(no subject)
This has been a tremendous week so far, and it's only Tuesday.
Yesterday I played hooky in the morning and took the boy to the Chula Vista Nature Center with a couple of my girlfriends and their kids/niece/nephew. The Boy takes a while to warm up to strangers, but as soon as he saw the aquarium he was all smiles and running around like a happy duckling. Right now he's into fish and all types of sea life. He saw a tank of fish, pointed, and yelled out "FISH!" Then he pointed to another tank and yelled "more fish!" By the time he saw the jellyfish he just about lost it.
We've taken him to large aquariums before, but this time he appreciated it a whole lot more. Plus there were other kids around, and he followed around my friend's six year old nephew like he does his older cousins.
What amazed me though, was how he automatically took to my friend's mom, whom he had never met before. He usually does NOT like older people, especially those who get in his face and want to touch him. He doesn't like to be approached by people. He'd rather be the person to initiate contact. But with my friend's mom, he ran to her outstretched arms immediately. He also followed my friend around her house while she making lunch for us. Again, when we're at a house he's never been to before, he typically takes 30 minutes to feel comfortable leaving my side. But with her, he took off right away.
Then today, we went to a neighbor's open house mixer. We hadn't planned on going originally, but another neighbor actually came over to fetch us, telling us "We all really want to meet you, come over!" So sure enough, we did, and thank goodness. We ended up meeting our home and auto insurance rep, and I met a woman who is one of the philanthropy contacts at AT&T, whom I've successfully secured donations from multiple times. But besides all that, the boy wasn't shy, he walked around, watched Spongebob with the other kids, and actually let the host, a very grandfatherly like kinda guy, hold his hand.
It's neat seeing him become more outgoing. It just makes me feel better about knowing I'll probably have to put him in daycare/preschool soon. He really needs more stimuli and social interaction. He's still a little shy around kids his age. He tends to gravitate to much older kids, probably because he's around his older cousins so much.
We're also working on the concept of "sharing." It breaks my heart when other kids take shit from him and he just lets it go, looking at the other kid like "what the hell, I was playing with that!" Sometimes he gets really frustrated, or downright sad, and THAT really kills me. But I try my best not to intervene, as I want him to try and work social situations out on his own.
There have been times though, when I've had to get all Mama Bear. One time we were at this kids clubhouse place, and an older boy, about 8 years old, was purposely teasing my son about playing with a toy register. My son stepped away from the register when the other boy wanted to play with it. Then when the boy would walk away, my son would start playing with it again. But then the boy would come back, get in my kid's way, then play with the register. When he did it the first time, I didn't do anything. But then he started messing with my son. He'd walk away from the register, my son would walk towards it, then the little ass hole would run up and block my son. and his mom was too busy talking to her friends, who were ALL ignoring their bratty kids. After the third time I came up, controlled my urge to knock the child to 2011, and calmly said, "why don't you take turns so everyone can play with the register." Granted, the other kid did oblige, and he eventually walked away and did something else, leaving my son alone.
Still, I know there are going to many more times like this, worse times, and I won't be there to do anything. I just hope my son will be able to defend himself when he needs to, and go through childhood without more than the usual bumps and bruises--both physically and emotionally. He's growing so fast already.
In the past couple of months we've noticed a spurt in his cognitive process and speech, too. Just a couple hours ago he said told me and Hubs he wanted to "Wach Spongebob AND Cat in da Hat AND fish." He's memorized songs, recognizes landmarks, says things like "See Uncle Pete!" when we're two streets down from my brother in law's house. It's frickin' amazing, watching him grow. Every day I'm thankful my kid is healthy and whole. That he knows how to love and smile, that he laughs openly and tries to help me around the house. He already does things like mix the pancake batter (as we do our "make pan-cake" song and dance), throw stuff in the trash can, and wipe his table after he eats.
I can't wait to see what he learns next.
Yesterday I played hooky in the morning and took the boy to the Chula Vista Nature Center with a couple of my girlfriends and their kids/niece/nephew. The Boy takes a while to warm up to strangers, but as soon as he saw the aquarium he was all smiles and running around like a happy duckling. Right now he's into fish and all types of sea life. He saw a tank of fish, pointed, and yelled out "FISH!" Then he pointed to another tank and yelled "more fish!" By the time he saw the jellyfish he just about lost it.
We've taken him to large aquariums before, but this time he appreciated it a whole lot more. Plus there were other kids around, and he followed around my friend's six year old nephew like he does his older cousins.
What amazed me though, was how he automatically took to my friend's mom, whom he had never met before. He usually does NOT like older people, especially those who get in his face and want to touch him. He doesn't like to be approached by people. He'd rather be the person to initiate contact. But with my friend's mom, he ran to her outstretched arms immediately. He also followed my friend around her house while she making lunch for us. Again, when we're at a house he's never been to before, he typically takes 30 minutes to feel comfortable leaving my side. But with her, he took off right away.
Then today, we went to a neighbor's open house mixer. We hadn't planned on going originally, but another neighbor actually came over to fetch us, telling us "We all really want to meet you, come over!" So sure enough, we did, and thank goodness. We ended up meeting our home and auto insurance rep, and I met a woman who is one of the philanthropy contacts at AT&T, whom I've successfully secured donations from multiple times. But besides all that, the boy wasn't shy, he walked around, watched Spongebob with the other kids, and actually let the host, a very grandfatherly like kinda guy, hold his hand.
It's neat seeing him become more outgoing. It just makes me feel better about knowing I'll probably have to put him in daycare/preschool soon. He really needs more stimuli and social interaction. He's still a little shy around kids his age. He tends to gravitate to much older kids, probably because he's around his older cousins so much.
We're also working on the concept of "sharing." It breaks my heart when other kids take shit from him and he just lets it go, looking at the other kid like "what the hell, I was playing with that!" Sometimes he gets really frustrated, or downright sad, and THAT really kills me. But I try my best not to intervene, as I want him to try and work social situations out on his own.
There have been times though, when I've had to get all Mama Bear. One time we were at this kids clubhouse place, and an older boy, about 8 years old, was purposely teasing my son about playing with a toy register. My son stepped away from the register when the other boy wanted to play with it. Then when the boy would walk away, my son would start playing with it again. But then the boy would come back, get in my kid's way, then play with the register. When he did it the first time, I didn't do anything. But then he started messing with my son. He'd walk away from the register, my son would walk towards it, then the little ass hole would run up and block my son. and his mom was too busy talking to her friends, who were ALL ignoring their bratty kids. After the third time I came up, controlled my urge to knock the child to 2011, and calmly said, "why don't you take turns so everyone can play with the register." Granted, the other kid did oblige, and he eventually walked away and did something else, leaving my son alone.
Still, I know there are going to many more times like this, worse times, and I won't be there to do anything. I just hope my son will be able to defend himself when he needs to, and go through childhood without more than the usual bumps and bruises--both physically and emotionally. He's growing so fast already.
In the past couple of months we've noticed a spurt in his cognitive process and speech, too. Just a couple hours ago he said told me and Hubs he wanted to "Wach Spongebob AND Cat in da Hat AND fish." He's memorized songs, recognizes landmarks, says things like "See Uncle Pete!" when we're two streets down from my brother in law's house. It's frickin' amazing, watching him grow. Every day I'm thankful my kid is healthy and whole. That he knows how to love and smile, that he laughs openly and tries to help me around the house. He already does things like mix the pancake batter (as we do our "make pan-cake" song and dance), throw stuff in the trash can, and wipe his table after he eats.
I can't wait to see what he learns next.