Mama

Jack's been working on lots of new skills every day and it amazes me how much he learns and how much he already understands. Just today, I made a stack of blocks and called him over. He usually gets really excited and knocks them over but just before he did his "Jack Stack Attack" I asked him to wait and pointed to one lone block more than an arm's length away. I asked him to go get the block and bring it to me. He stopped and went over grabbed the block and gave it to me, then waited for me to stack the final block before attacking it.

He also knows a lot about what he should and shouldn't be doing. He will go to places that we have told him not to go and he will sneak up there, then turn to look at us and shake his head no and often say it. He's even reminded us that we have forbidden certain areas. He's even started shaking his finger to say no. Yesterday he went over to the TV and started shaking his head no and waving his hand just to let us know that he knew that he wasn't supposed to play near the glass on the TV.

He's talking quite a bit and has been acquiring new words just this past week. We do alphabet cards every day and he can recognize A, B and L (yes, L) without being prompted to repeat. He points to his ear when I say the letter "I" (he still confuses ear and eye), and does it again when I say "R". He's also started recognizing some of the pictures that are also on the cards. He kisses the card with the cat on it and says "apple" when he sees the A and "ball" (sounds like buh) when he sees it on the B card. He's also become quite good at "up" saying it whenever he wants to be picked up and when we go up the stairs (together or if he goes by himself). He's has taken to pointing at pictures in the house and declaring that "Dah-dah" or "Mah-mah" is in the photo.

And just this evening, I actually watched him process and put two and two together. No, I don't mean he's doing math (with any luck he's gotten math skills from Paul because he's doomed if he has mine!) but I saw him realize that he understood what we were reading. "Llama Llama Mad at Mama" is Jack's favorite book and "Llama Llama Red Pajama" runs a close second. We read one or the other each night as the final book of the night. He simply adores the books and starts grinning ear to ear when we finish the first book of the evening. Anyway, just recently, he has begun to be a more active participant with reading. When the word "no" comes up, he looks at me and shakes his head and smiles. In both books, the word "mama" appears frequently, along with a bunch of words that rhyme with llama. In Red Pajama, which we read tonight, the book begins with the Mama reading a bedtime story to the baby who is holding a stuffed toy. I always point each character out and then point to each of us (including JoJo!). About halfway through the book (and around Mama #6) he reached over and touched my chest, looked up at me and said, "Mama", as if he finally understood that this book wasn't just some sing songy mumbo jumbo. I thought it was coincidence until he did it 4 more times, each time with a tone of voice that was like, "Holy cow, I get this, it makes so much sense!" I love watching this kid learn!