Never Underestimate A Child

Monday, 8 December 2008

Chase stayed home from the sitter's today, but his Nana watched him a couple of hours, then Chris came home from work to watch him, then I came home from work to relieve Chris. Chase was in a good mood and super hyper all day (Being sick does not slow this kid down one bit...In fact, right after we nebulized him in the morning, he did about 8 laps from the front door down the hallway to the bathroom to wave bye to me.). Besides the awful cough he has, you can't even tell he's sick. So, we just played. We went to a park, and he had fun running on the suspension bridge and sliding down the slides. The thing that amazed me today was how fast he's learning and picking things up. He had fun taking baby food containers off the shelves of the kitchen cabinet and stacking them into towers. Whenever they fell over, he would say, "Uh oh!" He showed me the sign for "milk" today. He said "dog" and "bird" when he pointed to them in books, and he said many of the animal sounds when he pointed to the different animals (his favorite sound these days is "roooooaaarrrrr!" whenever he sees a picture of a lion or a tiger).

I think we can start potty training Chase soon. We've always asked him if he needs his diaper changed. Usually you can tell by the concentrating look, the pause in activity, the grunting face, or all of the above. The past couple of weeks he's been pointing at his private area when he goes #2. So, he'll point, then we'll ask if he needs to change his diaper. He'll run to the appropriate diaper changing area (his bedroom in our house, or the quilt at Nana's house). He'll even lie down for us to change him.

Well, this afternoon I gave him a warm bath so that he could play and help loosen up the congestion in his chest. He gave me "the look", and he pointed down there, and I asked him, "Do you have to go to the bathroom?" He gave me this concerned look which affirmed that, yes, he probably does. But, he knew that we don't like him to go in the bath because that just ends bath time all together. So, I said, "Wait, don't go yet," as I frantically started fishing his bath toys out of the water. I told him, "Here, try to go on the potty." I showed him how mommy uses the toilet, but when I tried to carry him and hold him over the toilet, he wasn't down for it. He was probably scared of that big bowl of water. I told him, "You either have to go in the toilet or in your diaper. Don't go in the bath." I asked him if he was all done with bath time. He gave me another concerned look, as he didn't know what to do. He started to pee a little. I said, "Chase, don't go in the bath. Do you want to come out?" And, before you know it, he had pooped in the water. But, at least I was prepared for it. He was a little mad that bath time was over, but he had fun checking out his new monster pajamas in the mirror.

So, perhaps it's time to get a potty of his own, and he can try it out for himself.

I always underestimate what my kid knows. Since he's only saying words and babbling, I just don't know how much he remembers and learns from time to time. But, boy was I surprised when he taught me a lesson tonight. Because we bathed early, I fed him dinner, and then we got to play a bit and read books before bedtime. He was looking at this Baby Einstein Santa video someone gave us, and started pointing and talking to all the animals on the back of the DVD case. I named the animals for him: a dog, a penguin, and mice. Then, he pointed to the tiny 1 inch Baby Einstein logo/trademark: a bright, colorful caterpillar. I told him, "That's a caterpillar." He pointed to the bins of toys and books in the living room. I said, "No, I don't think you have a caterpillar," thinking about all the various stuffed animals and books he has. Then, he got down, walked over to a bin of books, and pulled a book out and gave it to me.

He immediately pointed to one of the colorful insects on the cover of the book, Ten Wriggly Wiggly Caterpillars.

"Oh, you're right Chase! We DO have a book about caterpillars! THAT is a caterpillar." So smart I tell you.

(...And I thought he didn't know what he was talking about.) Never underestimate a child, especially your own.