Our amazing children

[lollardfish]

My daughter wants to learn to walk. Right now. Didn't happen today, but perhaps tomorrow, or in a month. She's really eager. She babbles away, says, "ma-ma, da-da, more, done, ball," and a thousand other sounds. She says her words appropriately, sometimes much to my sorrow (when mommy is out and the girl is letting me know how very much I am not the parent she is looking for).

My son has learned to run. We went to the zoo today, and though crowded (Good Friday seems to be zoo day), we got there right at opening, so although there was a long line of cars, our day was basically over before the real crowds hit. At one point, though, Nico demanded to be let out of his wagon, and started going, and going, and suddenly his limbs and excitement all came together, and he ran a few short steps time and time again. It's still awkward (especially when his shoe sort of fell apart on us) and he was so worn out today, but he had that gleam of achievement in his eye as he went. He also requested the carousel with a "round and round" sort of sign that he invented on the spot, and accepted "bye-bye finished" with almost no fuss.

But that's not why I'm writing today.

We knew he was getting there. When an adult (or TV) sings the alphabet to him, he will, if interested, echo every letter with a distinct sound. He will sign something for most of the letters as well, when we sing and sign it. He also has been very interested in letters lately. He'll tap them on my shirt (if I'm wearing one with words), or our license plate, or random signs in the park. He's alert to the fact that letters are, in fact, special conveyors of meaning.

But now we're on a whole new level. It's repeatable. It's provable. It's real. He just knows his letters. There are typical kids who can't do this, I'd bet.

Watch.

I haven't been this excited since Nico started walking. It seems like an equivalent leap.

Comments

[porphyrin.livejournal.com]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAH OH MY GOD BREAKTHROUGH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

Thank you for sharing, which has turned a somewhat shitty day into WICTORY.

We love you guys, and those adorable, special, *intelligent* children of yours.

[buttonlass.livejournal.com]

It's amazing to me how you can really tell in retrospect when Nico is learning stuff and working it all out in his head. He gets especially hard to deal with and makes me soooo frustrated, then he pulls out new skills and there is much rejoicing.

I live for the day I can see it coming and accept it ahead of time. I know, so do all the other parents.:)

[txanne.livejournal.com]

Hurray!

[alisgray.livejournal.com]

Woo! That is fantastic. And what a cutie. :)

[sybildiscontent.livejournal.com]

Simply breath taking! What an amazing little boy Nico is! Thank you for sharing! PLEASE continue to do so!

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

That dear little boy. We are pleased.

K.

[gerisullivan.livejournal.com]

Wow! Big steps forward all around! The eagerness to learn, to decode, to understand -- such a blessing.

It strikes me that there's more than knowing the alphabet going on in the video. There's the link between hearing the letter and recognizing which fish it appears on, and the ability to understand and follow the directions of the game, too.

One child running, the other on the edge of walking. Time flies, no matter how long some individual days can seem to be.

Much love to all of you!

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

I think so too, Geri. Our next effort will involve flash-cards and other kinds of alphabet toys, so that we can make sure to generalize the skill.

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Way to go, Nico!

[mizzlaurajean.livejournal.com]

Woot!

[mia-mcdavid.livejournal.com]

Great work--on all your parts!

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Awesome.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Wow. That's really impressive.

B

[parsleigh.livejournal.com]

Cool!