Grafton is demonstrating increasing use of symmetry & organization when playing with his building toys. His space ships are very perfectly symmetric now and he lined up boats and cars (etc.) when playing with city street set.
He read all three of Baba's "learning to read" books to us tonight. It was clear he wasn't just (always) reciting memorized words and sentences. The last sentences of each book would trip him up, but he figured out the words on his own. In one case he saw a word he recognized from another page, so went back to that page to remember how the word sounded and then returned to the original page to complete the sentence. He is also sounding out simple words quickly now ("can", "you", etc.) when he is unsure of the word.
He is still difficult as ever when he is tired and/or hungry.
He mad many days last week where is behavior was markedly improved. He was very agreeable and aiming to please his parents. Tonight he even bussed dishes from the dining table on his own accord.
Grafton dug out Mom's old smart phone and started playing with it more this week. While we generally discourage this, we have been able to get him to play educational games. Though he likes to mix these up with an occasional session of Angry Birds.
He asked me how Velcro worked this morning.
His drawings are getting much more involved and interesting lately. They include many characters and have many things going on at in the scene.
He scratched his face near his chin this weekend, falling on rocks. We'll see if this one heals completely or scars lightly as have the other scratches to his face.
Over the past month (or more?) he's become very interested in Star Wars, thanks to his friends at school. He tells us all about the characters. I love it when he demonstrates how Darth Vader breathes and speaks. He has not yet seen the movies. He asked me today why different characters have different Light Saber colors.
Grafton never really seemed sad at Mazzy's passing. He is very matter of fact about all matters of death. It doesn't seem to affect him.
Wow, the young guy is really pulling it all together. Just keep him fed and rested to keep peace in the Tolopko household. Don't worry about the scars: faces grow and scar tissue doesn't. Should we send him his first letter that he can hopefully read?
ReplyDeleteSince he is crossing major rubicons now perhaps you should add a picture to the top of the blog and to the right of the original. Have him pose in the same looking up way and see if you can have him duplicate the facial expression.
Just love sharing in the growing pains of both Grafton and his mom and dad. Especially love that Baba worked with him and got him hooked on reading. Can't wait to witness him reading to us. His art work is amazing and he's developing into a mini-Rembrandt. Enjoyed reading the blog!
ReplyDeleteNana