I’m sure you are all tired of hearing me gloat about how smart William is, but when I’m told that I’m “raising a baby genius” what else can I say? He’s brilliant! While his curriculum at school right now is focusing on colors, he has sailed past that and is onto his alphabet. He knows EVERY letter when pointed to, and has a word to associate with each:
A – aggies (duh)
B- Brandon
C- cici
D- dada
E- egg
F- football
G- gene or oh gosh
H – horsey
I – ice
J – jingle bells or Jan
K – kelli
L – layla
M – mommy
N – nancy
O – oh gosh or football (because it’s shaped like a football!)
P – papa
Q – no word here…I’m lost…
R – Robert
S – Wallis (because when he says his name he says Wallissssssssss)
T – Thomas
U – umbrella
V – victory (again, I was lost…)
W – WILLIAM! (WUM WUM)
X – TeXas
Y – Yaya
Z – zebra
He also recognizes the numbers 1-9 (0 is football) and can count independently 1-5, then 7-10. Six seems a bit confusing. Yesterday he counted 1-3 in Spanish too! I think I can just empty out his college fund now cause clearly this kid is going places on his own.
He has had a great time reuniting with Dada and spending time as a family. A few nights ago we were trying to get him to go take a bath and he climbed on our bed, laid right in the middle then pointed to Austin’s side and said “dada lay”. Austin obeyed, then he said “mommy lay” as he pointed to my side. So we laid there, each of us facing him, and he looked back and forth from mommy to dada with a smile that could be seen across the country. He was happy as a dead pig in the sunshine.
A couple weeks ago we took him to the National Western Stock Show – kind of a preview for the Houston Livestock Show – but it was way too crowded for Austin’s taste so it didn’t last long. William didn’t like the crowded areas much either, but if he could have played on those John Deere tractors for hours he would have been one happy camper.
The next day we went to Oh Gosh’s house for the Texans game (tears!) and William played outside for the entire game. He figured out how to open the back sliding door, so there was no stopping him. He took his cars and trains out there, lined them all up, threw them in the bushes, put them in the chair…it was quite the busy adventure out there. I guess he’s an outdoorsman!
Austin said that he just can’t believe the difference between August and now. He said he feels like in February he left a baby, in August he came home and still had a baby just a bigger one. But then he left again and when he came home this time there was no more baby – just a big boy. He can’t believe his vocabulary, motor skills, logical thinking, and the way he can make connections and put things together in his mind. The transformation from a baby to a big boy just happened recently – I definitely noticed it – but I can’t imagine having missed that time.
Sometimes we both catch ourselves trying to use reason and logic TOO much with him – because he is just so smart it seems like he should know these things. So we have to learn to have a little more patience than seems necessary. Maybe this never ends…
The biggest development over the last week was taking the front panel off of his crib, turning it into a day bed. Austin took it off during the day and wiser parents would have thought to show William his new bed BEFORE bedtime, to get the excitement out. Not us! We took him for his bath, then to his room and when he saw his bed you would have thought Thomas the Train had made a special appearance at our house. He was so excited! He climbed on the bed, jumped a few times, threw all of his buddies off the bed, climbed down, threw all his buddies back on the bed, and repeated the process. Falling asleep wasn’t on his agenda and he actually didn’t sleep IN the bed for the first 3 nights, but I think he’s used to it now. Our bedtime routine switched up a little bit and instead of rocking in the chair to read books and sing songs, now I crawl in bed with him and read and sing. It’s usually a 2-3 minute ordeal to determine who has the horsie pillow and who has the aggie pillow, and we have to have Thomas and Daddy doll and Doggie situated just right – but once we’re all settled we have a wonderful time. Austin took bedtime last night and seeing him crawl into the crib with William was pretty fun – I thought it was too small for ME, you should see him! But I’m sure he enjoyed it as much as I do.
In the mornings sometimes William has his arms wrapped tightly around dada, doggie, blankie and some other assortment of animals/toys. When I walk in and find this I always say “do you have all your buddies?” Yesterday morning I walked in and when he woke up he asked me to hand him doggie then dada then blanket. They had fallen (or gotten thrown) on the floor during the night. After I handed them to him he cuddled them all and with a big smile said, “alllll the buddies”. His sweet little voice lights up my world.
Austin has been working on animal sounds with William, and has also taught him that “the boss says RUMMMM”. The boss is the name for Austin’s truck, and “RUMMM” is my best attempt at spelling out a loud truck noise. In the mornings William always wants to ride in the boss (I try not to take personal offense) but when he sees the boss isn’t in the driveway he says “the boss at work RUMMMM”. He also knows lion, monkey, gorilla (which he also swaps out with dada…beating his hands on his chest saying “dada says…ooo ooo ooo”) horse, cow, cat, dog, bird, wolf, pig…I think that’s all. He loves to perform for us and make us laugh!
Yesterday Austin told William he had to wear a hat after school because it was cold, so he stole Dada's hat!
And here we are this morning trying to get ourself ready for school.
I think that hits the high points of the last few weeks. Sorry to have missed so many blogs – I hear I’ve been interfering with morning coffee rituals and daily work avoidance. My apologies. I’ll do better, starting now with William Wednesday. We’re having a blast– that’s for sure. And I love having our family back together again. I know folding laundry was never better than Sunday night as I listened to Dada read books through the baby monitor.
- manda
No comments:
Post a Comment