold of him, maybe he’ll fight me less.
I heard a new benefit after I told him he was upside down. Tory immediately repeated “upside down.” This three-syllable, two-word phrase is a huge step in his language development. He’s trying to make more complex sounds. He’s searching for new terms. He’s actually paying attention when I talk.
His “upside down” combines three sounds he can make. He already says “up” and “down.” He can say “sss” and “I,” so it was good to hear him put the sounds together to make a new sound. His speech was imperfect as he strung the three sounds together. His phrase was “up … sssii … dow.”
It became as exciting as the bedtime routine gets when we started repeating the term back to each other. I’d say “upside down,” and he’d respond. He focused on a different sound each time, trying to perfect the “p,” or nail that “n.” I could see the incredible concentration on his face as he willed his mouth to form each sound, trying to make each one and occasionally skipping one of them. He always remembered “up,” but sometimes he’d say “upside,” or even “up down.” I kept repeating our magic phrase to him, and he kept working.
I know he wasn’t repeating the phrase to encourage me to flip him upside down. He hates dangling, which is why I flipped him in the first place. He was simply basking in the attention, and reveling in the newfound skill. He may have also been delaying bedtime, which honestly worked a little.
As I prepared everyone for bed, Tory ran away. Nothing unusual there; all three kids quickly learned that the easiest way to delay the inevitable bedtime is to run away and make it difficult for me to finish the bedtime routine. Tory crawled down the hall as I chased him for maximum speed over a short distance. There’s no time to waste standing up when daddy is hot on your tail.
When I caught him, I could’ve grabbed him under the arms and hoisted him onto my hip. I assumed, though, that Tory would be unhappy that bedtime was gaining on him almost as fast as I did, and would thrash wildly in my arms when I lifted him off the floor. Instead, I grabbed him around the waist, and brought his midsection to my shoulder, face pointing out, head pointing down. My objective was to startle him, give him something to think about besides lights out, and maybe reduce his squirming. Plus, if I give him the sensation that daddy barely has hold of him, maybe he’ll fight me less.
I heard a new benefit after I told him he was upside down. Tory immediately repeated “upside down.” This three-syllable, two-word phrase is a huge step in his language development. He’s trying to make more complex sounds. He’s searching for new terms. He’s actually paying attention when I talk.
His “upside down” combines three sounds he can make. He already says “up” and “down.” He can say “sss” and “I,” so it was good to hear him put the sounds together to make a new sound. His speech was imperfect as he strung the three sounds together. His phrase was “up … sssii … dow.”
It became as exciting as the bedtime routine gets when we started repeating the term back to each other. I’d say “upside down,” and he’d respond. He focused on a different sound each time, trying to perfect the “p,” or nail that “n.” I could see the incredible concentration on his face as he willed his mouth to form each sound, trying to make each one and occasionally skipping one of them. He always remembered “up,” but sometimes he’d say “upside,” or even “up down.” I kept repeating our magic phrase to him, and he kept working.
I know he wasn’t repeating the phrase to encourage me to flip him upside down. He hates dangling, which is why I flipped him in the first place. He was simply basking in the attention, and reveling in the newfound skill. He may have also been delaying bedtime, which honestly worked a little.
posted by Matt at
11:07 PM
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