Baby J had his eyes tested at school yesterday. They're fine. He doesn't need glasses. That didn't stop him from trying his daddy's glasses on yesterday at lunch time, though. He's very in to doing things just like daddy right now. He was excited to tell his daddy all about his vision exam and show him the sticker he got for participation. I had the benefit of hearing about the exam from his teachers so I could fill in the blanks.My understanding is that they projected letters on the wall and then asked the children to match the letters to letters on cards or paper in front of them since three year olds can typically name a few letters/numbers but not the whole alphabet. As I expected, Baby J did great with that. He has mastered matching games.
What did surprise me was that he apparently started calling out the names of the letters projected on the screen. According to his teacher, he had a blast and entertained everyone in the room with his sing-songy announcement of each letter. "That's an E!" "That's a T!" "That's an A!" Have I mentioned that Baby J loves to sing? Anyway, what kind of mother am I that I didn't know just how many letters are in his lexicon?! And is it bad that I was beaming with pride when we left the classroom and called Husband and my mother right away to brag about how smart my little dude is?
Husband and I have made an effort from day 1 to read to our kids regularly and seek opportunities to talk about and identify letters and words and relate them to pictures and everyday objects. I knew that he could recognize certain letters like the first letter in his first name and that "Cat" starts with "C," "Dog" starts with "D," and "Ball" starts with "B" and I knew that he can sing the alphabet from start to finish. Over and over and over. But I didn't realize just how much he knew. This kid surprises and amazes me every day.
And it's such a relief.
One of the biggest sources of stress and concern for me about raising a child with special needs is ensuring that Baby J, the "typical" sibling, doesn't get lost in all of the energy we focus on Bean and getting him all the medical and therapeutic attention he needs and deserves. I worry about providing Baby J with enough opportunities to interact with peers and models and enough activities and play that are stimulating for him. Baby J is a bright little bulb and I want to make sure that we are giving him everything he needs to reach his fullest potential and that his needs are on equal footing with his brother's. As he gets a little older, he will face challenges that we can't control related to having a sibling with a disability and I want to do everything I can to minimize the stress that he will deal with. I guess, so far, we are doing ok. My Little Mr. Smartiepants knows his letters!
