Heaven forbid I become one of those moms who brags, but I have to. For more than a month now, Christopher has been spotting letters everywhere we go and announcing them with honest confidence and true delight. And the amazing thing is that he gets them right! His favorite games include letters: putting magnetic letters on the white board and spelling out his nonsensicle words, passing us markers when coloring and dictating the letters he wants us to write, finding the letters on the bottoms of his trains, scattering letter puzzle pieces, and discerning letters on signs while running errands. The picture shows the mess that Topher makes each time we attend one of Aaron's softball games, where he stays occupied at the bleachers scratching letters in the dirt. We just introduced him to a computer game involving letters, numbers, shapes, and animals, and it's now his daily request.
We're working on teaching Christopher how to count, which his most frequent exposure has been my counting to 60 while he mopingly waits in timeout. And he's catching on quick! He surprised us last week while we were driving home from the law school by leaning back in his carseat and reciting one through five without any prompting. That's when we realized we should probably start teaching him to recognize the numbers, too. Now he's trained: Whenever he hears the word "count," he throws his pacifier (aka "choo-cho") far from him and begs, "Count!" He knows that when we count, the game usually involved chocolate chips, M&M's, marshmallows, or yogurt raisins.
Topher surprises us every day with his amazing memory. He quotes his "Thomas" movies before the narrator speaks. He recites, "Only...throw...balls!" when we ask him about rule #1. He points to the places he wants to go whenever we pass them, like our neighbor's house where he knows, "Cranky! Sand! Trains!" are all located. He remembers that fast food restaurants have "choc. milk," and he will try ordering it himself by telling the waitress or the server behind the counter. His charm is contagious, and I can't wait to see what he will learn and do each day!
Now we feel the responsibility of teaching him well.
