Toddler Talk

Liam is growing up fast, there is no doubt about that, but it is his language skills that amaze me on a daily basis.

So many of his little baby words are gone and replaced with words pronounced properly and even sentences.  He knows colours, shapes and body parts.  He loves to talk and I love to have conversations with him.

Here are a few of my favourite recent "Liam says" moments.

Mommy: "Liam, come have breakfast."

Liam: "No, need to play cars for a minute."

Daddy: (after hearing me telling Liam repeatedly to stop) "What did you do?"

Liam: (very proudly about the cat) "I pull her tail and she went away."

Liam: "Mommy, Miam a dolphin."

Mommy: "Liam's a dolphin?"

Liam: "Yes, Miam a dolphin in shuttle.  Shuttle and rockets going to moon."

Liam: "Where Daddy?"

Mommy: "Daddy's at work."

Liam: "Daddy at work in Daddy truck?"

Mommy: "Yes."

Liam: "OK, Bye bye Daddy."

He knows the names of many of his hot wheels car.  He knows corbets (corvettes), mutang (mustangs), GTTT (GT), chacher (challenger), bumbee (Bumblebee, from Transformers), and I know there a few more that I can't remember as I am really NOT a car person!

He calls his Grandma "Gabba" and his Auntie Margaret "Martie Auntie".

A few of his favourite phrases right now are"

"You stink" (When he is poopey and doesn't want to get his diaper changed.)

"Stupid Show." (Not my favourite, but it is pretty funny!)

"Read This!" (He loves books!)

"Right there!"

"All Done!"

"Stop that."

"Share!"

I could go on all day with the cute and funny things he says, but I will leave you with my favourite:

Liam: "Lu Lue Mommy."

Mommy: "Love you too Liam."

Potty Training Tuesday #14

Potty Training and Self Help Skills

Potty training time is a wonderful opportunity to work on some self help skills with your toddler.

Part of the reason you want to potty train your child is to give them more independence, so, from the beginning, you should start having our child try to do as much as possible on their own.

Have your child pull up and down their own pants.  In the beginning, they probably won't be able to get them anywhere close to all the way up.  Start by having them try and you helping as soon as they've put the effort into an attempt.  As with all new learning opportunities, give lots of encouragement and praise for success.

If your child has an accident and needs to be changed, have them try to take off the wet clothes as well as try to put on the clean clothes.

With consistent encouragement and opportunities to practice these skills, not only will your child be potty trained in the end but also able to dress him or her self.

Stay tuned for more tips, tricks and advice every Tuesday!  And please do share your own experiences!  I am always looking for ways to make potty training easier for myself, not only at work, but also at home as I will soon be jumping in head first to potty train Liam!