Lookout, here comes Spiderman

We've been trying to teach Calum how to pretend to shoot webs from his hands like Spiderman because the shape of the hand is almost like the ASL sign for "I love you". He's really taken to it and goes around saying "Peww....peww" as he slings his web. Yesterday, one of the day care workers from the infant side spent some time around him and the first question she asked me when I went to pick him up was "What is he doing?" Calum helped explain by pointing to his Spiderman socks and saying "Spidey". What a funny boy.

I swear he also wrote the letter "e" last night too. Unfortunately, he's inherited our inability to spell as the "e" was for "Dakota". He has one of those little magnetic sketch boards and he wants you to tell him what to draw. You say, "draw dad" and he replies "yep" and makes a little scribble for dad. He will fill the board up and can point out each one to you if you ask things like "where's dad" or "show me Bazooka" (an excellent memory). He also has sounds he uses for letters "e i o" and draws those too.

One of his favorite things right now is his sticker book that he got for Christmas from Aunty Bonnie. He loves to put the stickers in the right place and is pretty good at recognizing where things ought to go. They play with small stickers at day care so his dexterity is pretty good and he can line the stickers up very well. By the time he hits kindergarten he may be ready to help teach it.

We've been working on expanding his vocabulary. Instead of him saying "Banana" we encourage him to say "Banana please" or "I want a banana". Last night he even signed the ASL sign for "please" while asking "Banana please". It's amazing how much they learn at this age.

Happy birthday Bonnie (Feb 14th). Better post while we remember.

Expanding vocabulary

I was trying to estimate how many words Calum can say and it's impossible because it grows everyday. He's really picking things up He has some flash cards with pictures on them and not only does he know the names of things but he knows a lot of ASL signs for them too. He's also starting to put sentences together and it always surprises me when he does. I was also thinking that a lot of the things he says you'd only expect to hear so often from an active boy. Things like, "Oh, oh. A mess!" when he spills his milk on the floor. He also likes "NO, mine" and "You stop!", "You bad" or just "Ewww" when he sees something he doesn't like.

In other news, we have been having quite a hard time getting him back into his morning routine. Everything is fine till I have to get him ready to leave for daycare. He struggles out of his jacket, boots and hat and I have to hold him down to dress him. Then he cries all the way (we are just across the street from the daycare) and makes a real fuss when we get inside. He holds on tight while I fill out the intake form and tries to make a run for the door if the gate is open. Funny enough, the staff told me that he settles in very well minutes after I leave. The stinker! I go home feeling horrible about leaving him at daycare while he runs around having fun. I guess it's an adjustment for us all.

Back to work now. Hope you are all keeping warm.