New Animal Names

Hey there!

I would wish you happy holidays and all that, but I am not a fan of Christmas. If you can't tell, I'm done pretending in life, so I prefer not to say things to people if I don't really mean them.

It's a process, but we've got to start somewhere!

I do like New Year's Eve, though. I'm rooting for 2022 to give us a bit more liberation. We'll see, I guess!

Completely switching gears, let me tell you about something that amazed me yesterday.

Brady P is a tiny bit obsessed with animals. 

Remember how I told you about Old MacDonald perpetually? Well, I forgot to tell you that it's played at the same volume you'd hear in a crowded bar, and accompanied by "crazy" disco lights. My neighbors can attest.

Our ceiling...

What have I created???

And neither one of those are my decision on a daily basis. HA!

Back to the amazing story.

Brady P found a bag of animal figurines that I got for him for Christmas. Yeah, I know... Christmas is over, but I was hoping to use those as bribery one at a time for prizes for listening to me when it's really important.

We didn't get that far.

He found them, and he squealed! "Mummy!!! New animals!!! Let's open it!"

"Actually, Braeds, those are for prizes when you do something -"

"Ohhh! No way! Let's open them now!!!"

Oh, man. He was so excited that I acquiesced.

He already has a whole basket of animal figurines: birds, mammals and insects from the savanna, jungle, farm and forest. 

Cool. 

He knows all about them, so they have become a bit mundane. He categorizes them and puts them back in the same order.

Every time.

60 animals going back into the basket in a categorical, yet logical  (or OCD) order. Yeah, I can safely say obsessed.

So these new animals had to be different, and I was happy to find some more exotic ones. Some of them were so exotic that I had to take a screenshot of the listing of animals with their names, so I could make sure I matched them correctly for Brady P. 

Cuz he would know.

He even knew some of the ones I had to check the names for.

When he pulled out this animal with stripes on it's butt and back, he said, "Okapi!"

And I checked the list and said, "Umm, wow, yeah! That's the okapi!"

Then he pulled out this short black and white one with a long nose and said,"a tapir!"

"Woah, yeah! That's the tapir. You are right!"

He also surprised me by correctly naming the meerkat, platypus, wildebeest and boar. But those first two... holy heavens in a flower pot. The kid is a genius.

He played with his 25 new animals with an excitement as if he had electricity running through his body. I've never seen somebody so absorbed in figurines. Like they are his friends and they're alive.

But good for him!

After he pulled them all out and read their names on my cheat sheet, we had to look a couple of them up because, well, they were not correct.

We gave them the correct names.

Trust me... we would know.

The pile of new animals surrounding the drain after their inaugural tubby

Dino ABCs Video

Here is the link to the Dino ABCs video on YouTube!

If you are viewing this through the email, copy and past the link below.  It's safe, I promise!

https://youtu.be/z8l8aVjmpAc

Enjoy!!!

A Jurassic Tease

Hey!

I've got a real treat for you!

But it's not ready yet.  Ha!

I'm traveling the next two days, so be patient with me.

Want to know what it's about?

Well, last weekend I attended my first Michigan Technological University hockey game.  It was part of their Winter Carnival event.

At one point between periods of the game, the announcer quizzed two students (college age, I think).  The question was: How many dinosaurs can you name?

Dinosaurs?!?!?!

The girl they selected named four dinosaurs and the guy named six (but technically, he got one wrong.  I know these things).

Craig and I looked at each other and laughed because we know that Brady P. could name waaaaaay more than that.  I don't remember how much time the contestants had to name dinos, but they ran out of ideas before they ran out of time.

This hot, valiant feeling ran through my body.  I realized that I must show the world how smart Brady P. is at dinosaur names!

*Shing!*  

(That's me pulling my sword from its sheath.)

You can laugh.  It's a bit dramatic.  And dinosaurs are extinct, so why does it really matter?

Dino Lives Matter

But I believe that you know.  You know why it matters.

I'm working on captioning the video I took of him saying dinosaur names in alphabetical order, so you can see how amazing it is.

So the whole world can see how amazing it is!

And then it will go viral, and we will get on a talk show where everyone can see how cool that little boy is.  It's trending, you know...

I'll post that video as it's own, when it's ready.

Stay awesome!

Puzzling

Brady P. has been into puzzles lately.

Pretty much every day we do at least one of those big floor puzzles.  Anywhere from 32-60 pieces.  And he is getting really good at it!

