New Year, New Skills

In the last few weeks, Kevin's language skills have grown by leaps and bounds. Since we've been back from the US, he's really taken to English. He loves to ask me out of the blue 'Do you speaka English momma?' and then when I say yes he asks me (in Dutch) to 'say something' and then laughs at whatever I do say. Besides the Q&A, it's really struck me how much English he picked up with just two weeks around Oma, Opa and Vivi.

Seeing him in full sponge mode has made me aware again of how intelligent he seems to me - I guess every mom thinks that - but I see such potential in him to be an all rounder. It not that he's writing symphonies or recreating the Sistine chapel frescoes with his finger paints, but in general he can count very well, he's got good hand eye coordination, a good vocabulary (starting now in multiple languages) and I am very lucky that he's been blessed with a basically happy personality. All these observations have a point, I promise.....it's almost school time!

Since we've been back, he's started his first,(for lack of a better term),internship at school. I don't know what else to call it, but for up to 10 weeks before a child's 4th birthday, they can have 'trial days' at the school. He's met his teacher, (Mister Bram), he has his chair with his name on it, and between now and March, every Friday is his school day.

He still goes to pre-school 1 day per week, so for now he has two school days. As of March 4th, He'll be full time in kindergarten. The school schedule will be half days on Wednesdays and Fridays and full days (8.30am - 3.00pm) on Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays. It seems a lot for such a little guy, but I've noticed that there is less homework here...they get more done during the day to allow for kid time outside of school hours, and the school system here overall is excellent.

I have no doubt that, should we ever move to the US, that he would be at least on par if not advanced to most of his peers, plus have languages he'd not be exposed to otherwise. It's funny for me as well to find myself thinking so much about his future, who and what he can be, the options I hope he'll have....It seems he's hit this kind of magical age where you not only think about and enjoy the moment - (which is where I think I spent most of his 'babyhood') - but now I see the little person within developing and coming to the fore. That makes me think longer term, too.

On purely a fun note, we went to the indoor play area two weeks ago, and at 11.30 in the morning there was a children's disco. Here is Kevin dancing away.