The Sick Child Academy

Woodstock and I have been able to spend lots of time together lately, due to her ongoing need to empty her stomach at frequent intervals and eat at even fewer intervals.

Consequently, she has picked up some new bits of knowledge along the way. In the School of The Sick Child, we have learned:

• The words and actions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider". Of course, Woodstock's version is still a bit rusty and goes a bit like this: "bippy bippy bippy Da (down) uppie!" She can do all the actions (I've seen it), though she prefers to just do the spider motion. She'll come up and start doing the spider motion and saying "bitty bippy". Yesterday we sang the song 15 times. Today, we're already up to 4.


• New words: Uck (yuck), Ju (Juice) and All Ga (all gone)


• Exercising old words and signs incessantly: Num num num (hungry), foo (food), ma (more - along with a vigarous Woodstockized sign for "more"), chee (cheese) and the sign for milk. Repeated 7,429 times. Unfortunately, while Woodstock is slowly starving to death, she doesn't actually want to eat anything. She just wanders around forlornly looking half-starved and begging for food, only to refuse to eat it.


• New animal sounds: Yesterday, while "reading" her animal book, she began saying "hee hee hee" and pointing to the orangutan. I've been trying to teach her a sound for "monkey" - and well, to a 14-month-old, an orangutan is close enough.


• Target practice. Last night, Woodstock snuggled up to me, buried her face in my chest and puked. She aimed it just right to get a little on the outside of my clothing and the rest of it INSIDE my clothing and down my chest - managing to leave a trail to my waistline. Himself thought this was wonderful, since she's been practicing her targets on him.

At least we're learning as we're scrubbing, sanitizing, starving and cuddling.