baby Doodle update

I am amazed how quickly and thoroughly baby Doodle learns things.

Letters: He can sing the alphabet song clearly and articulately, including the L-M-N-O-P part. He knows every letter, lower- and upper case by sight. He knows what sound each letter makes and what words start with that letter. He can spell his name, mommy and daddy. He can tell you what a word starts with if he hears the sound the first letter makes. He'll say, "what does horse start with?" "You tell me, it makes the sound hu hu hu." He'll say, "H." He can rhyme just about any word, the "words" he comes up with aren't always legitamate words, but they rhyme nonetheless. Like, "world and borld sound the same, right mommy?"

Numbers: He can count to 29 without missing a number, then he forgets what comes next and when I tell him 30 he'll count to 39 etc. . . He can count items correctly. His finger and his numbers are now coordinated. He is very interested in double digit numbers. He'll say, "what makes a twenty-four." "I'll say a 2 and a 4." Then he'll identify double digit numbers he sees in books, on highways, store signs, addresses etc. . . We'll be walking along the sidewalk and he'll say, there's a 69.

Memory: Today we went to Home Depot to try, in vain, to match the trim paint in the baby's room and, of course, I had to go to the bathroom while we were there. As we were approaching the restroom baby Doodle said, "I'm going to sit in the chair while you pee." I said, "Oh, is there a chair in this bathroom?" "Yes, there is." Sure enough we walk in and around the corner is a wicker chair for BD to sit in. He has been in countless other public restrooms, including this one, obviously, but I can't believe you remembered that. It had been a while since I had used this particular bathroom. He remembers who gave him what articles of clothing and toys.

Grammar: He's been experimenting with comparative words. He'll say, this dinosaur is much bigger than that one. Or, you're taller than me. Or, Daddy is older than you. Sometimes he gets them wrong like, "Is ten a lotter than seven?" which is what he asked at the dinner table when I told him he had to eat ten more bites of sweet potato before he could get down. He knows and uses pronouns correctly even referring to the baby in my belly as "she" because he thinks it's a girl. Today, he surprised me by describing a purple, pink and green butterfly as "colorful."

Play: He is still into his trains and tracks. He plays trains by himself for long stretches of time, which I really appreaciate. He knows what Thomas engines he has and which ones his friend, the Fiendling, has. He still loves to be read to. He plays baseball, basketball (in the house with a plastic hoop) and football, mostly with Mr. Doodlebug, but I will occassionally oblige. He has a good arm and is surprisingly accurate. He plays with his stuffed animals when he's supposed to be napping. I can hear him on his bed conducting pretend conversations betweem them. They sound much like he does with his friends, or like when he and I interact.

He is starting to ask WHY about everything. Why can't I stand on my chair? Why did the train go over the drawbridge when it was up? You're supposed to wait until the drawbridge is down! Why did you paint the baby's room green? I want it to be pink. Here's an example of a typical conversation: "Where are we going today, Mommy?" "We don't have anywhere to be today." "Why?" "Because it's Thursday and we don't have to be anywhere." "But, why?" This morning he asked me why goats have short tails. Because that's how goats are made. But why?

Baby: He likes to put his head under my shirt and pretend to be in my belly with the baby. Other times he'll "tickle" my belly with his fingernails and say, "I'm tickling the baby. Is she laughing?" He tells me all of the things he's going to do with the baby once it's born: rock the baby and sing Rock-a-bye Baby (which he sings all of when he's telling me this), teach the baby how to eat carrots, the ABCs, how to play baseball, how to play trains etc . . . He knows the baby will cry sometimes and so he'll ask what he already knows, "will the baby cry sometimes?" He says, "I'm going to be a good big brother. I'm going to help you with the baby."

Independence: He picks out his own clothes and will rarely wear something I pick out for him. I try to put my preferences on the top so he'll "choose" them. Yesterday, he went upstairs to pick out his clothes and bring them down for me to dress him. He brought down jeans, a sweatshirt, socks, wipes, a diaper and diaper cream and then said, "I brought diaper cream and wipes becaues I pooped." Very helpful.

Not so advanced: He still sleeps with a pacifier and I'm reluctant to break him of the habit at this point given the huge transition we're all about to undertake. He is not the least bit potty trained. I plan to crack down this summer when it's warm and he can be naked.

Baby Doodle is incredibly sweet and sometimes I worry that he's not assertive enough. He's sensitive and will start to cry, not in a tantrum way, but in a sad way, when someone takes something from him that he was playing with and felt strongly about playing with it. He's a really good boy. For the most part he listens and does as he's told. He has only been in time out once in the past 3 to 4 weeks. He often tells Mr. D and me how much he loves us. He's just so darling I can't imagine my life without him. I hope he doesn't lose his charm when the baby is born. If he does, I know it will only be temporary.

My belly (36 weeks), for those who are interested: