This is a total brag and is mostly for the grandparents. So if you don't want to hear me droning on about how sometimes my kids actually do cute and amazing things, stop reading!
Back in those long ago days when Ree was an only child (how could that have only been 18 months ago? It feels like an eternity!), we made it a point to make sure she was intellectually stimulated. We did the things parents were supposed to do. We limited TV, we read books, we took her on lots of adventures. And then the boys were born. And all of those things stopped. So not only was she suddenly getting lots of TV, fewer books, and no adventures, the boys were getting none of the good things she had.
Over the past few months, things have started returning to "normal" and we have started doing some of those things again, but there's always that nagging feeling that we are letting Ree down and setting the boys up for failure. Which is why I'm always so surprised when the kids show signs that they are actually learning and thinking.
Leon chatters constantly. He is always talking. When he is upset, the chatter continues while his body shakes and he waves his little fist in the air. Although we occasionally recognize words coming out of his mouth, we are convinced that he is primarily speaking Ukrainian. It must be genetic. When he is angry, we know he is cussing like a little Cossack.
But Michael doesn't say nearly as much. We do think it relates to his teething agony - it hurts his mouth too much to make certain sounds. Consequently, it's easy to dismiss him as the one who isn't learning as much, but he really is absorbing things. Last week he and I sat down with a book about shapes. A different shape is featured on each page and the book has a wheel you turn with shapes on it. You are supposed to turn the wheel to match the shape on the wheel to the shape on the page. Without any prompting, Michael did it correctly for three pages in a row. Apparently Ree isn't the only one getting math concepts.
In addition to all of his chatter, Leon makes me smile with his need to take care of his "little" brother Michael. If Michael is upset, Leon gives him a toy to play with (unless, of course, Michael is upset because Leon stole his toy, which happens frequently). When my parents were visiting, my mom asked Leon if he wanted more juice. He handed my mom his sippy cup, then went over to Michael, ripped Michael's sippy cup out of his hands, and took it to my mom. (His execution isn't too great, but at least his heart is in the right place.) Yesterday as the boys were getting up from naps, I got Michael out of his crib first and sat him on the floor. He started crying. I tuned him out and went to get Leon. Leon wouldn't get out of his crib. He just kept pointing at Michael's crib. Finally I realized that Leon wanted me to give Michael his blanket to calm him down.
The funniest care taking moment, though, was in the bathtub on Saturday night. Leon decided to wash Michael's hair. He definitely didn't want to pour water on Michael. He had a cup of water in his hand and was pointing at the shampoo. He was going to take care of him. Fortunately, I was able to intervene before he started pouring water on Michael.
Leon miraculously also shows signs of intellectual intelligence. Ree has foam letters she plays with in the tub, and the boys were playing with them the other night. Leon was sorting through them, and as he showed them to me he kept saying, "This? This? This?" so that I would identify the letters. In the middle of the "this"es he suddenly said, "K," and impressively, it was the letter K. The "This? This? This?" continued, and then he said, "B!" and it was the letter B. I guess all those ABC books are good for something.
As impressed as I was by Leon's letter recognition, Ree's reading skills always floor me. It was crazy enough to me when she read me the words on a color-by-number coloring page last winter. Then we started noticing that she knew sight words. On Saturday, I was at the grocery store with the three kids by myself. They were all riding in one of those giant carts that actually has seat belts for three kids. Leon was having a bad day, and I had to pick him up, so I handed Ree my list to hold while I held Leon and pushed the cart. That's when she started reading me the list. It sounded like she was reading it in order, but that seemed nuts, so I asked if she was reading or just guessing words. She said she was reading, and then she pointed to the words while she read it again. Alright then. Not only is she reading, she can read my chicken scratch print on a grocery list.
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