It is staggering to realize that this person living in my house has been here for almost two years. He comes up with new strategies everyday for taking over the family, but lucky for the adults, we can usually see right through his machinations. Here are some tidbits about Gideon.
Gideon had his last, until Kindergarten, developmental checkup at Texas Children’s in mid December. He performed 6 months to a year ahead in all skills. He does talk a lot and is very good at figuring things out. It was nice to have a doctor confirm our belief that we have an amazing kiddo.
They did ask us how many words he knows and I was like, “We are supposed to count all of them?” He knows hundreds of words, he can identify a lot of animals (including the noise they make and what they eat), he knows colors reasonably well, he can count to three (sometimes), he can identify his name and some letters, he remembers things that happened weeks ago, and he can make pizza dough like a pro (admittedly, I help a bit). It is sometimes hard to figure out what he is saying because he mostly knows nouns, only a handful of verbs, though he seems to be gaining verbs daily, and no articles or conjunctions.
He does like commands the best. Sit down. Come on. Mommyyy! Dad Daddyyy! Read Book. Eat! Hungry! Play! He does think he is the boss. I have noticed that he is easily frustrated and can’t imagine where he picked up that!
Gideon adores watching football and bball (basketball) with his Daddy. He does his own commentary as well, which is often more entertaining than the actual game. “Run!” “Tackle!” “Fall down!” or in the case of basketball, “Bounce!”
His favorite toys, and boy did he get a lot of them for Christmas, are: matchbox cars, wooden puzzles, books, a little people airplane and airport, and plastic animals.
He still only really likes animal shows on TV and that is ok with me.
Gideon only has four teeth, but he uses them well. He eats almost everything and in large quantities. Gideon loves to cook and make dough.
During bedtime, Gideon gets to pick three books and three songs. He requests songs and has recently started “singing” Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star with me. By singing, I mean he sings every fifth word. The first time he did it, I almost died from the cuteness.
We got serious about potty training this week and so Gideon, who had previously been telling us when he had to go potty, went on strike and refused to cooperate or else he threw fits when we suggested sitting on the potty. Willful is definitely in his vocabulary. The last couple days, we have had some successes and he likes that he gets an M (M&M) when he poops on the potty. I think this will be a process of time.
Gideon keeps us laughing. He loves to give hugs and kisses. He loves his grandparents and great-grandparents. He likes to play with his friend Caleb (who he calls Cable) and his cousin Isaac. Gideon finds new things to learn, say, and do everyday. He is a blessing.