He's got many to choose from: dinosaurs, Charlie Harper animals, pirate ship, farm and (his new favorite) the United States of America.

It's quite charming to hear him say "United States of America" because, well, that's a mouthful!  He says it so fast that sometimes it just sounds like "Jamaica," but at least I can recognize what he's getting at!

So we'll sit down and do a puzzle or two in the afternoon.  The puzzles sit on the floor for a little while and when he comes back to one, he'll pull a few pieces out, bounce that little index finger in the air and say, "one more time."  Then put them all back in.

I find that quite unique.  I haven't known anyone else to do that before, but I like it.  If we leave a puzzle on the floor, he will do part of it over. 

He will actually do it several times and pull apart different corners or edges of the puzzle.  And he always gets it back together 100% on his own.

What a guy!

He is also really into these opposite cards.  He is quite proficient in matching each of the opposites together.  Then he likes to sink them all back in the box.

Never ending entertainment, I tell ya!

And to recap our bowling event last weekend, it was a success!  A few families came.  All the kids made friends with each other (I could tell by how they were all chasing each other around at the end).  A few of the parents exchanged phone numbers and some picked up resources for future use.

We will do this again with older kids soon.  Thanks for your support!

Someone is... Reading!

I have to brag a little bit.

Okay, it's more like a lot.

It has brought me to tears to realize that...

... are you ready?

Brady P. can read!

He can open his kindergarten reader books and read many of the words by sight.  He is also able to sound out some other words and use the pictures as cues and context.

The boy has a photographic memory, so he also memorizes words easily.

He is very proud of this fact, and will read his books to anyone who will listen.

He might start out pretty quiet and shy, but when I remind him to read loudly, he straightens up and nearly shouts the words!

So, ummm, wow!

This little 5-year-old boy is reading and loving it!

Here is a little video for evidence.

Please enjoy.  And remember... anything is possible!

After I took this video, he read a new book about vegetables.  What really surprised me was that, even though some of the pages read "This is a ______," some of them read "These are ________," and he caught it!  He read the correct words the first time!

This lets me know that he is not just reading robotically.  And he is so sweet when he gets to a word that he doesn't know, and he looks up at me for help.  We sound it out together and keep on reading.

Those are some moments to cherish, I tell you!

Animal Instincts

So there's this boy.

He's really sweet to me.  And although I've known him for a few years, it seems like the truer I am to myself, the more he appreciates me.  Sure we have our bouts, like any relationship, but it's clear that he loves me unconditionally.

The other day we were at Burger King (a funny place for a scene, if you ask me) and he was in the booth bench beside me.  He put down his cheeseburger, and with ketchup all over his hand, slipped his arm around my neck and fingers in my hair.  He looked me straight in the eyes, and with his breathy little voice, he said, "Hiiieee, Mom!"

What a little charmer.  PDA in Burger King.  

He stood there on the bench with his arm around my neck while I tried to eat my Whopper.  But, for some reason, eating didn't seem as important as just closing my eyes, snuggling right back with him and repeating, "I sure love you.  You are so sweet."

I didn't even care who was looking on because, as the saying goes, "You can't stop love."  And the fact that my four-year-old son finds it necessary to swoon over me at a burger joint while his nana finishes her fries across the table just fills my heart through the entire universe.

So I treasured it.

He has done that same sweet thing more and more often lately.  I lift him up into my arms after school and he just plants a sweet kiss right on my lips.  I don't even have to ask!

And to make me wonder if he is buttering me up for something, he put all three dozen animals away into their bucket without being asked before bed time last night.  What a great little helper!  I am so proud of the little man he is becoming.

Speaking of animals, though, listen to this.

Brady P. cycles through different obsessions.  For a while it was dance pop music, then EIEIO (for an hour straight, if I could stand it) and now it's animal sounds.

He watches one hour of computer a day, and I let him pick what he wants to watch because it's his special time.  Well, there's this collection of videos of animal sounds from all over the world.  I mean, there are animals I have never even heard of on here: coypu, capybura, tapir and oryx to name a few.

As each animal is introduced, a video clip plays while its name is displayed in fourteen different languages, and a lady says its name in a strong South African accent.  The video plays a couple signature sounds for each animal.

Braeden has watched hours of this because it's his new obsession.  

Well, one day, one of those videos came on after an EIEIO song (or forty) during music time.

