David Dear

I have been wanting to write a post for a while about this little guy...
...to capture the wonder and magic of this stage of his 2 and 1/2 year-old life. (Warning: this is simply a mother's brag page, an attempt to verbally scrapbook a bit of our family history which may not be interesting to many others. Plus, poop is involved.) :)

David is, without a doubt, a ball of sunshine in our family. He is the comedian, the entertainer, the one who does silly things to make us laugh--and succeeds. He's got a million-watt grin, and the sparkle in his eyes is like the sweetest flash of lightning I've ever seen.

David is also laid-back. He's at that typical toddler stage of "let me do it" v. "help me" (both of which are heard regularly in our home these days); but almost always, when he gets frustrated because of his inability to do something, he doesn't express it with screaming or hitting or tantrums or any kind of huge dramatic expression. Instead, he's fairly calm as he tries again or waits for assistance. And what really amazes me is that when he's talking and he says something that I don't understand, I can say to him, "David, I didn't understand what you said. Can you please say it again or show me what you mean?" And he does that! He can almost always figure out a way to help me figure out what he's talking about, and he does it without undue excitement or negative emotion.

One thing David does that we just adore is that when he cries about something, whether a physical hurt or an emotional moment, as soon as he has recovered from his tears, he will announce cheerfully, "Happy David!" He can go from tears to happiness in less than a second, and he always lets us know when he's over his sadness. We love to hear his "Happy David!" ring out.

Another thing he does that cracks me up is that when I ask him to do something that he doesn't particularly want to do, whether it's carrying his shoes upstairs to put them away or helping his big brother put away clean silverware from the dishwasher, he'll sometimes sigh pitifully and say in a tragic voice, "Hard work." Ah, yes, my boy, it may seem like hard work and you can put a smile on my face by saying that, but guess what? You still have to do your jobs! :)

David still sucks his thumb, which I mentioned when I wrote about his appointment with the dentist. At times, someone will tease him about it and ask him if it tastes like chocolate or like strawberries, etc. He always retorts, "No, milk thumb!"

When we were on a recent trip to Niagara Falls, David asked every day--repeatedly throughout the day--"Home?" in a hopeful, but slightly sad, voice. He has done that at other times, too, when we've been away from home, but certainly not as much as he did on that trip. I think he was very glad to finally get home again! At other times when we're around town and he asks, "Home?" I'll say, "Yes, David, we're going home now." He'll say, "No, BYE, home," if he doesn't want to come home yet. And then we'll say, "Where do you want to go?" And he'll usually say, "Apple house," which we haven't really figured out the meaning of. He does call the post office, "Mail house," but we're not sure if "apple house" refers to an orchard or what--not that he's ever been to an orchard!

"Apple" seems to be his answer when he doesn't know what else to say. I have a habit of smelling the library books I read to the boys because I love the old-book smell (as well as new-books smells, unlike my friend Julie!), and of course Josiah will want to smell it, too. He'll say, "It smells like a book!" And then David will sniff it, and we'll ask him, "What does it smell like?" He'll invariably answer, "Apple!"

Somehow I've developed little rituals with David, verbal games that we must ALWAYS play. Things like...when I help him wash his hands after a meal, he'll say, "Hot one?" and I'll say, "No." And then he'll say, "Cold one?" and I'll say, "Yes." And then if I dry his hands on a white towel, he'll say, "Blue towel, green towel?" And I'll say, "No, they're not here." And he'll say, "White towel?" And I'll say, "Yes."

After endless repetition, things like this can really turn a mother's brain to mush.

Here's another one...after I brush his teeth at bedtime, we'll fill up his cup with water, and he'll point into the cup and say, "Bee?" and I'll say, "No." Then he'll say "Dark?" and I'll say, "Yes," if he's using the dark blue cup. If he's using the yellow cup, I'll say, "No." And then he'll say, "Light?" and I'll say, "Yes." The day cannot end and he cannot be tucked into bed without this ritual!

Obviously, we think David is as sharp as a tack. He's known all the letters of the alphabet since he turned 2, and he likes to spell things. For example, on his placemat (which is a map of the USA), he sees the word Mexico, so I'll hear him saying, "M-e-x-i-c-o." Today he saw a chart with Josiah's name on it; but from his perspective it was backwards, so he said "H-a-i-s-o-j." If I'm wearing a shirt with writing on it, he'll say, "V-i-r-g-i-n-i-a."

