he can write!!!!

Guess what??? I am so excited!!! 


Rhys finally got it!!!


I have been working on him to write something anything other than just lines and circles for a good two years. Squares! Smiley faces! Letters! But he's never wanted to. Instead he'd say, "I can't!" and that would be it. He wouldn't even try because he was convinced that he couldn't. (I don't think it was a self-esteem issue as much as it was that he lacked the ability to figure out how to do it.)  


Well, he finally tried!


((This actually happened a few days before school began, but I didn't get my pictures off of my cell phone until now.))

I asked him if he wanted me to write his name for him and if he wanted to write it also, and this was the first time he actually has ever agreed! It surprised me!  We sat at the table and pulled out the markers and I tried to tell him verbally how to do it. Do you understand how hard that is? "Ok, draw your R. It's a line down. Good. Now do a bubble at top. Yep, almost. Ok, good. Now do a line sticking out of it! ...And now do an H. It's a line down with a little hat...."  LOL  Yeah. I'm not a teacher. Surely there are better ways to explain it. Maybe even proper terms! But he did it!


My little boy wrote his name!!!!!


I was so excited for him, that my heart swelled and my eyes leaked!




Rhys was so proud of myself as well. (It helped that I made a huge deal out of it)

His picture remained on our fridge for several weeks. (The fridge is reserved for the BEST work!!! Rhys loves putting anything he's done on it!)  I've recently taken it down to add to his own  "growth collection." (It's where all the art and work the kids have done since they were toddlers go. Their first picture of scribbles, their first 100% on a test, their first painting, etc. And then I add their school portfolios/scrapbooks at the end of the year along with class pictures. ...Which reminds me; I need to go through those bins again, make sure they are sorted out and organized. Maybe even consider getting larger bins.)

He has accomplished so much in the past few months, it's been crazy! I shake my head at all he can do now. And just his infectious enthusiasm over everything. This kid gets excited! What a blessing he is to us!

Ever since that day, he loves to write his name! He is so proud of himself for knowing how to do it! He loves to sign himself in at school. (even if sometimes he forgets how to do it at first.)  He still has some trouble with the Y, but I think he loves to do the H the most, as recently he signed a birthday card with his name and then decorated H's all over it!  (isn't he just the cutest in his homemade felt cape?)

YAY!!!  I didn't know when he'd ever learn to do this.  His preschool teacher says this is normal for his age, but then I reminded her that he's actually already 5. It's easy to forget that. He does seem to fit in well with the 4 year olds. I kept him back with the age 4 class at church too, and that is going well. This year is turning out really good for my boy, and my heart is happy.