Our brains are growing. Not so much mine, as I end up listening to "Alouette" about 500 times a day, thus replacing everything I learned in law school with some French lyrics about plucking feathers from a bird's beak. Do feathers even grow on a beak? But I digress...
The boys' brains are growing. I've often been able to tell when this is happening. I know it sounds strange, but between their increased appetites, their changes in daytime sleep patterns, and their love of showing off anything new they can do, I can usually tell when they have taken a mental leap. Most recently, Lucas has shown us that his capacity for understanding certain concepts has really expanded, while Ethan is broadening his language acquisition and communication skills.
Thus far this week, Lucas has had two terrible naps and has learned his colors, shapes and has solidified a mastering of the alphabet. That is how this kid works. In the last few days, he's enjoyed to pointing the "purple R" on our foam tiled floor, or the "orange E" on the wall. He can now not only tell me that a certain vehicle is a van, but he can also tell me that it is a "white van". He compares objects to one another, pointing out which one is big and which one is small, which looks fast and which looks slow, and which will fit somewhere and which is "hey big" (meaning "too big"). That is a lot for one week - I guess he is allowed a few messed up naps.
Ethan's brain grew this week as well. He didn't nap at all on Monday, which means he is either getting sick or is about to do something new and amazing. Well, today he ate more food before 11am than he usually eats in a day and then conked out an hour before nap usually begins. He slept for a longer than he had in more than a month, and woke up able to construct sentences more quickly than he could this morning. It was a huge difference. Where he had been putting two and three word sentences together with long pauses between words, this afternoon, he spoke sentences like a champ. My favorite was at dinner when I told Lucas "No, no, no" as he threw a carrot to the floor, and Ethan said "Mommy says no, no, no" quickly and clearly at Lucas. In the bath, I asked him if he wanted to sing "Alouette" and he said "No, Mommy sing it." Yesterday it would have simply been "No" or "Mommy...sing."
So before my brain completely shuts off, I want to let my boys know that I imagine it must be hard to live with those expanding brains, but that I am very proud of them and that they are great fun to watch develop.
Now I will go let my brain rest as I settle in for the next episode of Project Runway. They must get their smarts from their Daddy. :)
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3 comments:
My kids probably did that, too. Maybe all kids do, but working mothers don't notice. How lucky you are to be able to be home with them and watch them change and grow. Project Runway??? Well, I have to agree with you where the boys get their smarts. Don't know where their Daddy got his, though, since one of the guilty pleasures of both his parents is Deal or No Deal. Maybe when the boys are five they and Noah can start a home for the mentally challenged and give us the best rooms--nepotism and all that. By the way, do you also watch I Love Lucy reruns? You should so we could compare notes. Who needs Lost anyway? It's too hard to understand.
I don't know -- Jessica's pretty darn smart herself. Once, in college, she figured out how to open a wine bottle with nothing but a butter knife and a pen.
Ah yes, thank you Claire. I'm sure my boys will be just as proud of my accomplishments as I am of theirs.
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