He also talks up a storm when he's around familiar people and places (although his Sunday school teachers constantly tell me, "He's so quiet and sweet and obedient!" sweet and obedient, yes, but quiet??? hmm, come over someday to our house and see him as he really is!). The ironic thing about this is that he didn't say much at all until he was very close to his 2nd birthday. He communicated nonverbally, but his actual speech was so delayed that I was seriously considering taking him to a speech therapist. (I'm sure if I had been a firstborn, I would have...but being an easy-going baby of the family, I assured myself that he was probably fine and I therefore felt OK about procrastinating about it!) Right before he turned 2 however, something changed and language started flowing from his lips. (It was also at that time that I started praying specifically and consistently that God would loosen his lips and give him the gift of language.) As I look back at little video clips we took of him before that time, I can hardly believe all the progress he has made since then. It is truly amazing!

I noticed recently when another boy about his age was visiting here that instead of babbling along and saying strings of non-intelligible sounds like many children his age do (in imitation of adult speech which children can't yet match), David is very distinct in what he says. This is not to imply that everyone can understand everything he says because, of course, he still has toddler pronunciation for many things. But in general, his words are said separately. "Let. me. do. it." David seems to have a purpose for what he says and rarely simply babbles...although there are infrequent times when he seems to be saying sounds for the pure joy of saying and hearing them.

His pronunciation is getting better and better, and I'm reminded again of how interesting and miraculous the process of children learning language really is. How they self-correct simply by listening and hearing others speak. How they soak in so much knowledge so naturally, usually without any type of intervention or formal teaching. Incredible! Recent pronunciation improvements include the way he says, "Thomas," "seven," the letter "w," "yellow," etc. I can't even write how he used to say them; but now when he pronounces them, it actually sounds like the real word! Another one is his word for Grandma. He used to call Grandma "Mama" (and I was "Mommy"); but as soon as Grandma Fisher got here, David starting saying "Dam-maw Dish-er" for her, and the "Dam-maw" part got carried over to my mother, too. It's not exactly "Grandma," but it's getting closer!

One thing he still mispronounces and appears to be quite content to continue is his name for Josiah. Despite all my dad's earnest efforts to get David to say, "Jo-si-ah," David persists with his version: "I-yah." I've gotta admit though, I will be a little sad when the day comes that David no longer says, "I-yah." I'll know for sure that my little boy is growing up, and that will be bittersweet.

As far as his own name, David pronounces it "Day-did,"--not exactly correct--but he can spell it! If you ask him, "How do you spell 'David'?" he'll grin and say, "D-a-v-i-d pell [for spell] Day-did!"

And now for the poop... Back in the summer, I had started working with David as far as potty training goes. After a while, I realized I had nothing to show for it except wet spots on the floor, so it was time to put potty training on the shelf for a while and revisit the subject later. That time came this week on Monday, and overall things are going well! He did have a few accidents the first day, but we're taking our time with it and enjoying the successes...like...every night, he sits on the potty and pees and poops into it!!! I can't even tell you how excited this makes me, especially because the memories of how loooooooooong it took Josiah to be convinced to poop in the potty circle in my mind whenever I think of potty training. To have success the first night, well, it hardly seems possible! Today before his nap, David peed and pooped in the potty again; and of course, we always whoop and holler and make a big deal about it and he gets that magical sparkle in his eye and a delighted look on his face. He's a long way from being completely potty-trained; but oh my goodness, I'm overwhelmingly grateful for such a good start!

I remember before David was born, I wondered often how the transition would affect Josiah. Now I'm left wondering how the new baby's birth will affect David. From all that I know of birth order, David is an extremely typical second-born/baby of the family. But I can't help thinking about how he might change as he becomes the middle child. Will the loss of attention be painful for him or actually good for him? Will he become even more outgoing and entertaining or will he withdraw? One thing is for sure: David is used to having a brother since he's never known life without Josiah, so unlike the transition when David was born and Josiah went from only child to older of two children--a potential major earthquake, although Josiah handled it well--David's always had to share me, his daddy, his toys, space, etc. Maybe this will be a piece of cake for him???

To sum up, I cannot imagine life without our darling David. His name means "beloved," and it's appropriate--he is so loved. The joy that he has brought to us is inestimable; and although "You Are My Sunshine" is not his "official" lullaby, the words are certainly appropriate for him...
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine,
You make me happy when skies are gray.
You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away.