David Weekly, #42

It's been a busy week. Today we were doing a little bit of Christmas shopping, and at the bookstore a lady opened the door for David and myself. He said to her, "Thank you." She was very surprised in her response, "You're welcome!"
We also went to a Christmas party at my mother's office, and it was fun showing him off. I was told that the fact that he can say his alphabet, knows some words in French, knows the letters in sign language, and a few other things make him exceptional. I don't know if this is true, but it's fun! I'm just glad he's learning how to talk. On the way over to my mother's office, he was telling me he can "say" W, but I thought, you are saying it. What he meant was that he could sign it. He was in the back of the car, trying to put together the signs for some of the letters, and he did W, and A, and a few other letters. I told him that he's signing, which sounds like "sighing" when he says it.

We went looking at Christmas lights tonight, too. We were listening to Christmas music while driving around, and he actually wanted me to sing, rather than not sing. Always a surprise, that one. He would see some of the light displays and say "Wow," but in a loud whisper. Looking at the lights was fun, and he fell asleep in the car towards the end. Other Christmas activities we've done this week include watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", which was exciting, because he did the loud whisper thing again as he watched, and would say, "The Grinch is stealing Christmas!" And he would narrate what he saw as it happened.

It's hard to get in the Christmas spirit around here sometimes, when it's 80º out, like it was yesterday. A cold front came through last night, and it's been in the 50's ever since. No snow here, like in New Orleans. The weather says it will be warm again this week coming up. So I'll be bringing David from Florida's 50's at night and 70's during the day to a high temp on Wednesday in St Louis of 33. I'll make sure to have warm clothes packed, and extra stuff handy for when we get off the plane. I'll be in St Louis at 9:45 AM on December 17, to drop him off.

David skinned his knees again, when we were playing chase outside. He's a trooper, a strong little boy. After crying about it, and getting Bactine put on it (which hurts more), he had me put Band-Aids on the scrapes on both knees, and was ready to go back outside and run around like nothing happened. Except I told him to be careful this time, and so he was, and would prove it by saying so: "I was careful this time!"

In potty training news, we have him wearing underwear. And not wanting to wear diapers. I may have him in pullups for the plane trip, though, just for insurance purposes. He rarely tells anyone he has to go, rather, he expects to be told when to go. And if you don't tell him to go, then he makes a big mess. Dot told me that some kids are easy to train, and others aren't...guess who isn't easy to train? But we are making progress.

I've been asked what David wants for Christmas. He wants basically wants what he already has. He sees things in the store that he wants, but he doesn't miss it once it's out of sight. I'd like more things on DVD that he doesn't otherwise get because I don't have cable, like Blues Clues, Wiggles, and other shows that might be educational, because I see him learning from the PBS kids shows that he watches now, like "Sid the Science Kid." On that show in particular, he learned about "decay." Other shows, like "Martha Speaks," have vocabulary lessons built into the dialog, so he's getting exposure to more big words than I would normally say to him myself. He's also learned that signs with letters on them say things, so he's asking "What that sign says!" A lot. I've been teaching him how to read, by sight, basically, but lately I'm beginning to teach him how to sound out words. It's a slow process, because he knows the letters, and that they make certain sound, but hasn't quite figured out how to put them together to make words yet, or more simply, that when he sees a letter, to make that sound. The show "Super Why!" has a segment about spelling, but they don't really address letter combinations that make new sounds, such as 'ng' at the end of 'sing', for example. But I do see that he's getting that letters make sounds.

We went to the park today, and he made a friend with another little 3 year old, and they had fun together. It's cool to see him communicate with someone else about his age, who speaks about the same way he does. They just did the same things together, run, go down the slides, and generally be 3 year olds.

It has been determined that the function of David's blanket "is for smelling." This is from the mouth of the boy himself. I'm not totally sure why the smell is important, but it is...

I love it when he figures out things. The other day I told him I have put some clothes from the wash into the dryer, and he said, "OH! Because they're wet!"

Well, as of today, December 12, 2008, there are 13 days left until Christmas. May your Christmas be merry and bright. One more update from me about David next Friday, and that will be it for the year. It's been a year since I began writing these little newsletters, and I hope you've found some joy in this little boy we all love, care about, and cherish. He is a delight, and I hope you've enjoyed reading about him as much as I have enjoyed writing about him.

Rusty