8.20.2004

Good Day

Leelo has been having a fantastic few days.

I took him to the kiddie pool to bounce around while Iz had her swimming lesson. Instead of his usual blissful solo splashing, he kept demanding that I join him and play with him in the pool. At first I thought it was because the pool was empty save him, but he came back to get me even after other kids arrived.

I was bittersweetly delighted, because, while any interaction is wonderful, I have been very tired lately and so had been looking forward to a relaxing half hour plopped on a chaise lounge, alternating between watching Leelo frolic and watching my belly dance (the thirdling is one active baby).

Cousins Danielle and Elise arrived when Iz's lesson was over, and I agreed to accompany them all to the big pool. I brought Leelo, too, as a test of his pool-friendliness. Our boy has had some of his biggest freakouts in pools where he couldn't touch the bottom, so I had to warn the girls that we might not be able to stay.

I needn't have worried--Leelo had the Best Time Ever, letting me swoosh him around in the water, playing on the pool steps, and even asking me to let him hang on the wall like a baby monkey. No freaking at all. Seymour couldn't believe it, when I told him about it.

Funny thing is that he's been having a crappy time with his therapists. But because I am selfish, I don't care. I'd rather he was actively soliciting my company as a playmate and talking with me, greeting his daddy verbally and enthusiastically, and yelling out identifications like "That's Tigger!" in the grocery store, than spending a single good moment in therapy.

We recently hung some Totoro and Pee Wee Herman mini posters right over his bed. They make him so happy! He keeps patting them as if not quite believing that two of his very favorite personalities will really be right there looking over him as he sleeps.

He has started to say "No thank you!" when he really doesn't want something, for instance his Teeva sandals placed on his feet. We didn't teach him this; he picked it up by observation. That's the kind of learning kids like him aren't supposed to be able to do...

Iz is having a better time at school, according to both her and the maestra. She keeps asking me "¿Cómo se dice..." about various words, and came home aspout and so proud of her new knowledge: "Hoy es viernes, ayer fue jueves, mañana será sábado." I think it's taking.

She has decided that she wants to be an inventor when she grows up. Latest idea: removable epoxy for strapless swim goggles. She's still a little unclear on the difference between epoxy and glue, even after Seymour filled her in on the dual roles of adhesive and hardener, etc.

I have figured out a way to get her to read fiction: use a book from which a beloved movie was adapted. Right now she is plowing through Kiki's Delivery Service. (Although I suspect she's still more interested in her "Secrets of Science" encyclopedia.)

And she's learning to do the breastroke in her swimming class, to this former competitive swimmer's surprise and delight. I thought she was still only learning to avoid doing the dog paddle.

Rah!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Respectful disagreement encouraged.