Tuesday, April 12, 2011

A Post About Ivy

Sunday was Ivy's 9th birthday!  Vince and I had so many meetings Sunday that we celebrated a little Friday, a little Saturday, a little Sunday, and mostly Monday.  Then today I took treats to her class--because I forgot to yesterday.  Friday I had lunch with Ivy at school--it's a fun little tradition in our family that Mom comes to school and brings lunch on birthdays.  Saturday was our piano recital and Grandma O brought her gift for Ivy.  Sunday morning she unwrapped a new dress.  Monday we had her birthday dinner, cake, and the rest of her presents.  I wish we hadn't had to drag it out but I think she enjoyed it!

I remember that Ivy was a very quiet, calm baby and toddler.  She was impossibly shy--hiding between my legs, never looking at people, etc.  In the nearly 2 years in the nursery at church she never said more than three words total to her teachers.  She would try to tell me things and I would try to understand and she would often run out of the room in tears because I couldn't understand what she was trying to tell me.  (There were times I would go to my room and cry a bit too.)  Sometimes we would hear her talk to herself and giggle and we would laugh with her but we had no idea what she was laughing about.  We had her speech tested and she scored a zero on the speech/language test.  She couldn't articulate any consonants when she was three.  She went to preschool, which she loved, and in a year tested out of the program.  It was remarkable progress by any standard and when I tell professionals that we see for Nathan I'm pretty sure they don't believe me.  I can tell that they believe I must be mistaken about the initial testing. 

When Ivy tested out of the program we really got to know her!  She blossomed--literally.  Nobody would believe that Ivy was ever shy!  I have a couple of good friends that remember how poor her speech was and how severely shy she was and we sometimes still tear up together when we see her talk and sing at primary programs and school.   When Ivy started talking we learned she had a huge vocabulary.  I can remember one day she was upset with her brothers and shouted, "Stop that you miscreants!"  She was only four.  I remember I felt a big laugh coming on and I grabbed the phone and locked myself in my bathroom and called Vince and we shared a big giggle and then I had to tell her we don't call names.  We also learned that Ivy has a major sense of humor--she would often say things that the entire family would laugh at.  It turns out that deep inside Ivy was never shy and quiet or reserved.  In truth, she is the most outgoing personality in our family.  She has a dramatic flair and we can all imagine her performing comfortably on stage. 

Ivy is ultra friendly and will smile and talk to anyone.  She played T-ball when she was five and we can all remember one game when she was playing third base.  She loved it because she got to talk to all the runners (who were strangers to her).  She would talk about anything and get them talking--the other team's running coach would just chuckle.  Then on one play a kid hit the ball quite a ways and all the runners got to move.  The runner from second base comes and Ivy's still talking to the runner that was on third and then the runner from second joins in the conversation.  Eventually the runner from first shows up and stands behind his other runners looking a little confused.  Ivy is still talking to these kids.  All the adults are yelling at the kids to RUN and they are just talking with Ivy when she finally notices what's happening and says to the kids: "I guess you're supposed to run home now."  So they did.  She never did get to be a baseman again but we thought it was funny! 

Last month she went to speech with me and met a girl about 3 years younger than her.  Of course Ivy started talking to her and this girl was very much like Ivy and started talking back.  I got a great chuckle watching this because I could see that the girl was outtalking Ivy--first time I've ever seen it.  Eventually Ivy said, "OK--I'm going to watch my brother now" trying to get the girl to stop talking to her.  I laughed out loud because I say stuff like that to Ivy all the time!  The hilarious part of the story  is that the other girl's name is Gaby.  Ivy couldn't believe how much that girl talked!  She was Ivy's twin in that respect!!

Ivy tries really hard to do the right thing.  She's been working on her Faith in God booklet and she enjoys writing her testimony.  Spelling is challenging for her so she practices extra each week to score well on her tests.  Like the rest of my kids math comes easy to her.  She has a natural ability on the piano.  Sadly, I was tied up with the rest of the family so she did not get to start piano lessons as early as Eva.  Still, she is a quick learner and has natural technique (I haven't seen natural technique in any of my other kids OR students) so she'll still develop a great talent!  She is also learning the violin which is a thorn in her side.  She really wanted to learn so we made the investment to get her an instrument and I found her a teacher but she's learning that practicing the violin is not as "fun" as practicing the piano.  Eva discovered the same thing but she never wanted to quit.  Ivy would rather quit but as I've already made an investment it's not going to happen for a while.  She loves playing with her friends and has friends she plays with all through our neighborhood--not just our ward!

When Ivy was five she started showing an intense interest in the kitchen: cooking, baking, etc.  When we would go to the library she would ask me to take her to the cookbook section in the adult part of the library to check out cookbooks.  She was only allowed 5 books at a time so she would check out 2 picture books and 3 cookbooks.  She always wants to help me in the kitchen--it's hard during the school year but she gets lots of opportunities in the summer.  She's very thoughtful and will generally help me clean up--when we're working together! 

I adore my thoughtful, talented, bubbly, friendly, outgoing Ivy!  I can't imagine life without her making me smile everyday!!

2 comments:

Amy said...

It is so fun to hear about your kids! Ivy sounds like a hoot.

BTW, I didn't watch my extra little boy last week, but I'll have him tomorrow. I talked to Shawn's cousin about him and she had some ideas, but if they don't work, I may be getting in contact with you next...just a warning. And just to let you know that I appreciate the offer of help! :)

Molly said...

She sounds like a remarkable young lady. We had a similar revelation with our second son, but in a different way. We knew he could speak, but we never heard him put more than a few words together at one time. Then, when he was four, his older brother went off for two weeks to spend with a cousin. Without big brother there to do all the talking, our son spoke full complete sentences for the first time and we realized he had a personality. He could just never get in a word on his own with his brother around.

How wonderful Ivy sounds with her music and cooking skills. Congrats to you and Vince on such a fine daughter.