Here's where my mind was blooooooooown away.  In the video that day, the lady did not say the names of the animals, and Braeden was not watching it -- just listening.

So we had these animal sounds playing raw and unnarrated through the speaker.  Braeden stopped playing with his other obsession, the flipping Ninja Turtle, and stared in deep contemplation.

He was listening intently to the animal sounds.  Just animal sounds with no music or narration.  

Do you know what he did?  He told me what animal was making the sound.  He listened briefly, and after a moment, said the word as best he could.  

Not always able to make out the exact word he is saying, I looked at the video that played up on the counter and saw the name of the animal making the sound.  I can't say he got them all exactly right, but he was differentiating animals with savant-like precision.

Do you know what sound a kangaroo makes?  How about a guinea pig?  Orangutan?  Moose?  Toucan?  Lynx?  Sloth?  Meerkat?  Anteater???

Brady P. knows.  And he can pick their sounds out of 100 other animals.  The boy just amazes me.

Not only does he like what he likes, but he excels at it.  Flabbergastingly so.  He has graduated beyond Old MacDonald's farm and can now give tours at the Disney Zoo.  Maybe we'll go there someday.

Here's a link to the Zoo Video we listened to that day that made me realize just how far he has come.

And for fun, here's a picture of Brady P. the first day I took him out to skate.  His skates were too big, but he glided from side to side pretty naturally -- if I held him up!

 

Taking a break

 

Trying to... get up? 

Haha.  Nobody can be a genius at everything!

Rainy Day Genius

Yesterday it rained for part of the afternoon.  One of those hallelujah soakers that top off a gorgeous week of sunny and 70's with no bugs right before the humidity rises to a sweltering heat.  You know, that one or two days of hot and muggy per summer that we get here next to Lake Superior.

Luckily, Brady P., Grammy Linda and I already sat out on the shore to throw rocks.  We were certainly sun-kissed when we returned home for the little man's nap.

He passed right out.  Another hallelujah moment.

On rainy days, we have to get creative.  Luckily, Brady P. is easily entertained with books, puzzles, music and animals.  He is, quite honestly, a nerd when it comes to books.  If it's just the two of us, and I am performing my household duties, I'll notice that things are a little quiet.  That's when a mom worries.  Then I'll franticly look to where I saw him last, and find him sitting down with a book in his lap, flipping through the pages like he's studying for a test.  I just chuckle to myself.  That little nerd.

When it comes to puzzles, he's a genius.  We may as well get rid of all the puzzles that have the back board matching the piece that goes on top of it.  Way too easy.  He need ages 3+ puzzles, and he is not three years old yet.  

One puzzle that I am particularly amazed by is the shape puzzle.  I could type up a detailed analysis of how impressive his skills are with this puzzle, but you probably wouldn't believe me, so here is a video.

Well, that was most of the puzzle.  I don't even know if I would have the attention span to complete it while listening to my dry tone.  He has completed it many times, however, and that was take number seven for the day.

So you may or may not be amazed that a two-and-three-quarters year old boy with Down syndrome can do a puzzle like that. He actually conquered it last winter.  But do you know why he is so smart?  Because somebody believes in him.  I believe in him.  His whole family, all his friends and our community believes in him.  He defies the odds in many aspects of his life, and this is certainly one of those aspects.

A month before this video was taken, I had Braeden show his Early On coordinator (a program that helps give parents and children with extra needs the tools for success during ages birth to three) the shape puzzle.  I asked her, "Can we show off for you?"

"Please do," she answered.  When I pulled out the shape puzzle and dumped out the pieces, she added, "Now, you know this puzzle is for ages three to four."

"Okay," I shrugged.  Then I asked Brady P. to find the blue trapezoid.  When he picked it up and put it in, she about tipped over!

"Wow, Amanda," she gasped.  "I figured he could put the pieces in, but I never expected him to know the shapes!"

Bam.  Brady P. knows his shapes.

He knows a lot of things.  Though he is still working on speaking, he can point to the numbers 1-10 if you ask.  He can point to many letters of the alphabet correctly.  He can pick out just about any animal in the world.  He knows big from little, happy from sad and up from down.  He can recognize and show me about thirty signs in order to communicate.  He is just starting to understand the concept of colors.

And even sweeter than all the numbers and shapes in the world, he knows when somebody needs a hug, and he gives them one, making their day better.