Because I'm afraid it will pale compared to Connor. The boys went back to school yesterday after a 2 1/2 week Christmas break. There were lots and lots of good times, and lots of staying up late and the somehow it all seemed much longer than that, especially I think because Connor seems to have left St. Catherine's in December as a baby and returned a big boy. I'm not trying to be a bragging Dad, but what he accomplished in this period of time is really quite stunning. He has a) mastered using the potty, b) gotten rid of his pacifier and c) learned to read.
With the potty to be honest we were despairing. (Sorry if no wants to read about potty training but it's a big moment and this blog is partly to keep a record of the things that happen!) He had been at it in earnest since August and was still having accidents on a daily basis. This made for a long few months, to say the least. The first couple of weeks in December was the first time it seemed to bother him and he would say sadly, "I'm tired of having accidents." In retrospect, this was the turning point because it seems to have outweighed his disinclination to take the trouble of going to the bathroom. Now he has almost no accidents at all. Amazing.
With the pacifier, it was a day we had been fearing. We had lost all but about 3 of them by Thanksgiving and then in quick succession two more broke. We knew the last one would go and sure enough just after Christmas: snap! We were prepared for a major battle about not getting more because he seemed more into it than ever, but he accepted the news calmly and has just moved on. He talks about it occasionally and seems to harbour some hope that one of the lost ones will be returned but otherwise he really hasn't looked back for a moment.
Finally, the reading. He watches Jamie read and has been imitating him, but we thought it was just a matter of going through the motions. Then, last week he and Sarah were driving and he pointed out a Volvo in front of them. It looked nothing like ours and Sarah noticed that Volvos don't have logos on the back so she asked how he knew and he answered flatly, "I read it." Still, the boys have been noticing that our Volvo has the all over it, so she figured it was just recognition. Maybe so, but when they got home they pulled out a puzzle they'd never done and he pointed to the word "cool" and sounded it out perfectly. There are only very simple words he can get right now but he works out the sounds even with longer ones.
We still weren't totally believing it until Sarah saw his teacher after the first day of school yesterday and she marveled about Connor reading words. It was then that we stopped to admire what a big boy he seems to have become, all in the space of a Christmas vacation.
He's still our bunny though.
1 comment:
Delightful progress report. You have moved into a new phase, as potty interest is bimodal, high only at the ends of life's bell-shaped curve, with a long, mostly unremarked middle section. The returned fascination is probably ehy they call us old farts.
G-Diddy.
Post a Comment