Fatherhood

Patrick has been learning ... so fast! He has been expanding his vocabulary and correlating activities so fast ... it is sometimes funny to watch and always exciting. Jen picked up a toy train the other day ... one of those ten dollar, battery operated things you find at the drug store. It plays several songs and tows it's two cars in a tiny circle. On the cars, two animals can be mounted ... one white with a blue base and one yellow with a yellow base. The activity, once the train was home and put together, was to attempt to put the right animal into the right car ... each animal as a differently shaped based; a bit of a challenge. I found myself pointing out the base and then the car ... and he promptly took the animal in the other hand and tried to put it in the car I had indicated (for the other animal). All this was hindered by the fact the train was moving and he had to wait for it to come around the track to try again. He'll get it I'm sure, but it will b...

The speed at which my son is learning is phenomenal ... he is learning new skills and making linkages and connections at an incredible rate. Each day, we see him learning more and more. Today, he was listening to directions ... "Find grandma," "give this to Papap," "follow Mommy." All directions were followed with very little hesitation. I also heard that he looked over to find Papap "resting his eyes" while watching football. He turned to Grandma and held his index finger to his lips ... "Shhh." What an incredible experience, blessed to be able to watch and hear about his development every day!

... and Connecting Learned Skills Well, I do not know if it is official, but his learning curve has definitely gone through the roof. Patrick has been off for a few days (not feeling well). I got home to a rather upset (in pain) son ... once we got things under control, I was playing with him around the computers (yes, watching that the glowing power switch did not catch his attention) ... when he decided to climb the step-ladder. He has done this many times, but this time he got up both steps with no assistance and was definitely proud of what he could do. Then, I upped the ante ... I took Patrick and the ladder in the kitchen and set it up in front of the microwave and watched him climb up ... then realize where he was. Skills so far (all separate skills): Climbing the step-ladder Opening and closing the microwave door Setting the time and clicking start on the microwave (OK, some assistance here) Getting food from the cupboard and taking it to the microwav...

Food, food, and more food ... in Patrick's early days, this was a solid motivator.  He motivated us to feed him very effectively those first few months. Then, he learned that certain actions got a certain response from his father ... and, repeating these actions got more response.  I would make faces at the dinner table and his laughter and clapping would encourage more interaction. Later, as he developed he learned the value of certain actions got positive verbal response and clapping ... and, again he learned to repeat these actions. These learned responses are the beginning of a pattern I can see where we have to be aware at all times of what is motivating him.  Is it food, toys, activities?  These will change and evolve over time ... eventually, the goal is for him to develop his own internal motivation to do the "right thing" simply because it is the right thing to do. This moving target of motivation is a learning curve for me as a father and one in w...

I work on computers for a living.  I've been working on computers since I was ten years old ... 34 years, at this point.  And, even though it seems like I started only yesterday, I have found that my 14 month old son can teach me a thing or two ... Recently, he was playing on the mouse (in particular, with the wheel) and the icons on my screen started getting smaller.  Never having seen this type of a change with the mouse, I tried to duplicate what he was doing ... to no avail.  After some research (HOURS), I found out that with Windows Vista, you can hold down the Control Key and spin the wheel to change the icon size on the screen ... way to keep your father on his toes, Patrick! I realize that children today are getting more and more savvy with technology, but I truly never imagined being taught basic functionality by him before he at least reached the age of three.