Joshua (long edition)

Joshua is an incredible kid! It is so fun to watch him developing. He has really begun to understand & organize information. This summer Joshua mastered riding his tricycle. When we went on walks Jesse & I struggled to keep up with him (on his bike). This fall I watched as he began to process the sounds & meaning of the English language. He amused me because at first he knew what letter words started with but didn’t know how to say it properly so he would say things like “t starts with tiger”. He eventually figured it out & now if you ask him to spell jet he will say “it starts with a j, then an e, then a t”. Using a few ideas from the Montessori Method he enjoys spelling, writing, & reading simple phonetic words. He has also become interested in the clocks around our house & is beginning to understand the concept of telling time. The digital clocks are of course much easier for him. He has also unlocked the patterned for numbers & can count to 100 with some help whenever he comes to the multiples of ten. I also love doing short story problems with him at bedtime such as “if dad brings home 5 m&m’s & gives two to Maria how many will he give you?” I am really enjoying watching & facilitating his new preschool type abilities!

Joshua is also fully potty trained as of this year & a competent self dresser. He prefers to wear only red & blue, the year before it was orange so he has expanded his style. Oh, by the way, he wears one red sock & one blue & the red always goes on the right foot! He is very amusing & is the youngest kid I know who uses a shoe horn to put on his shoes. He is also particular about his hair so generally it is best to let him do it himself. Changing the subject, he is absolutely bursting with creative energy! He is a great story teller. Very dramatic! His voice & hand gestures make up for what lacks in plot development. He loves reading, especially the comic book Tintin, building elaborate duplo creations with even more elaborate names such as a big monster shooter crusher blue & red machine truck! He also daily pretends to be anything from a snail to God to electricity! If you call him Joshua he will correct you & say “actually I’m a caterpillar”. As you probably gathered we are really having a lot of fun with him & my biggest challenge is keeping him busy him with age appropriate activities.