It's all gotta go somewhere

Orange Orator

Dashiell is exploding with new words and physical skills. Last Saturday we took him to a gymnastics class–just to try it. Jumping, running and falling–yes! He really responded. Although he was in a class with older kids (3 1/2 – 5) he was able to do everything they did, mostly due to his height, except somersaults, which eluded him. He’s learning everything so quickly, he may have it mastered by the next class. He kept trying to do them yesterday afternoon…

His speech and memory continue to surprise all of us. One of his teachers remarked that she was quite amazed that D could remember plans so far into the future–like on Monday understanding what we would do this coming Saturday. Every day he makes a plan for what we’re going to do after I pick him up (he’s often trying to strike a bargain that includes a visit to the park or the car wash), and apparently in the course of the day he tells everyone the plan. Then the next day they ask him about it, and he’s able to recount what we did or didn’t do. This planning has led to a series of new expressions and questions: “No, that doesn’t sound like a very good plan” or “I have a question for you. When you pick me up, please we can go to Grass Valley Park?” or “When I wake up in the morning, we go to the airport, ok, Mommy?” Lately: “At my birthday party we…” or “You have ice cream for me?” Or, my favorite: “That’s too much, Mommy. Let’s just go to the airport instead.”

Visiting the airport continues to be his all-time favorite thing. Each time we go we discover something we never knew was there, like conference rooms, bathrooms tucked away (quiet!), and we usually have an encounter with a new musician, like a pianist or guitarist. Live music has begun to capture his attention and to my surprise he will watch performances for quite some time. We listen to lots of music at home and almost every night we do “dance party” to transition to the bath (naked dancing to jazz music). Lately he is fascinated with the musicians Mr. Rogers visits, like the Marsalis family or Yo Yo Ma. He has been working on naming each instrument: tuba, trombone, stand up bass, guitar, and of course: ukulele.

Jeff got a ukulele a few weeks ago and it’s been a large focus of our family time. He’s teaching himself to play via videos and books, and it’s something he and D can both learn together. Here we are showing the uke to “Aunt” Cindy and “Uncle” Lee.

DSC_7302

DSC_7301

And here is a short clip of D trying his hand:

3 Comments

  1. Grandma Bubba

    He has soooo many cool adventures! Look at all the educational exposure! You make life so magical for him! He is one lucky dude!

  2. sherry

    I agree!

  3. Grandma Lori

    So impressed with Dash’s planning and negotiating skills! Such an amazing gymnastics center. What a fun time for your family!

Leave a Reply to sherry Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

© 2024 MaidaData

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