We've been working with Grafton to start teaching him to recognize the letters of the alphabet. His Baba made him a nice flip book of the alphabet, one letter to per page, with accompanying pictures. Most nights we flip through a number of pages to recite the letters and ask him what letters he's seeing. (He likes to do this with his Dad by flashlight, after we turn out the lights in his bedroom). With the exception of 'G' he has yet to demonstrate he's learning the alphabet. But I actually think he knows more than he lets on, as he has a tendency to tell us "I don't know" any time he's not entirely certain about an answer.
Tonight, at dinner, we were pointing out to him the letters that start various words of items at the table ("pizza", "cup", etc.). He was more attentive and engaged than usual. After running through a number of words, we recited a list of 'B' words, and asked him what letter they started with, after sounding out the 'B' sound for him a few times ("buh, buh, buh"). He called out "B!" and we could tell he was very excited at being able to identify the letter. This motivated him a bit more, and he started asking us what letter various other words started with. He went on doing this longer than we would have expected, showing us that he really is getting interested in figuring out how letters relate to words (you know, what we adults call "spelling").
Lately, Grafton has also really enjoyed putting together his alphabet train jigsaw puzzle. He will often call us over to help him identify the letters so that he can piece together the train into the full alphabet.
Hopefully, his interest in the alphabet will continue to grow! I feel like he's on the verge of a minor intellectual jump...if we can keep him motivated to learn.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Back on Track
Grafton is getting back on track with his potty training. The last couple of days he's successfully told us when he needs to get pee in the potty, and produced the goods once we got him on the potty. He's even woke up with a dry diaper this morning, and headed straight to the potty after getting out of bed.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Rainbow in the Berkshires
Driving home from Otis tonight, Grafton saw his first rainbow. It appeared to us multiple times as the country road weaved in out of the trees, and Grafton pointed it out and smiled each time he saw it.
(Sorry, no photos.)
(Sorry, no photos.)
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
You Never Can Tell
You never can tell what will be a problem for a toddler.
With our big move now a few days behind us, Grafton is doing great with the change. We didn't know whether this was going to cause problems for him, and we were worried that he would constantly ask to go back home, or back to his old room. But he's barely asked about it. In fact, I think the only time it comes up is when we ask him about it. So far so good.
We were also worried about his sleeping arrangement. We delayed for months converting his crib to an open bed, worried that he'd be getting up and down all night, causing days or weeks of restless nights for us all. But moving into our new house, we knew it was time to make the conversion. Although we were concerned that altering his bed at the same we were moving might be too much at once for him. But we did it. And for the past two nights, we think he's never slept better. In fact, Neva just commented this morning how this was the first night in a long time where neither of us were woken by Grafton calling out to us for a "re-tuck". So much to our surprise, he's doing really well with his new 3-walled bed.
But then there was the tub incident. He made it over two and half years using a (oversized) infant tub for his bath time. We never liked the full bath tub in our last home, and so we just kept using the smaller infant tub. Now that the new house has a much nicer tub, we were happy to be do away with the infant tub. But Grafton was not happy about it all! What a fit he threw! He refused to sit and screamed so loud that I'm quite sure our auditory systems sustained significant damage (the bathroom's tile, fiberglass tub, and mirrors do little to attenuate high-pitched screams). He was also slipping constantly, since the tub does not yet have a mat. I held him by both arms trying to get him to sit, and eventually prevailed. But the screaming continued. On his butt, he continued to slide around, which he found moderately entertaining and started to come around emotionally. But just as he was getting used to the tub, he slid onto his back, sending his feet flying upward. His little toe hit the tub faucet and got cut, and started bleeding. More crying and screaming (understandably now). His toe is fine, but I think we might go back to using the infant tub for another night or two...
With our big move now a few days behind us, Grafton is doing great with the change. We didn't know whether this was going to cause problems for him, and we were worried that he would constantly ask to go back home, or back to his old room. But he's barely asked about it. In fact, I think the only time it comes up is when we ask him about it. So far so good.
We were also worried about his sleeping arrangement. We delayed for months converting his crib to an open bed, worried that he'd be getting up and down all night, causing days or weeks of restless nights for us all. But moving into our new house, we knew it was time to make the conversion. Although we were concerned that altering his bed at the same we were moving might be too much at once for him. But we did it. And for the past two nights, we think he's never slept better. In fact, Neva just commented this morning how this was the first night in a long time where neither of us were woken by Grafton calling out to us for a "re-tuck". So much to our surprise, he's doing really well with his new 3-walled bed.
But then there was the tub incident. He made it over two and half years using a (oversized) infant tub for his bath time. We never liked the full bath tub in our last home, and so we just kept using the smaller infant tub. Now that the new house has a much nicer tub, we were happy to be do away with the infant tub. But Grafton was not happy about it all! What a fit he threw! He refused to sit and screamed so loud that I'm quite sure our auditory systems sustained significant damage (the bathroom's tile, fiberglass tub, and mirrors do little to attenuate high-pitched screams). He was also slipping constantly, since the tub does not yet have a mat. I held him by both arms trying to get him to sit, and eventually prevailed. But the screaming continued. On his butt, he continued to slide around, which he found moderately entertaining and started to come around emotionally. But just as he was getting used to the tub, he slid onto his back, sending his feet flying upward. His little toe hit the tub faucet and got cut, and started bleeding. More crying and screaming (understandably now). His toe is fine, but I think we might go back to using the infant tub for another night or two...
