Rona's vocabulary

I was recently reading about language development and toddlers, and found that the average 18 month old has a vocabulary of 20-50 words that they use regularly.

I was curious and started writing a list of what words Rona uses on a regular basis.

I am up to 195.



This is mind boggling. The average 2 year old speaks between 50 and 300 words.
I am quite glad that Rona has a good vocabulary, it helps me know what she wants more easily.

I think that is in at least partly to do with how much reading and the Your Baby Can Read series we have been doing.

5 books a day - That's not my

For this week, Rona and I will be reading our books from the "That's not my" series by Fiona Watt

We have:

 That's not my dinosaur

That's not my pony

That's not my doll

That's not my lion

Okay, I know that is four, not five. But seeing I am going with a theme, I will keep it at that.

Rona loves these books, because they are so touchy feel-y. They are lovely and repetitive, and so descriptive. I think these are great to teach littlies adjectives.

All things purple

I have recently found the All things Purple blog.

I enjoy Laura's whimsical way of expressing things


You should check it out here

A great comic on the use and abuse of english

go here to check out the full list of words you need to stop misspelling

5 a day books from Imagination Tree

Rona loves books, so I will include her 5 favourite books at the moment.

This book Miffy touch and feel book by Dick Bruna. Rona loves the simple words and graphics, she has learnt the word "soft" from this book. And at the end, she always waves goodbye to Miffy.

This Dinosaur is so Big! by Nick Sharratt. This is a lovely, interactive book. Rona loves the magnets, and loves changing the story. She also loves roaring like the dinosaurs.

Baby Bird's Blankie by Margaret Wilde. This is a lovely story, with repitition and the right mix of simplicity and complexity for Rona's age. When the book says "down, down, down, light and lovely as a leaf" she stands then sits down, signifying down.

My first words from the Your Baby Can Read series. Rona loves sliding words to uncover the pictures.

My cat likes to hide in boxes by Eve Sutton. This book is lovely, with great rhyming, but is a little too repetitive for Rona's age, so I cut out the major repitition when I read it to her, and she absolutely adores it!

A funny anecdote

Speaking about napping.....

I recently told my 8 year old niece and 6 year old nephew;
"When you are older and a parent, you will want to have a nap during the day"

Their incredulous look was so very funny. I can't wait until this comes true and I will remind them about how they didn't believe me.

Best Advice I got as a parent

I have gotten lots of advice in the last couple of years in regards to how to bring up Rona. Some good, and some very very bad.

The best advice I got was funnily enough the simplest:
"Sleep while the baby sleeps, the housework can wait"

That advice I love, because it reminds mothers that they need to rest too. I know that I can get stressed about the laundry that needs doing and everything else that I am "supposed" to be doing, but I do love my naps in the middle of the day (when I can convince Rona to sleep).

My favourite books

Yes, I love books, I love reading.

People ask me what my favourite book is, and I honestly cannot answer, I have so many :)

So here are my recommendations for fabulous reading:

Anything by the Bronte sisters, although I must say that The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is my absolute favourite.

Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice being my favourite of hers.

The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (but I like all her works, the most famous being Anne of Green Gables). The Blue Castle is the only book that she wrote exclusively for adults, still very sweet and innocent but also mature and a wonderful story to get lost in,

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. I have read this way too many times, I love the intrigue and the colourful characters.

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, I love Hemingway's writing, and the vibrant way he describes people and places.

A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemmingway, as above, I love his writing, the way he uses only the words he needs to get his meaning across and no more.

Princesses: The Six Daughters of George III by Flora Fraser. This history book is fabulous, it covers some women who are largely overlooked in history, but who were so involved in it.

How We Lived Then by Norman Longmate, a record of how the civilian population i.e. "common man" experienced WWII in Britain.

The Winter of Our Disconnect by Susan Maushart, I have written a book review on this before, it is so topical and relevant and written in the very best style.

Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers. This book is fabulous, I love how this book shows God's love and is also a really good read.

I think that list, with the Bible and I could live quite happily.

Guilty Pleasures

I admit, I am a bit of a literary snob, or at least, I was.

I have recently found sites featuring fan fiction.

Fan Fiction according to Wikipedia is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters (or simply fictional characters) or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator.

I am enjoying spending time reading amateur authors' works, it is what I have been "writing" in my head all my life. Ever since I was little, I have always imagained characters in books or films and changed plots etc to suit a story I made up in my head.

Husband doesn't know my new obsession, I think he would be shocked that a literary snob would be reading fan fiction.

But yes, fan fiction is my guilty pleasure.

What is yours?

W00T

Australia is getting an exhibition of renaissance art visiting at the end of the year.

I am so excited.

I live about 3 or so hours from Australia National Gallery
Now I just need to convince Husband to take me there one weekend (he really doesn't like walking around art galleries).

I love art, and I love art galleries, and I am trying to cultivate a love of art in Rona, so I am really looking forward to going to this exhibition

You Capture -

Rona is very helpful

Rona decided to help me clean up after I spent an hour weeding the backyard.

"Look what I found, Mummy!"

Personhood of the Traveling Grape Soda - Travelling with Soda

Check out All Things Purple  where this all started

I finally had the chance to go "travelling" with my Grape Soda. I was trying to think of places to go that are famous, or relatively so.

My first try was to go to the Nepean Belle, a paddle boat that gives people tours of the Nepean River, near to where I live.

The photo was meant to look like this:

And instead, it looked like this:

The boat had left for the day when we went to see it :(

So, then we went to the Sydney International Regatta Centre, which, if you watched the Sydney 2000 Olympics, you may remember.

And here is Rona at the Regatta Centre with the Grape Soda!

Personhood of the Traveling Grape Soda

I read this post by All Things Purple, Personhood of the Traveling Grape Soda and thought I would join in.

But here in Australia, grape soda (we call it softdrink) is almost unheard of. I looked at many shops and could not find any. I almost resorted to buying sparking grape juice as a substitute, but I finally found a can of Grape Fanta in a shop that had some American foods and drink.

So, yay, I got my grape soda.... now to take it travelling :)

You Capture - Peace

Links for September

This month, I thought I would share wonderful things I have found on Pinterest

world's smallest post office at-home kit

book into a bag

Rock Pillows