You never know

The sky is gently turning pink as we get ready for a new day. I think I know what's in store for me today (class, studying, and more studying) - but you can never be sure until you've lived it.

Pre-linguistic Requisites

In my Preschool Language Disorders class we've been learning about the prerequisites for verbal communication. That is to say, before children are ready to communicate using language there are a few mile-markers they need to achieve. This got me thinking. 

For starters, young children who are learning to speak need to be vocalizing. Let me tell you, my cat vocalizes. We can check that off the list. They should be able to recognize and respond to their name. Check, again. Kids need to exhibit joint gaze with others. Vespa can stare me down like a pro. Children who are ready to start speaking should be able to participate in turn-taking exchanges. Vespa does this too - if I say "meow" she will respond "meow" and then I say "meow" and she says it back ad infinitum. Child-preverbal communicative acts should be represent a variety of communications such as greeting, calling, and protesting. Again, Vespa will vocalize in each of these contexts. A crucial pre-linguistic accomplishment is the concept of intentionality. A child needs to be able to communicatively express an intention, need, or desire. When I am eating my chicken soup, Vespa can tell me, unambiguously, that she wants some.

 As far as I can tell, my cat is ready to say her first word.

I will keep you posted.

I seem to have accrued some good Karma...

I'm good with the universe today. Let me tell you why:

- I remembered my baseball hat when I went to yoga, so I could cover my sweaty bangs on my way home afterwards
- Yoga was awesome; I feel energized and relaxed all at once
- I unclogged the toilet without calling a) a plumber b) the landlord or c) my father
- It's a beautiful fall day
- I got groceries after going far too long without any
- I had a nice chat with the man putting pretzels on the shelf who was grateful that I didn't knock them all down after he had just stacked them so neatly
- Ben and Jerry's mini-ice-cream cups were on sale
- A mom pushing her baby in a stroller gave me a "Wooo McGill!" chant when she noticed my sweatshirt
- The postman thoughtfully stepped aside to let me pass with all my grocery bags on the narrow sidewalk
- Snack of apple cider and ginger snaps
- I seem to have gotten over my "settled into grad school life" ennui

Moral of the story: noticing what's good in every moment makes me a happy camper.