Los Ninos

Saturday night I did a treasure hunt with Owen. He’s been into treasure hunts lately, although I have no idea where he heard about the concept. So I drew a bunch of clues, like a stove, a computer, a laundry basket, and taped them all over the house, one leading to the next. The last clue was a picture of dominos, and in the hall closet where we keep the dominos, I put in the "treasure chest" – a little decorative chest filled with gold foil. I put in four quarters, two suckers, two Hershey kisses (Ari played along, too, kind of), some sports stickers, a little bendy baseball player and a little basketball toy (all the toys and stickers were left-over party favors from his 2nd birthday party). So I gave him the first clue, which was a drawing of Ari’s crib. It took him about one clue to get the hang of it, and he loved it. After it was over, he kept saying - That was such a great treasure hunt, Mommy! I really did love that treasure hunt, Mom! So, a success.

Ari is this close to breaking through into full speech. I just feel it. He understands everything we say, and now he nods his head yes or shakes it no to communicate. This is a big step for him. Besides, he is so frustrated with us most of the time, because we can’t figure out what he wants. He yells and points and throws things and SCREEEEAAAMS when we don't understand his demand and IMMEDIATELY COMPLY. I hope his frustration will push him into speaking. Life will become easier when we can tell what the baby wants and JUST GIVE IT TO HIM ALREADY.