Interview with Molly - 2-and-a-half

(Did I ever post this pic??? This is, in fact, the exact combo she wore to Church on Easter...the fabulous dress, and the froggy boots!)

A while ago, I did an interview with Ben, somthing that a lot of blogging mommies were doing. It was fun to get a snapshot of his thoughts/feelings at the time, and so I tried to do it with Molly, too. Some of the interview questions were a bit out of her league at the time, and I got a whole bunch of "I don't know" responses.

Well, I was working with Ben on doing another one for him now that he has turned 5, and Molly seemed to really be excited about the idea. So I tried it with her again, and we have had success! There are a few tricky spots, but she got pretty close on most!

Here is an interview with Molly, when she is 2-and-a-half years old, in Fall of 2010.

1. What is your favorite color: “yellow" - still pronounced "ley yow:)

2. What is your favorite book: “Froggy" - which we only have in Spanish. I read it, and she listens happily, even though she can't be understanding more than about 10 words in it!

3. What is your favorite movie: “Thomas"

4. What is your favorite food: “Pizza...and beans and rice!" - this girl loves her Mexican food!

5. What is your least favorite food: “Spaghetti"

6. What is your favorite fruit: “Vegetables" - hummm...the interview may still be a bit over her head:)

7. What is your favorite vegetable: “Grapes"

8. What is your least favorite vegetable: “Flowers" hummm, again:)

9. What is your favorite t.v. Show: “Mr. Rogers"

10. What is your favorite song: “ABC's"

11. What is your favorite thing to do with Mom: “go to gymnastics"

12. What is your favorite thing to do with Dad: “Get lemonade"

13. What is your favorite game to play with friends: “Ben and me with you guys!"

14. What is your favorite store: “Target"

15. What is your favorite sport: “No sports here"

16. What is your favorite Bible story: “Read books"

17. What is your favorite place to go: “Mackalan Deli" (Macklind Avenue Deli is a place in the neighborhood that we walk to for meals occasionally)

18. What is your favorite restaurant: “Mackaleno Deli" (playing with words a bit here!)

19. What is your favorite toy: “A baby toy...I give each a baby toy to babies"

20. What is your favorite thing to do with Ben: “puzzle jumble"

21. What is your favorite drink: “Juice, water, milk"

22. What is your favorite thing to do at school: “puzzles" (this one wasn't really fair, she doesn't go to school yet!)

23. What is your favorite thing to do outside: “Play in the backyard"

24. What do you want to be when you grow up: “A gardener - to guard Mommy's plants" (love this one!)

25. What can you do now that you are 2: “Snuggle beddy" (play snuggle bed, which we do often)

26. Who is your best friend: “Ben" (so sweet!)

27. What is Mom's job: “I don't know"

28. What is Dad's job: “To go to work"

29. What does Mom always say: “I don't know"

30. What does Dad always say: “I don't know"

31. What is your nickname: “Molly - Mollykins"

32. What makes you laugh: “Grandpa calls me Mollykins and then I laugh!"

33. What makes you sad: “Of Mommy and Daddy be frustrated" (this one makes me want to cry a little bit)

34. What are you thankful for: “God, Nana, Papa, Gigi, Hazel, and Martin" (Don't worry if you are a beloved family member and she didn't say your name. She often starts with one person, and just files through names that are related to that person! She'll list you next time, I'm sure:))

35. What does Mom love about you: “Cuz it's just so sweet to snuggle!"

You learn something new every day!

Ben has been picking up skills at the speed of light lately. He has really been enjoying cooking. It is one of his favorite things to do. When we make anything with eggs, he always cracks and stirs the eggs. In fact, he can make scrambled eggs all by himself from start to finish. I do insist that only I turn on the stove, but that is it. I make sure to stand near for fire safety, but I never have anything to do! Aaron and Ben love to bake home-made bread together, and Ben is actually quite helpful in the process. He can also make a box of shells and cheese by himself (it's just like mac-and-cheese). I usually do the milk and get the pot of water on the stove, but he does the rest. He is so cute when he tests a piece of pasta to see if it is done enough. He will hem and haw and need to test at least 10 pieces before he is sure it is done. But he knows when it is done!

Another fascinating thing that is happening in our lives right now (**warning, this may be extremely boring to anyone in the entire world who is NOT a speech therapist;)**) is that he is learning to correctly say the "r" sound. He says all the other sounds correctly, but the "r" has still been sounding like a "w". Now, being a speech therapist, I know that the "r" sound doesn't really need to develop until a kid is 7 or 8, so I never once gave it a moment's thought. But out of the blue, about 3 weeks ago, I heard him over-emphasize the "r" sound at the end of a couple of words one evening. I noticed it, just because it was something he had never done before, but I didn't say anything because I didn't know what exactly he was doing.

Well, in the past 2 weeks, he has started doing this with "r" at the end of lots of words,and at the beginning of some. And the correct sound is starting to pop out really frequently.

The reason this is so amazing to me personally is that I have never actually heard a person develop this sound on their own. Everyone I know either can already say "r", is too young to say "r", or is a speech therapy client who is struggling to learn this sound. So to have the experience of actually listening to this skill develop in the course of natural development...SO cool! (you know, to a speech therapist)