I could’ve told you a year and a half ago that Conner would be a child who would have trouble focusing. Even now, when you can get his attention, you have about 3.87 seconds to keep it or the moment is over and he’s run off to find something else to entertain himself. I knew this could pose a problem when it came time for the educational elements of toddlerhood, but just like so many times before he amazed me and left me speechless.
Because you can’t make him sit down and learn, I look for opportunities to teach Conner while we are playing. We play with yellow and red balls, build with blue and green blocks and count the stairs every time we go up them. A few weeks ago when we would count, certain numbers would stand out to him, mainly 4, 6 and 8 (OCD maybe?) and he would shout those each time we got to them. Some days you feel like you say the same things and go over the same colors over and over and it never sinks in and you just wait for that day when it does.
Every night after Conner’s bath we do a review of the day, and then I follow his lead on whatever he wants to talk about. Sometimes it’s the birds painted on the walls, and sometimes it’s mama’s eyes, nose and mouth. Last night, with no prompting of my own he grabs his feet and starts counting his toes: “Wuh…Two…Free…Four…” I was excited but then he kept on, “Figh…Sis…Sen…Eight…” I felt my smile get so big as he finished, “Nigh…TEN!” I could not believe my ears. I sat there speechless and then exclaimed, “MY BOY’S A GENIUS!” It was so amazing, it’s so hard to put it into words. To hear your baby boy counting on his own for the first time…I seriously sat there in disbelief. And it wasn’t just the feeling of, “Finally! He gets it!” that washed over me, but just utter and complete joy. Watching your child learn and interact more with their world is always exciting, but something about that…it was so amazing. Definitely one of those moments that I never ever want to forget.
Erin says:
Go baby!
December 19th, 2007 at 7:35 am
Amy Martin says:
Way to go Conner! What an awesome moment
December 19th, 2007 at 8:49 am
Heather H says:
that’s awesome…
December 19th, 2007 at 9:20 am
bee says:
He IS a genius!
Way to go, Conner!
December 19th, 2007 at 10:04 am
Whitney says:
YAY CONNER! That is awesome, Candace! It gives me hope that everything that I’ve been telling the niece will be the first words out of her mouth…OK, maybe I don’t want her to say EVERYTHING that I’ve told her! haha
Thanks for getting my order to me so quickly…it’s actually a gift for Miss Baum. (She saw my red one and fell in love!)
December 19th, 2007 at 10:30 am
Kim says:
Awww. That brought tears to my eyes. I just love when you have a special moment like that with your baby. So sweet. He is a genius! Go Conner!
December 19th, 2007 at 11:00 am
Elizabeth (formerly devriesthree) says:
Yahoo Conner!!! Go boy go!!
What a moment. It’ll never get old!
December 19th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
Kelly says:
Goodbye even numbers…hello odds! Can, that is so awesome! I love how you phonetically wrote out how he says his numbers. I love kids pronunciations. Go Conner!!! Next up….inertia!
December 20th, 2007 at 7:29 am
oh amanda says:
What a big big boy! I don’t think Lydia’s made it thru all by herself. She usually starts with 5. Then says 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 8, 9, 10, 11, 8, 9….She thinks 7 & 11 are the same number since they rhyme. But it’s kinda cute!
December 20th, 2007 at 7:38 am
Staci says:
How exciting!
December 20th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Melany says:
That is fantastic!!! WTG Connor!
December 21st, 2007 at 4:09 am