* Just over the last few weeks Elena has evolved from what I’ve been calling an “animal state” into a “human state”. Before, Elena was behaving almost entirely from instinct. She didn’t really think so much as respond to whatever was going on at a particular time. Now, she thinks and acts like a person, albeit one with limited development. One thing I noticed today is, despite her understanding a pretty remarkably broad vocabulary, she has no conception of time. She woke up from her (very long) nap and was alert and in good spirits. I asked her “How was your nap?” and she responded with “I don’t want to nap.” To her, any mention of the word “nap” means, “Elena is about to be put into bed, for a nap.” She does not have the notion of past/future states and context. It is all simply what is happening in this very moment, or in the moment just about to come. Regardless, seeing her have a greater degree of awareness and no longer being simply instinctual is neat.
* Elena’s speech has really undergone a transformation over the last few months. At the beginning of that period, she was getting into a phase where she would repeat exactly one word from every sentence we would say to her. She had some words that were favourites and most common, but the point was she was making an effort to (very clearly) speak back to us at least something she had just heard. More recently, this has changed. Rather than parroting what we say she is responding in full, sometimes lengthy, sentences. Most of the time it is indecipherable baby talk that only she understands, save a few key words that we can recognize. But every now and then a clear, sensible sentence comes out. Never more than 5-7 words and fairly simple in what it is saying, but it really is properly constructed. It’s pretty cool.
* Just over the last week, Elena is able to recognize and place letters. That is, she has a little wooden thing with all of the letters, A to Z, and she is able to identify a few, say what they are, and put them in the right place. While we do read to her a lot we haven’t really put any time into teaching her letters – other than the back inside cover of “Chicka-Chicka Boom-Boom” – so it is really fascinating to see the sort of natural way the human mind learns and develops, taking shards of information from different places and creating coherent knowledge around it.
* I think Elena is starting to feel more and more comfortable around me. She is still VERY attached to her mother – at least a couple times a day, she HAS TO be locked to her mom’s body (Sigrid calls her Velcro Baby) – but more and more she wants to spend time with me. With all of my travel when she was very young, for a long time, each time I left and returned it was like starting over. But as she is developing more, and because I work from home on many days, she is establishing a nice rhythm with me. More than just asking for “Dad, Dad” in the morning, when getting home and after naps for a few second drive-by hello, she is wanting to linger and integrate more into me. When she was first born I talked about getting her a little desk and chair to sit next to mine. For the first time, I think she is at a developmental stage where that might actually be an option she takes advantage of.
* Elena is a carnivore. She loves “fleisch” (meat, in German). While she certainly eats other things as well – pretty much everything we offer her – meat is one of the things she will eat, and eat, and eat. Especially steak. While I’m not thrilled that she particularly likes meat (and bread, and sweets, and especially pizza; in her words, “Pizzy”!) I can’t blame her good, if unhealthy, taste!
* Recently Elena is beginning to organize her toys and possessions. She likes to make piles, and carry things from one place to another. She also likes things to be in the places she expects them to be in. A couple of weeks ago her mom took her to a local shop with children’s clothes, toys and equipment that they go to periodically. The store had removed a toy hobby horse from the front display window and into the middle of the store. Elena immediately recognized this and was upset, trying to drag the horse back to the window. Only when her mom physically picked up and returned the horse to its old place in the window did Elena calm down. Everything had been returned to its proper place.
* Elena’s hair has grown to a length where it is clearly “girly”, and Sigrid will occasionally tie it into pigtails. It is naturally curly on the ends, especially with the humidity, so it is cute and a little out-of-context when, after a bath, it has been brushed straight. It doesn’t even look like Elena.
* Along with my ongoing training, research and certification into psychological typing tools, I’m pretty sure that Elena is an INFJ. The I and the J seem pretty clear. I take the N for granted because almost every relative I’m aware of on my side are N’s, both paternal and maternal, and she seems like a Feeler, combined with my and her mother’s being feelers as well. It will be interesting to see if this early forecast of her preferences proves to be accurate.
* When Elena eats she will take a bite, say “Mmmmmmm” and then, after a second or two, say “Good”. I’m quite sure she isn’t literally calling everything “good”, it is just a rote action related to eating that she picked up, probably with our unwitting help. Still, it’s cute.
* While we keep her almost completely away from the television, every few weeks there will come a moment where I’m busy, Sigrid needs to cook or do something else that Elena is preventing, and she will put something on the computer for her to watch. Unfortunately, the show she seems to like and remember is Teletubbies or, in her parlance, “Tubbies”. Hopefully she is able to cultivate better taste than that. 
I’m sure I’ve forgotten some things I wanted to write about, but that is all I can squeeze out of my head at the moment. Here are a few pictures of her from over the last couple of months.
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- Elena and her brother Brandon
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- Elena and her mom at the pool
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- Elena playing at the park
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- Elena helping Mom in the kitchen
