One of the biggest new things he has been doing, developmentally, is READING! Grady's reading has been improving in leaps and bounds. When he started reading and was stumbling over those few short first words, I never would have guessed how quickly he would just take off! We are using the BOB series of books, and he is now on level 3. He is also starting to read more and more when we are out and about or on the cereal box or when I am reading a tougher book to him. We are also doing a reading skills workbook, which he really enjoys. He just loves books, and I know he is so proud of his new reading abilities. I cannot wait to see him grow more and more in this area.
Since we have been doing that workbook I have seen some other skills start to emerge (or strengthen, really). I had not seen him cut with scissors in a while, and his fine motor skills have not been his biggest strength in the past year or so, but he really impressed me the other day. The workbook page asked him to color in 5 pictures of a girl (going from baby to adult), then cut them out along the lines, and then glue them in order of age on a piece of paper. I was quite surprised when he cut along the lines so perfectly! Last time I cut with him he was basically just doing random little snips. His writing skills have been coming along too, so I guess these sort of go hand in hand. He writes his name very well now (has for about 6 months), and can write just about anything since the kid can SPELL after all! So funny how a child can really excel in one thing (like reading) and struggle a bit with another (like writing). But it all works out in the end.
As far as his physical skills, Grady's big new (well not too new - he did it last year too) is SWIMMING! Seriously, he did not skip a beat. Though he had not been in the pool for about 6 months he jumped right in the first day back (quite literally), not hesitating for a minute. He swims underwater now for long distances and can dive down to get things off the bottom (he loves doing this!). I need to get that boy into some swim lessons because it really does seem to be a natural talent for him.
His interests right now are space, dinosaurs, cowboys, and pirates. Did he read the book on how to be a little boy? Seriously.
Oh, and in other big news for the G-Man, we are finally doing a new room for him! Why do I hate the term "big boy room"? I don't know, but it's his first post-nursery redo. He was so adamant about holding onto his baby room (jungle stuff) for so long, and I think it would be ridiculous to push a child to change the theme of rtheir room, so he still has his room set up as it has been since he was a baby (well other than no longer being in a crib). He finally decided that he wants a SPACE room, so we just ordered the bedding for that and will be doing a whole room makeover in the next couple months.
Of course I NEED to include a picture or two, so here are a couple from the Memorial Day pool party yesterday...
Getting ready to go for a swim
In the bounce house with his best bud, Drew
Enjoying some of the yummy food
