The ListMaker: Carson Update

We're long overdue for a Carson update! I have to say, we are constantly amazed by Carson's sense of humor, verbal skills, and the joy she adds to every single day of life. Here are a few new things she has been enjoying lately:

VERBAL SKILLS

1. Word awareness: Carson has become very interested in words. When she sees billboards, she tells me what letters she notices on them. If we pass a sign in the grocery store, she wants me to tell her what it says.

2. Writing: Carson has also become very interested in writing letters. She'll practice for a good 30 minutes at a time, talking herself through each line (down, down, across--look! I made an H!). Her favorites to write are H, T, I, and C.

3. Listening: Once Carson has listened to us read a book 3 or 4 times, she will 'read' the whole thing to you, almost word-for-word. I think she is an auditory learner like her daddy--she just clings to anything you have ever said out loud to her (which will be good and bad in coming years--I will never be able to say, "No, I never told you could wear that dress/have $10/stay up late/see that movie/borrow the car/go to Lila's house for the weekend/etc etc" if I actually DID say it and then thought better of it.

at Little House of Stories in Decatur

4. Speaking: We've been amazed lately at the complexity of the thoughts C puts together, as I'm sure all parents are all the time. It's so fascinating to see their brains develop! There's a separate post coming up about this and how it has affected the excuses she attempts to use with us. Already sneaky at such a young age! ;)

INDEPENDENCE

1. Dressing: Carson can dress herself from start to finish these days--and generally demands to do so. Sometimes, we don't have the full 20 minutes to devote to her doing it completely on her own, but when we do, she does. And sometimes, she gets REALLLLLYYY frustrated when the shirt gets caught on her elbow or the tongue of the shoe won't stay out of her way. But that just gives us a chance to work on dealing with frustration. :)

2. "Aaaalllbymyself": Carson is continuing her self-reliant characteristics as she ages. Each day, there are more parts of our daily routine that she must do herself. From climbing in & out of her car seat/booster seat, to buckling it herself, to getting dressed/undressed, to feeding/cooking/puzzling/playing etc etc etc.....anything she is capable of handing on her own, she definitely will.

PERSONALITY

1. The girl has a song in her heart: She has always enjoyed music, as I think most kids do, but I swear, she ALWAYS has a song in her head. If she isn't singing, she's either asleep or concentrating very hard on something. She often bursts out mid-song, so you know the rest of it was playing silently in her head until she just had to sing along. We signed her up for The Music Class, and she's really loving it so far. The kids get to play instruments, sing, dance, etc. C comes out of her shell a bit more each time we go. It's led by these two hippies, who have had a song in their own heads (being sung to them by the voices that live there) pretty much since Woodstock. But seriously, it has been teaching her lots about rhythms and tempos--lately in the car, she'll comment about how fast a song is, or pat her legs to the beat.

2. Being shy: We've said this before, but it takes C a long time to warm up to new people and situations. And often, an event is over by the time she finally gets comfortable. Granted, once she's comfortable, she will chatter away in full-on paragraphs, but until then she is almost painfully reserved, even turning her head to look away from a new person. Even at Jana's house, her second home, she is much quieter than she is at our house. And at school, her teachers say she has just recently begun talking to her classmates, although she has known them since last August!

3. School: Along those lines, Carson has FINALLY gotten comfortable at school (day care). She goes there two days a week, and for about 6 months, she cried every time we dropped her off. Lately, she has not been crying, and her teachers say she has gone from talking to no one to talking to the teachers to finally talking to the other boys and girls in class. We're so glad to see her having fun there and working on all those difficult social skills. While she's generally somewhat clingy and hesitant when I drop her off in the mornings, by the time I get her in the afternoon, she wants nothing to do with holding my hand, as she strides confidently down the hallway and out the front door. So yes, progress for sure.

4. Puzzler: Carson could do puzzles for hours. She loves working out where each piece goes and usually has the patience to try several turns of a piece before deciding it does or doesn't go somewhere. We keep getting her more advanced puzzles, and she keeps mastering them quickly. I really enjoy sitting back and watching her put one together for the first time--and then feel SO proud of herself once she figures it out! So far, watching her pride in herself has been one of my very favorite parts of parenting.

And here are a couple more pics we've taken lately: