A Time of Exclamation!

Lachlan, 19 months old

If you are a follower, you'd know by the last blog that Lachlan loves to read. To say that he loves to read is probably an understatement. If there is a word larger than love that would be the one to use. For Halloween I ordered Lachlan the book, Happy Halloween, Biscuit! Lachlan instantly took to this book for three reasons. 1) It has a cute dog in it named Biscuit. Seeing a dog makes him very happy and Lachlan loves to say, "woof! woof!" and pant any chance he can get. I think this comes from many hours of he and I pretending to be dogs around the house and his friendship with an over-sized sausage dog we call Maxwell. 2) The book has flaps to reveal what Biscuit is up to; this is just lots of fun for kids and no matter how many times they read the book and can predict what will be there, they still act like they've just seen it for the first time. Gotta love it! 3) The book has lots of exclamation points in it!

The night before I introduced the Biscuit book to Lachlan, I had read him a book titled, Tiger and the Temper Tantrum (one that I have to say honestly erks me as a child development professional as it constantly uses labels like, 'good tiger and bad tiger.' For so many emotional intelligence reasons it bothers me but that is another story for another blog entry! That being said though the book can be used as a lesson; such as Tiger's mom called him a bad Tiger but he really isn't 'bad', he just did something 'bad.') In Tiger and the Temper Tantrum, 'Yippee!' is written on the very last page. Lachlan started laughing hysterically when I read the word so I said it several times to him and threw my arms up in the air to emphasise Tiger's excitement; she was happy as she was finally allowed to climb on the climbing frame at the park (as all tiger cubs long to do I'm sure) He thought it was hilarious. The next night I introduced him to Happy Halloween, Biscuit! Lachlan pointed to the exclamation mark asking what it was as he knows all the letters and that one looked really strange to him. I told him it was an exclamation. Of course, I'm thinking how can I explain what an exclamation is to a 20 month old, the word itself is too big for him to say at this point in time. He put his hands up in a "what" gesture and pointed to it again. I could tell he was going to persist until I gave him something he could relate to. I then remembered the word, "Yippee!" from Tiger and the Temper Tantrum that we read the previous night and how we threw our arms in the air for excitement. "Lachlan," I said. Exclamation is like, "Yippee!" and I thew my hands in the air. "We do it when we are excited." I then said "Exclamation!" and threw my arms up in the air with excitement like an cheerleader on Red Bull. Lachlan began to laugh. I pointed to the exclamation again and did my little cheer, "Exclamation!" Lachlan joined in, pointed to the exclamation mark and threw his arm in the air and began to giggle. I suppose he had a minute idea of the whole meaning now.

The next day, Lachlan was eating his afternoon snack and drinking from a toddler smoothie pack. I was working next to him at the table and he began reciting the letters he knows on the pack. Lachlan LOVES to share his knowledge. He sat saying, "Mama." I looked over and he then pointed to "S" and said, "Sssss." "Great!" I would say and carry on my business. He would move to the next letter and the next and I would give him some sort of encouraging feedback. Eventually he shouted, "Mama!" and when I looked over he threw his arm in the air like an exclamation. "Exclamation?" I said. He smiled and did it again. I knew there wasn't one on his pack but I thought I'd take a look anyway. "Where?" I asked. Lachlan then pointed to the lower case "i," and threw his arm in the air smiling. I smiled, "Aren't you clever! That does look like an upside down exclamation!" He was proud and although he was wrong I was impressed that he was able to identify it upside down. Lachlan has mastered uppercase letters but he's just figuring out the lowercase ones. Obviously, he doesn't know "i" or he is questioning what he knows since it now looks like something else! In his won time he'll figure out the difference. For now, he should have his moment of glory.

The way children learn is amazing. Think of all the time and effort it takes to learn all there is to know. They amazingly piece things together little by little constantly having to adapt and modify their thinking as new knowledge challenges the old. It isn't any wonder why most parents you meet always say their children just fascinate them. I think it is hard for all of us to wrap our heads around the fact that we used to be just like them; somewhat primitive- every day exploring a brand new adventure; clueless that within a split second converts to expertise as all the information suddenly snaps together and they are suddenly the masters of their domain. I've studied the developing child's brain for years now but I am still fascinated myself at how complex and brilliant it is! I feel so blessed to be able to have my own child and share in his wonderment and excitement. I'm sure you feel the same way about the child or children in your life! And by the way...thanks for sharing in Lachlan's journey with us! :-)