The Genius

As I'm sure all first time parents are, Alex and I are always fascinated with the new things that Hunter says and does. It is such an amazing experience to watch him grow and learn, he never ceases to amaze me. Earlier this week he had his 15 month check-up and as usual his doctor asked me some questions about Bub's developmental progress, to which I responded that we have come to the conclusion that he's a genius. This statement is backed up by our analysis of the following:

1. His current vocabulary consists of over 36 words (the average for his age is 14) and it seems like he picks up a new one everyday.  He even has some phrases down pat: "thank you", "all done", "I see you"

2. He knows how to direct us where to go and what to get by holding our hands and pointing. The other night he guided Alex through the entire books and bed routine before we even announced it was bed time. He grabbed his hand, guided him up the stairs and to his room where he picked out 2 books. Then he brought Alex over to our room where he had his teeth brushed and books read, immediately following which he fell asleep.

3. He has learned how to climb out of his crib. On a night that we tried the "cry it out" method to see if he could put himself back to sleep, he was wailing for a minute or two, we heard a faint thud sound, the crying stopped, and then we heard some coos. When Alex went to investigate, he found Hunter sitting on the ground reading a book. 

4.  After I get him bundled up in his jacket before going outside, he walks over to the coat rack and points at mine saying "mama" so that I remember to get myself ready for the cold as well.

5. A couple of weeks ago I started to teach him how to bless himself with Holy Water before and after Mass, and he has taken it upon himself to practice this on his own time at home so that he can be prepared to do it on Sundays.....

6. He has a couple of books where the last page is full of various images (one is full of farm animals, one is full of random toddlerish items) and when we say "where is the ...." he points to (and sometimes says) the correct image that we are asking him about.

7. When listening to music he knows the difference in tunes which depict what should be done: dance with Mom or fist-pump with Dad.  When he air drums to a song he is very close, if not exactly, with the beat of the music. Furthermore, when using the actual drums he knows the correct way to hold the sticks.

8.  He can walk/run forwards, walk backwards, dance in circles, climb up (while saying up) and climb off (while saying down) couches and chairs, and he can walk up and down flights of stairs (while holding our hands of course...he thinks he's ready to do it on his own, but we will not allow it just yet).

9.  He knows a cow says "moo", a train says "choo choo", a duck says "quack", and a lion says "rawr" (the lion is the newest one in this category)

10. He knows how to swipe a credit card at the store check-out registers.....hmmm, on second thought, I don't think this is really a good habit for him to get into, we may have to start distracting him during this part of the transaction so he hopefully forgets how fun it is to spend money on my card.


Of course, there are still things that he is working on.....for example, when helping us bake cookies, it is much more efficient to have the bowl sitting up right so we can put contents of the mix into it, rather than upside down on his head, but I'm sure even Einstein had to work his way through at least a few challenges in his days....