Smarty pants

A few weeks ago Tom and I were talking about Donovan and his development. We both felt for some reason that he was right at the cusp of a big change, like he just needed a few more synapses to start firing and we would have a big boy on our hands. Well just as we thought that change has happened. I don't know what is was but he is learning so fast and showing us just how smart of a little boy he is. Here are some of the things that he has been doing.

~He now says several words and understands what they are. Petey (te-te), Ball (bol), Hat (haTTT), and light (ight). He will imitate and repeat what you say for several other things. I have gotten him to say "ruff ruff ruff", "book" and few others I can't think of off the top of my head. The most impressive thing to me though is how much he comprehends. I said to him the other day, "Donovan, can you come over here and give Mama kisses?" and he walked clear across the room and open mouth kissed my cheek. Then later I asked "Donovan, can you go get Mama a book and bring it to me?" and he walked across the room, got a book and brought it back to me to read it to him. Today I asked him to bring more random things to me like my cell phone and wallet and both times he did it right away. In the bath tonight I held up a ball and asked he what it was and he said ball. He still pretends like he has hearing loss when I tell him "no" but I know he knows a lot more than we realize now.

~A few weeks ago I was watching Donovan read books to himself and if he would pick the book up upside-down he would open it, and then realize it was the wrong way and then turn it right side up. Every time. I was so cute. I had no idea he realized what was up and down.

~Every so often we have a lady from Parents as Teachers come and talk with us about Donovan's development and things we should be doing to help him learn and develop appropriately. One of the toys she brought was an empty juice jug with a small opening that she wanted him to put clothes pins in to practice his dexterity. He took to it right away and loved doing it. One thing we all noticed though is that he definitely favors his right hand. He would pick the pin up and use his left hand to help get the pin in the best position, then take it and put it in with his right hand. It didn't matter where we placed the jug in relation to his body, he did it like that every time. The PAT lady said that he was the youngest she has seen that favored one side so distinctly. She was also impressed with his block stacking ability. He was able to stack 4 blocks no problem when we prompted him to.

~We have been using sign language for a long time now to help supplement his language. Up until recently he had used the "milk" sign for everything he wanted. Last week though I was reading his color book to him and I pointed to the picture of a glass of milk and he signed "milk". Finally he gets it. And he knows and uses the sign for "fan" when he wants us to look at the fan or turn it on. We have also started using the sign for "more" which he learned in a hurry since we were teaching him "more" when he was eating fries and he really wants more fries, so he was motivated to learn that in a hurry.

There are lots of other little things he does on a daily basis that amaze me but for the sake of time and your boredom factor, I will keep those to myself. I just can't believe how big and smart he is getting. Things are about to get real interesting!