For instance, take the fact that our play date with Dominik and his family two weeks ago was at the place with all the inflatable bouncers and that he couldn't wait to go. At Dominik's party in November, it took him most of the party to warm up to them, but by the end he was OK. And the time before that in January, forget it! Screaming fits and tears and clinging onto Momma for dear life. He's never really liked squishy things or being on unstable ground. (Which is funny because he used to love being on our waterbed, but no one else's....)
That's impressive enough.
But no, in the last few weeks it's gotten even better!
Last week it was Play-Doh. Yep, that fun squishy substance that inevitably every mom on the planet has had to try and get out of the carpet at some point... or keep her young kiddo from eating. Boo wouldn't go anywhere near it. Or anything squishy for that matter.
In October when we went to the Crayola Factory, we got little packets of the Model Magic. We didn't open them until a few weeks later at home. Boo was very happy to tell me what to make out of it, but wanted nothing to do with it himself. And Model Magic is much more "dry" then Play-Doh.
He got a small container of knock-off yellow Play-Doh in his Easter basket at school. I figured I would add it to my collection of doh that the boy would never touch, but I could play with. Well, last Saturday I got a surprise. He actually asked me to open it and pry it out of the container. Then he willingly played with it. And so I broke out the containers I'd been hoarding for a few years (I love the stuff myself...). We played for a good half-hour with it. As evidenced by this picture.
And the other amazing thing, Easter morning he was more interested in the canisters we'd left sitting out on the table than the big bucket filled with candy right beside it. Go figure. We've played with the doh a few more times in the last week or so.
Last weekend was another first (that I don't have photographic proof of, sadly). Boo actually climbed a ladder. Not just any ladder, but the straight up ladder to the platform on Zoe's swing-set. Actually, I take that back. He's climbed ladders like that before, but they were only 2 or 3 rungs, this one is 5 I think and pretty big steps too. He usually needed a lot of encouragement for the little ones on the playground, but he was zipping up this one and sliding down the slide like a real playground pro! He and Billy were having a lot of fun playing together.
The playground is the scene for several other fears the boy-o has gotten past. He now will willingly go down the twisty slide all by himself. Something he would never, ever dream of doing even just a few short weeks ago. And even more impressive, he actually goes across the "shaky bridge" at out big playground. You know, one of those things made of wood that is a suspension bridge that bounces and shakes and rattles. Yeah, he didn't even want me to go across it without him, let alone carry him. As you can see from the picture, he now handles it like a pro.
Where is my little boy going? He's growing up too fast in such jumps. Today we finally got 7 stickers on the board (not 7 days in a row, I relented on that part...) and we can go get the Muppets for being 7 days accident free. I wasn't sure we were ever going to make it, especially after last week. Friday he suddenly wanted to not have accidents again, so life is good. He even made it through a nice hike with some of my Girl Scouts and some of the family without a single problem. Now if he makes it for another 14 accident free days, we'll talk about getting him that light saber he's been eyeing up.
One fear that is getting better, but will still be a long time in leaving is his fear of anything four-footed and furry. He now likes to point out dogs and cats and look at them and admire them, but heaven forbid you suggest he go say hi to them or one come within about 5 feet of him. Superglue has less stick.
Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that my boy-o is growing up and learning and enjoying the world, but I do miss the itty-bitty Boo that depended on me for everything. He really is growing into such a wonderful kid. I can't wait to see where we go next on this adventure.
So, I bid you peace and the enjoyment of watching those that you love grow.
No comments:
Post a Comment