Thobe's Recent Strides

Thobe is so amazing to me. I really love everything about this boy. He is often very quiet but can be a big blabbermouth when he wants to be, especially when Alden's not around. He will just blurt things out that I had no idea that he knew. He is a Spanish explosion right now. He is constantly saying new words in Spanish that Michael doesn't remember teaching him. His mind is literally like a steel trap. He remembers things that surprise me. For example, when we were leaving Southern Utah he said, "Mom, we didn't go to Uncle Ronald's" (my Uncle Ronald has a bunch of animals that the kids love to go and see). Thobe then proceeded to tell me, "Remember when we went and saw the little chicks at Uncle Ronald's house?" We saw these chicks that he referred to two years ago when Thobe was only 2 years old. I couldn't believe he remembered it.

Recently I started doing Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with Thobe. I just felt like being the middle child and being as undemanding as he is that it would be really good for the two of us to spend some one-on-one time with each other every day. It has been a huge success. I can't believe how well he has caught on to reading and what a great job he is doing. He is putting words together and making sense of things like crazy. I really can't think of many things more exciting that teaching your child to read. It's like opening a new world to them. It's very exciting (I highly recommend this book. We did this with Alden too--it is a very effective reading program if you're consistent, and you can get it on ebay or half.com for under $10--no, I don't get any loyalties for that little plug).

Thobe is also making huge strides on using the potty. I've mentioned here before that I often laugh at how much I talk about, think about, and deal with poop and pee, but I have to brag about Thobe's recent strides. He really wants to make Michael and me happy and really wants to be successful at using the bathroom. I think sometimes he just gets distracted and doesn't want to stop playing. We've recently come up with the idea of putting his playing on pause so that he can come back to it. I don't know if this is what has been a factor or if he's just decided that it's time, but whatever the reason, I'm grateful!!! Hooray for Thobe!!! Some day, if he ever reads this, he'll probably hate me for announcing his potty strides. Oh well...it's life for me right now.

I wish that I could some how capture the essense of Thobe. He's such a good boy and just so cute. He is always saying the most creative cute things. I need to do a better job of writing them down because moments like these are too easily forgotten.