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dr_pretentiousThe striking thing is not that Gareth is increasingly able to stand and take a few steps here and there without holding onto the furniture. The striking thing is that he knows it's a big deal. For a while, he could only stand up without holding stuff if he didn't notice he was doing it. The minute he looked around and saw that he was just plain standing up, he'd immediately fall on his butt. Just today, though, he's started making a visible decision to walk unassisted, and he cackles with glee every time he pulls it off.
His new favorite toy: a stick. He beats it on things with a look of great concentration on his face, as if he has some specific goal he's trying to accomplish with it, and he doesn't know why his goal isn't happening yet. I'm not sure what he's after, but as long as he's beating on stuff that won't break, I'm happy to let him keep at it.
According to Gareth, all small furry quadrupeds are kitties. When in the presence of dogs, I offer him the word dog and the ASL sign for dog, and he corrects me. Kitty kitty kitty, cat cat cat. He uses both words, to emphasize his point.
BEST OF ALL:
Dan was away yesterday, and Gareth pined for him. In the evenings, Dan usually takes the guitar down and plays classical stuff for Gareth, so I put on the first classical CD I came across, which turned out to be a collection of old Van Cliburn recordings. Gareth stared at the stereo speakers a moment, then toddled over to the piano and raised his arms to ask me to pick him up. So I put him in my lap and let him beat on the keys. He banged on the piano twice, then turned to stare at the speakers some more, knitting his little eyebrows and listening. He went back and forth between playing and listening like that for several minutes, and might have gone on longer if I were less considerate of my next-door neighbors. It really looked like he understood the relationship between what he was hearing and the artifact in the dining room, like he was trying to imitate or play along with the invisible Van Cliburn.
His new favorite toy: a stick. He beats it on things with a look of great concentration on his face, as if he has some specific goal he's trying to accomplish with it, and he doesn't know why his goal isn't happening yet. I'm not sure what he's after, but as long as he's beating on stuff that won't break, I'm happy to let him keep at it.
According to Gareth, all small furry quadrupeds are kitties. When in the presence of dogs, I offer him the word dog and the ASL sign for dog, and he corrects me. Kitty kitty kitty, cat cat cat. He uses both words, to emphasize his point.
BEST OF ALL:
Dan was away yesterday, and Gareth pined for him. In the evenings, Dan usually takes the guitar down and plays classical stuff for Gareth, so I put on the first classical CD I came across, which turned out to be a collection of old Van Cliburn recordings. Gareth stared at the stereo speakers a moment, then toddled over to the piano and raised his arms to ask me to pick him up. So I put him in my lap and let him beat on the keys. He banged on the piano twice, then turned to stare at the speakers some more, knitting his little eyebrows and listening. He went back and forth between playing and listening like that for several minutes, and might have gone on longer if I were less considerate of my next-door neighbors. It really looked like he understood the relationship between what he was hearing and the artifact in the dining room, like he was trying to imitate or play along with the invisible Van Cliburn.
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no subject
Date: 2008-09-09 04:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-09 10:23 am (UTC)I've never heard of a little one connecting the piano to the sound coming out of the speakers, though.
Go Gareth!
no subject
Date: 2008-09-09 02:24 pm (UTC)*At least not to watch as a parent. I remember some that weren't so much fun to live through...I'm hoping Critter will remember childhood more fondly than I did though.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-12 01:54 am (UTC)Amen to that, and So Mote It Be!
I've often said I want to give Gareth a chance to study martial arts as early as a good teacher will take him. If, before junior high starts, his classmates all know he has a black belt in something, he may never be put in the position of having to prove it. I might yield to Dan's misgivings about my homeschooling notions, but if the kid's going to school, he's got to have some kind of self-defense training.
How's October for you? We've got something the weekend of the 11th, and probably the weekend of the 25th, but that leaves the weekends of the 4th and 18th.
no subject
Date: 2008-09-09 07:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-11 06:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-09-12 01:55 am (UTC)