appreciation

sometimes i get so wrapped up in NOT being a "competi-mommy" that i really don't celebrate the things that make the littlebean unique, smart, funny, & adorable.

i've mentioned how amazed The Mr. & i have been at her exploding vocabulary. and we still are. people who get to hear her talk usually tell us how smart she is. (rare... you really have to spend some time around her. she's slow to warm up)

and instead of acknowledging that, i just chalk it up to a good memory. which, i do think is true. but i dunno- sometimes she does do things that really show some type of intelligence, and i almost overlook it.

gack! i'm worse than a competi-mommy.
i hope i won't become a "you're not good enough" mommy. i truly don't think that's it. but i think part of it is that i feel almost embarrassed by some of the things she's able to do so well.

there are several several things she doesn't do well, and i acknowledge those (and am trying to help her in those regards). but i think it's about time i appreciate that she really is pretty smart.

so why not allow me to share just some of the things that we think is awesome:

• she is beginning to identify some letters & sounds. currently, she is largely consistent with: B, O, P, J, /d/, /m/, and she's really getting the hang of E
• she speaks in long sentences (5, 6 or more words) and has success in using some kind of abstract words you wouldn't expect from many 2 year olds.
• she has been spelling her name & telling her birthday for about 4months.
• she knows most of the basic colors (and grey), a few shapes, and the numbers 8 & 2.
• today in a guessing game where there was only a sliver of a picture showing an animal, she was correctly identifying most of the animals. & most of these slivers showed less-than obvious parts of the animal. she saw not only the lion, and some "normal" animals, but also the flamingo. the seahorse. the whale.
• she does have an incredible memory, as is evident by things she'll discuss that happened in May, or after learning what something is and then immediately keeping that for her to identify in the future.... even if we don't discuss it very often after that.
• the other day, i was surprised by the fact that she sorted some objects moreso than i would've expected, considering she's never sorted anything before. she doesn't have a lot of patience for learning in a traditional way. but she didn't do the typical sort by color (as most kids will do on first exposure), or even by shape... she sorted by size of shape. that's 2 criteria at once.

i just know i'm not the mom who thinks her child is perfect, or the best, smartest, cutest, etc... in fact, The Mr. & i ask each other all the time, is she really as cute as we think she is? or do we have those typical parent blinders on? because, come on- we've all seen someone's unfortunate-looking kid only to hear the parent say, "isn't he the cutest!?!" kinda like that seinfeld episode.

so, can other 2 year olds do what she does? sure! of course. but knowing how she is, and how i've seen some of her thought processes work (or not work) in the past, i see that she really is getting the hang of some things. and i oughtta give her credit.

because she really is pretty incredible sometimes. and i need to do better.