alphabetter start paying attention

Mason knows his ABCs. We say them a lot, admittedly as a staling tactic. (You want to go outside while I'm in the middle of dishes? Ok, let's say the ABCs and then I'll be ready to head out). He knows when his scribbles look like M's or O's. But suddenly, he KNOWS the ABCs. By sight! I don't know how he made that leap from cute song we sing while we wash our hands to recognizing the letters.

It started one day when Jason was putting on a hat. Mason asked for one too so Jason handed him his old baseball hat from 1987 or something. It has a big R for Richfield on it. Mason said "Oh, R hat for me! Thank you". The next day Jason was wearing a shirt that had South Carolina written across the front. Mason went up to him and started naming the letters "R! L! A! Another A! S!". Next, we were at Kristi's house and Mason was playing with a glockenspiel that had note letters on them. As he disassembled each bar he announced the letter engraved on the end. On and on until I realized there are only a handful of letters he doesn't know by site.

This might not be all that unusual, except we haven't been working on letters much lately. For pete sake he still can't remember all his colors (he knows them all, purple and white and everything, except can't remember red and still calls orange "yellow"). We've been working on colors, numbers, Jesus stories, opposites... pretty much the basics except letters. I guess I'm just blown away that he just started doing it on his own.

I'll probably be one of those moms that calls her kids everyday to ask what they learned in college and what they ate for breakfast and who they sat by and if they other kids were nice to them. I don't mean to be all nosy but I want to know EVERYTHING about my little boy. When I'm away from him, like when he goes to nursery at church, I love to peek in the window and watch him exist without me. And when I pick him up I'm dying to hear every detail I missed while we were separated. What can I say? I'm fascinated by him. It's hard to realize he's growing up...becoming independent... I suppose it has something to do with being responsible for every aspect of his life for so long. Now he's making his own choices, learning so fast, and becoming his own little person.

For some reason a Disney quote pops into my head "It's not right for a woman to read. Soon she starts getting ideas and thinking...". Truly though, parenting is like having front row seats to The Evolution of Man. It starts out with this little creature that is completely dependent on you for survival. They have no skills. Then slowly over time these squishy little beings become smarter, more observant, and able to communicate. They become mobile. Their motor skills evolve into skilled and purposeful movements. They go from monkey babies into intelligent little humans with distinct personalities who can solve problems, understand humor, show sympathy, and display their emotions.

Not a day goes by that I'm not blown away by something.  "Baby I'm amazed by you".