Taking the Scenic Route

Zane’s world

Zane has been making a lot of developmental leaps lately, and I figured I better write it down before I forget.

• First, his verbal skills have really taken off.  He is talking a lot now days.  He seems to do the most talking when we read together and he now insists on following each word with his finger as we read, sometimes going over a particular word a few times so he can keep hearing it, and then repeating it.  It almost seems like learning to read has finally given him a good reason to talk.
• His sense of humor is in full force.  For instance:  In his animal book (listed in the ‘what we are reading” thingy) he will point to a cow, something we know he knows very well, and announce that it is an ‘elephant’, then say “no, no, noooo” followed by a hearty giggle session, sometimes falling over in his laughing.  Then he will point and say ‘cow’ and shout “YES!”, while throwing up his hands, followed by clapping. It can take a loooonnnnggg time to get through that book some nights, but it is just so charming and fun to see him enjoying himself so much.
• He writes his name.  A good 90% of the time he gets it perfect, but once in a while he will write the “N” backwards.  His name still sounds like “Zam” half the time, but is getting nearer to being understood well.
• He is learning to use scissors.  He hasn’t really got it yet, but is improving.  Last night, when we said ‘time for bed’, instead of getting a book and snuggling into bed waiting for us, he grabbed a pair of scissors and a piece of paper.  lol. 
• He is able to string beads now. 
• His pitch is improving to where we are often able to understand what song he is singing without having to work so hard. 
• Drinks easily from a normal cup and gets rather irritated if you try to give him a sippy at home.  (still ok with it when we are out and about, but come to think of it, we haven’t been in the car since my last OB appointment, so that might not be true anymore)
• When he gets his hands dirty playing outside, he will run inside, clamor up on the toilet so he can reach the bathroom sink, turn it on, and wash his hands using soap. When he is done, he carefully dries them on the towel.  So cute.  He will also wash his feet off this way, which means a trail of mud and mud all over my toilet cover sometimes, but he is getting better about getting most of the mud off of his hands and feet by wiping it in the grass before tracking through the apartment.  It is something to see him washing his feet in the sink though because he is basically doing the splits with one foot on the toilet and one under the faucet.  That is one flexible little kid!
• Today when I was laying on the couch, he ran back to his room, grabbed his blanket, brought it to me and covered me up. 
• Going to sleep on his own now.  We never pushed this so it was a relief to see it happen naturally.  I knew it should, but with all the mainstream advice that you ‘must sleep train your child’ it makes you doubt yourself sometimes.  He is proving all that advice absolutely wrong.  Bedtime is a really nice time in our house and it makes all the nights of waiting for him to get tired before trying to go to bed so there weren’t any battle of wills so worth it. Now he is on a more predictable schedule and goes to bed happily.  He lays down, pulls the cover over his head, and drifts off to sleep.  It is so cool.  Two nights ago he tried to get to sleep in his own bed without any prompting.  After a while, he went back to the family bed and went to sleep there instead, but it was neat to see him starting to initiate it.  It is a process.
• Dresses himself.  He is much better at getting things on the right direction now, and is working on getting socks and shoes on by himself.
• This he has been doing for quite a while, but I thought I would throw it in because it is really helpful now that I am not able to get up and down as much.  He gets his own snacks out of the fridge.  If it is yogurt, he will take the lid off, put it on the table or in the trash can, get his own spoon, and be on his way.  If it is fruit, he brings it to us to wash first.  He is also finally putting banana peels in the trash without prompting. 
• He puts his own discs in the computer and starts up games without assistance.  He is really good at matching games, pattern games, and appears to understand some adding and subtracting. 

Well, that is all I can think of right now.  This is such a fun age!  I am really enjoying him right now and love seeing him gain new skills and enjoying himself.