A

A few days ago I wrote a post about all the cute things that D does. I am having the hardest time writing a similar post about A. There is an edge to him that makes cute the wrong word. When I think about what I want to remember about him from this summer, I think of all the things that he has worked really hard on.  It has been a summer of challenges and achievement for him.

Some of the things he's worked on are skills:

• Swimming: He can take several nice long strokes before stopping to breathe, and he can sit on the bottom of the pool.
• Legos: He can follow visual directions for building with some help, and he can make creations of his own.
• Bike riding: He is up to 4.5 miles.
• Reading and spelling: He can sound out most three-letter words and can read about 30 sight words.

Others are more social-emotional development like:

• Understanding that every family in this country does things a little differently, and he follows the rules of this family.
• Meeting new kids at the park and playing with them in age-appropriate and culturally-appropriate ways. 
• Being a good big brother without trying to be the boss.
• Managing his emotions. This has been a big one, and it is pretty astounding how far he has come. He's developed a lot of self-awareness about his own anxiety and triggers, like hunger or not knowing where he is.

I guess it's not cute because it's been hard work, and hard work is not cute. But it's brave and purposeful, and pretty awesome.