Monday, July 18, 2011
Just the Facts
It appears we can no longer get away with telling the little white lies that we occasionally use to dissuade Grafton from activities that are, well, inconvenient for his parents.
For example, take the other day when Grafton asked his Dad for another cup of milk. Now we were practically out of milk. I mean there were a few gulps left in the gallon jug. But I knew it wasn't much, and hardly enough to warrant me getting up from my comfortable perch on my recliner. So I told Grafton plainly, "sorry, there's no more milk, we finished it." In the past he would have taken this at face value, and maybe complained a bit, but then would let it go. But on this particular day, Grafton was not ready to accept what his father had told him. He explained that he was going to check if we had more milk and headed up to the kitchen. He proceeded to open the fridge, found the nearly empty jug of milk, took it out and placed it on the counter, and then started yelling down to me, "Daddy, we have milk! Look Daddy, we have more milk! I want the rest of the milk!" (well, something close to that). So Dad was forced to concede that indeed there was remaining milk, and got up to pour the precocious little boy another half cup of milk.
Later that same day, we were at the Commons eating burritos for dinner outside on a patio area, near the Odyssey bookstore. After finishing up, Grafton asked if we could go into the bookstore. As the evening was moving on quickly, we knew we had to get home soon to get Grafton bathed and ready for bed. So we told Grafton that we thought the store was closed. We actually believed this to be the case, but did not know for sure, and figured it was likely enough to be closed that it wasn't worth proving this to Grafton. But there was no need for us to provide this proof. Upon getting up from his seat, Grafton announces that he was going to go see if the store was still open, and runs over to the door. Finding that the door was still open, we hear him calling back at us, "It's open! The bookstore is still open! Come inside!" So, once again, our little Fact Checker showed us the importance of verifying one's assertions, and in this case was awarded to a reading of "Curious George".
Tonight, driving home from the Arguins, Grafton was singing a single verse of a song from Mary Poppins. He was getting most of the words wrong, but that's the way he liked to sing it. We tried to correct him, slowly repeating the words as we understood them to be. But he refused to accept our version, telling us "That's not how it goes." Having placed some doubt in our minds, Mom and Dad began debating what the words might actually be. Grafton, hearing our discussion, interjected, "We can look it up on the computer."
For example, take the other day when Grafton asked his Dad for another cup of milk. Now we were practically out of milk. I mean there were a few gulps left in the gallon jug. But I knew it wasn't much, and hardly enough to warrant me getting up from my comfortable perch on my recliner. So I told Grafton plainly, "sorry, there's no more milk, we finished it." In the past he would have taken this at face value, and maybe complained a bit, but then would let it go. But on this particular day, Grafton was not ready to accept what his father had told him. He explained that he was going to check if we had more milk and headed up to the kitchen. He proceeded to open the fridge, found the nearly empty jug of milk, took it out and placed it on the counter, and then started yelling down to me, "Daddy, we have milk! Look Daddy, we have more milk! I want the rest of the milk!" (well, something close to that). So Dad was forced to concede that indeed there was remaining milk, and got up to pour the precocious little boy another half cup of milk.
Later that same day, we were at the Commons eating burritos for dinner outside on a patio area, near the Odyssey bookstore. After finishing up, Grafton asked if we could go into the bookstore. As the evening was moving on quickly, we knew we had to get home soon to get Grafton bathed and ready for bed. So we told Grafton that we thought the store was closed. We actually believed this to be the case, but did not know for sure, and figured it was likely enough to be closed that it wasn't worth proving this to Grafton. But there was no need for us to provide this proof. Upon getting up from his seat, Grafton announces that he was going to go see if the store was still open, and runs over to the door. Finding that the door was still open, we hear him calling back at us, "It's open! The bookstore is still open! Come inside!" So, once again, our little Fact Checker showed us the importance of verifying one's assertions, and in this case was awarded to a reading of "Curious George".
Tonight, driving home from the Arguins, Grafton was singing a single verse of a song from Mary Poppins. He was getting most of the words wrong, but that's the way he liked to sing it. We tried to correct him, slowly repeating the words as we understood them to be. But he refused to accept our version, telling us "That's not how it goes." Having placed some doubt in our minds, Mom and Dad began debating what the words might actually be. Grafton, hearing our discussion, interjected, "We can look it up on the computer."
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Solid Progress
First at school, on Friday. Then once at home, on Saturday. Hopefully, he's on his way...
Stubborn Style
Today was one of the hotter days of the summer. Mid-to-high eighties, but brutally strong sun. A perfect day for Grafton to insist on wearing jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. We refused. So...he figured out how to dress himself! Pulled on his jeans, and slipped into his shirt. First time ever. He's always told us "I caaaaan't", when trying to show him how to get dressed. Well, apparently he can.
So we let him wear his clothes of choice. And he sweat a lot today. But he never seemed to mind the heat, and never complained about his fall attire.
He also took to a particular hat we found while packing today. Not our favorite hat, mind you, but it's hard to dissuade our child from stylistic choices.
So here it is, his outfit for July 10, 2010.
So we let him wear his clothes of choice. And he sweat a lot today. But he never seemed to mind the heat, and never complained about his fall attire.
He also took to a particular hat we found while packing today. Not our favorite hat, mind you, but it's hard to dissuade our child from stylistic choices.
So here it is, his outfit for July 10, 2010.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)