Puzzle Fanatic = Proud Mama

Since Drew was about 14 months he's been addicted to puzzles.  We have videos of him telling us his shapes from puzzles that were geared toward 3 year olds back before he was even a year-and-a-half old.



Since he's mastered all the puzzles that are supposed to go into a defined slot - we've tried finding more challenging puzzles. He loves the difficult ones at school... which he mastered within about a week.

So when Drew and I went to Grammy and GrampC's on Saturday he was excited to pull out the state puzzle - the same one we had as kids. (I went through a phase in 3rd grade where I wanted to know all the state capitals - and had a map in my room where my dad would quiz me every night. Maybe it's because we moved so much as a kid and we visited a lot of those states. Or maybe I was just a dork.)

 

He's liked this puzzle for the last several visits - you know, to take every piece out and then leave a puddle of pieces for someone to put back together.  Well this trip it was different.  He shocked us by knowing where several of the states belonged as he put them away himself - even if they weren't in their correct spot they were in the right vicinity!

We knew he was familiar with California's location, but  were shocked to find out he knows where the state of Texas, Florida, Montana, Idaho, New York and several others were. Oh and I was really impressed when he was actually reading the state capitals off the backs of some of the states.  Like Arkansas... he told me it was Little Rock.  My jaw dropped at that one.  Must be those sight words kicking in.

Kady was there too, but could really care less about the puzzle.  She tried to help Drew remove the pieces until he got all OCD about where she was putting the pieces.  She resorted to showing off that she was a musical prodigy.

 

OK so our kids aren't exactly geniuses, but we're proud of them anyway!

I'm "Puzzled"

Frankly I'm puzzled by this new puzzle obsession Drew has.  Well since he was about 13 or 14 months old he's played with the same group of puzzles that his grandparents gave him for Christmas.  Fast forward a year and a half, and he's still enjoying them.

Except now he loves to "drive" them over the edge of the couch to form a lake of puzzle pieces.  He's pretty good about picking up the pieces once asked - except for about 3 puzzles which are a little more difficult to put together.

Only now it's like he's using these puzzles to discover his depth perception or even his peripheral vision.  And he's obsessed with how he does this.  And heaven forbid he catch you watching him as he does it.

Dave managed to catch a glimpse of this on video...



He usually raises it far above his head and ever so slowly brings it back down below his chin without really moving his head.  Odd child, but we still love him.

Happy Monday

Mondays are a blah day - it means back to work and another 5 days until the weekend. If you're looking for a little cheer on this day - here's a smile to brighten you up.


What's not to love about that big cheesy grin. This candid was snapped by Daddy while I was off doing something. It was a pleasant surprise to find in the camera.

Drew is back into puzzles again in a BIG way. He loves to take the pieces and "drive" them up the side of the couch and then over the edge. We're talking he'll do this for hours at a time! Seriously.

Of course we try to get him to pick up the pieces before he "drives" all the pieces over the edge and we have a mish-mosh of puzzle pieces alongside the couch.

Que?

¿Qué es tan gracioso?



That's right, Drew is brushing up on his Spanish. While Daddy had day care duty last week during Drew's illness, he started learning how to count 1-10 in Spanish. Apparently this time around there was something funny about the numbers...

And what is up with that #7 being so tired?

P.S. In the spirit of upcoming Flag Day & 4th of July, the blog is taking on a patriotic look. We'll put back the original look & feel after the 4th.

Animal House

Puzzles, Crayons and flashcards can keep Drew occupied for hours! He will sit there and hand you every piece from any puzzle for as long as you will allow him - or something else grabs his attention.

We have about 1/2 a dozen puzzles - alphabet, numbers, School bus and a favorite.. Noah's Ark. I managed to get some clips of him showing off the animals on the ark: