Freakishly amazed

Freakishly amazed.

That is how I described it to Scott. Last month I purchased the puzzle shown in the photo below and every once in awhile M and I would play with it...although the playing pretty much consisted of me saying the letters and putting them in their places while he tried to dump them all out. Pretty typical for a baby.

So the other day he got the puzzle out and dumped the letters on the floor. This time I would pick up a letter, ask him where it went, and he would point to the correct space. Most of the time. But after a handful of letters he lost interest in the whole thing and moved on.

This morning I tried repeating this activity just to see how many he could get...and he correctly placed all but 2 of the letters. I would say the letter; he would show me where it went. If he didn't get it right, I set the letter aside. Actually for 4 of the letters I had to give him a clue using the picture that is associated with that letter...but, even so, I couldn't believe he did it. The whole thing left me freakishly amazed!

Just to clarify...I'm not a flash-card using mama nor do I follow M around the house reading out of an encyclopedia...but I do think this has helped me to see the importance of playing with kids. What often feels mundane and repetitious to me...I mean, seriously, sometimes I think my brain is completely wasting away and I wonder if in a few weeks I will even remember how to spell my own name...is so helpful in building the skills that M needs to grow.

BTW, so sorry I'm slacking on photos of M...but with the way he reacts to the camera I am thinking that he is in the Witness Protection Program and is worried his identity might be revealed.