Our Unique Daughter

There's not anything specific that I wanted to put on the blog this time. I figured I'd better put up a new post before Ada comes, hopefully the end of next week.


Josephine laying on the floor reading one of her planet books. She's naming all the planets in our solar system in this picture. This book was either about Neptune or Uranus.


A friend went to China last month and brought back an outfit for Josephine. She was so thrilled!


Josephine pointing to Asia on the map. The map we have doesn't show the countries well, so we're just sticking with the continents right now.

Josephine is so funny about what she's interested in and what she's not. And also what she can do and what she can't. She can name all 8 planets and all 7 continents, but she can't change her own clothes. She insists on knowing the name of each road that we're on, but she still refuses to eat solid vegetables, she only eats the baby food (it's getting ridiculous, but I'd rather her get some veggies than a forced bite of solid). She's very unique.

Listening to her talk can be quite funny. She often starts with "I wonder . . . ." or "I think . . . ." or "Maybe . . . .". It's non-stop too, unless she's around strangers. She talks to us, to herself, to her dolls, or to anything else in her imagination. Sometimes it is hard to know whether she's talking about something real or something in her imagination. She's obsessed with Horton Hears a Who and Little Einsteins. Most of her imaginative play involves them or taking care of her dolls and kitchen.

For better or worse, we're trying a new system in our house. I don't like charts or stickers and that kind of thing, but getting Josephine to do everyday things like brushing her teeth and getting in and out of the van was tiresome for me. Plus, she expected to watch TV every evening after the news. So, I came up with a plan since intrisic motivation and time outs weren't working. Whenever she does specific tasks in a responsible and cooperative way, she gets to put a card up on the "chart". The things she should do are: using the potty, getting her hair brushed, getting her teeth brushed, getting her nails clipped, cooperating in the van, cleaning up her books and toys, and cooperating when I'm changing her diaper and clothes. Once she fills up all the clips (8 right now) with cards, then she gets to watch a show. It has made a world of difference in the house. The long-term effects of the reward system might backfire on me, but the short-term effects were necessary for me being 9 months pregnant and unable to chase her and pick her up. I will probably up the number of cards she has to get in the next couple of days. She is very proud of herself when she can put a card on the chart (the chart is just a blank piece of paper on the refridgerator with 8 paper clips along the side).

Josephine is using the potty often these days, as long as she's not wearing the diaper. Most days when we're at home she either runs around naked or in just her "spinner" dress (all her dresses she calls "spinner" dresses). She usually insists on wearing her "glass slippers", too. All shoes are now glass slippers. She's such a girly girl.

Hopefully the next update will be about Ada's arrival! She's due in 9 days -- down to single digits!