growing

Little Man is growing so quickly. Every day he says and does new cute things, and every day he adds new skills to his ever-broadening repertoire of accomplishments.

[looking at a music gear catalog]

Growth in speech:

~Emphatically answering "I would" when asked if he would like to do something.

~Including more connecting words like with, the, on, and to instead of just using the main words.

~Exclaiming out of the blue that "Tars [guitars] rocks!" (Benjamin was especially pleased about that one.)

~Finishing my sentences. The other day I was changing Brother's messy diaper when I said, "Oh my!" Without missing a beat, Little Man finished, "GOODNESS!"

~Carefully trying to pronounce all the sounds and syllables in a word. ("La-dy buG" is a favorite right now.)

~Remembering adjectives (white clouds, full moon, and so on)

[helping move and stack firewood]

Growth in physical and mental skills:

~ Somersaults are old news. He has completely mastered that skill and has even tried to attempt somersaulting off a chair before he was stopped.

~Just yesterday he finally managed a real jump. He finally got both feet off the ground and was temporarily airborne as he jumped off a curb.

~He is carrying larger loads in play and real life. He especially loves carrying the "big woods" as he helps with moving firewood.

~One of his friend's older brothers was working with him on catching a football a few days ago, and he seemed to be catching on quite well.

~He is becoming more and more skilled at drinking from a "big boy" cup and using his spoon or fork.

~He has started to grasp the idea of pretending and loves to "chop" wood and "cook" food.

~He is trying to draw purposeful shapes instead of just scribbling. Current favorites include lady bugs, circles, and triangles.

~He has started to grasp the idea of counting, though it still needs quite a bit of perfecting.

~He loves puzzles and is quite adept at putting simple ones together.

[showing brother "the ropes"]

Growth in relationships:

~He loves to interact with his brother, and when Brother smiles and "talks" to him, he exclaims "Happy see you!"

~He remembers things that happened in his interactions with others and loves to tell me about them.

~He remembers things that certain people do with him and asked to do it again. Things like wresting with Grandpa or Daddy, getting "horsie" rides from Grandpa, eating cookies from Grandma, playing with Tyson or James, and on and on and on.

~He is associating people with locations. (Grandma's house, Grandpa's church, our house, mom's car, dad's car, etc.)

There are a few embarrassing things and difficult moments too, but over all, it is such a joy to be a mother and to have Little Man in my life.