Our exceptional child

Every parent thinks his/her child is exceptional, right? Well, Joe and I do too, except in this case, we happen to be right. Calla's attention to detail (she gets the green plastic circle in the right hole almost every time) and her quickly growing language skills must mean she's just terribly bright - so much so that I've pondered calling the local early ed school to see if they have gifted and talented programs in pre-k, and if not, to suggest they have three years to prepare one.

So imagine my surprise when we went to Calla's new doctor and the nurse took us through the 15 -month developmental milestones. "Can she walk backwards?" "Can she walk up and down stairs?" "Can she dress or undress herself?" Whaat? First of all, I'm not confident I can walk backwards all that adeptly. Secondly, I've been fairly strict that she's NOT to try climbing up and down steps except on her tummy or bottom. I thought this was what good parents did. And let me tell you, dressing in the morning and undressing at night is exasperating enough (Calla would prefer to be naked if she had the choice) - I'm going to let Calla try her hand at those tasks? We'd never get out the door in the morning.

I was able to say proudly that Calla indeed had a vocabulary of at least six words, although I was disappointed that there wasn't extra credit given for having a vocabulary of about two to three times that. And she can kinda feed herself with a spoon, if we understand "feeding" to mean "lifting the spoon in the general direction of her mouth." And perhaps I stretched the truth on the question "Can she help around the house? Pick up her toys, maybe?" Sure, Calla can definitely pick up her toys. Sometimes they even go in the right place. And sometimes she throws my cell phone in the hamper and her sippy cup in the garbage.

Of course, the instant we got home, Calla stripped off her sweater and threw it at my feet, as if to flaunt her unknown-to-me undressing skills. I resisted calling the nurse back to update her records.

We're recovering from an onslaught of family. Joe's folks left Monday morning, and Joe's sister Jeri and her family left Sunday morning. So now we're doing the laundry and cleaning we did before they came, just without all the anticipation of visitors. Much more fun on the pre-visit side. So many photos to post, but perhaps these will suffice for now...

A new doll from Grandma Cheatwood. We call her "Baby" and she gets dragged around by her head and occasionally gets hugged. I'm not hiring Calla out for babysitting quite yet.



Calla and her cousin Joshua. She completely fell in love with Josh and was the first person to whom she handed a book and waited expectantly for him to figure out he was supposed to offer her a lap seat. Josh was a great sport and we're hoping to get together with him and his family more often now that we're just a teensy bit closer.

Calla starts full-day day care twice a week next week. We had a short introduction this morning and I predict it will all go well. She loved being around all those kids and they even have their own playground just for the toddlers. We're doing more short sessions this week so that Monday's transition should go smoothly and tear-free. And hopefully, Calla will be fine, too.