David Weekly, #29

One of the greatest joys of parenthood must be when your child is old enough to tell you that he loves you, after you tell him. "I love you, David." "I wove you, too, Daddy." He can't pronounce his L's yet, so when we read the "Splash" book, it comes out "Spwash". Occasionally, other words with L's have other pronunciations, like 'ayagators', which just kills me. He's getting better at "reading" or at least, recognizing words. He's also beginning to put adverbs into his speech, such as "actuawy." I don't know where these things come from, but it's always a surprise to hear the ways he's learning language. He's also beginning to get some concept of narrative, because he can tell me about things in some kind of sequence, such as today we were taking a walk down the street, and he tells me Ms. Tawanda (I have no idea about the spelling of her name) did something with his hair and with paint. I wasn't completely able to follow the story, but he knew what he was saying. Maybe it was a picture she drew of him? And something about black...David also says surprising things like "awesome!" now, but not that often...I'm also speaking more French to him, just teaching him nouns like chaussures, chausettes, (shoes and socks), and a few other things like verbs...but it's a losing battle. I'll keep doing it, but hopefully later on he'll be better able to learn a second language. Another aspect of him learning language is that he likes to try to type his name, or my name, and is really excited when he does it! "I typed my name!!!!" he shouts. I have to point to each letter, but he's beginning to learn where the keys are on the keyboard.

I know I've mentioned that he's polite, but it's a surprise to people when we're at the zoo and he knows he's in someone's way, and says "I'm sorry" or "excuse me". He's developing empathy! He's becoming aware of how his actions affect other people. He's also friends with everyone. He says hi to kids and adults everywhere. I know I've been repeating this little aspect of his behavior, but to me it's so remarkable that he's not just not shy, but willing to talk to anyone. At the zoo today he went up to complete strangers and very excitedly told them about the giant snakes, and where they were. He doesn't think to ask if they want to know. He's just so excited to tell someone...

He helped me cook dinner tonight, since he put the ingredients for the mashed potatoes in the pot. He was very happy about that.

Over Labor Day weekend, I had a friend of mine come over, and she brought her two kids. David did really well with the two of them, for the most part. Her kids are a boy 4, and a girl 5. The only part we have to work on is the sharing, since he wants to play with whatever they are playing with. This was the problem he had with Jared and Avery, too. Also, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry, and he saw the dinosaurs, which at first he was afraid of. After he got used to them (they're animatronic), he was having me name them, over and over and over. Except for the tyranasaurs rex, which he remained afraid of. I tried to take a picture of him with my cell phone, but he wasn't having it. My mother did take a few pics of us, though, so hopefully I'll have them soon.

When I drop him off at pre-school, he gives me a hug, makes me give him a kiss, lets me go, then does the routine all over again. He likes it when I squeeze him, and even asks me to. And then we repeat it again, and again...until finally I have to say "GO!" because he'll keep me there all day. He does this at Dot's, too.

So that's all for this week. I fear that my powers of observation are fading, and that I'm always leaving out details. I think of things all the time when I'm with the boy, but I never write them down.

Here's hoping that you get more hugs than you can handle, and the knowledge that somebody really loves you.

Rusty