Each day the boys come home from childcare with a paper with notes about what they did, ate, diaper changes, etc. It used to include a note at the top of the page that said, “Today I was _____” and they would add a smiley face or sad face or a comment. A few weeks ago the form changed and there is a list of choices and they circle one or two of the words: Happy, Sad, Excited, Scared Nervous, Shy, Determined, Angry, Aggressive (I’m not sure why weaselly and mischievous aren’t options since that is what they do best). The first day of the new form there were two words circled for Wyatt – Happy and Determined.
If there is any single word that can be used to describe Wyatt it is determined. That word should be circled for him everyday. I checked to see if I had any posts about Wyatt’s determined personality and sure enough his 18-month post is all about his determined and analytical nature. Most of what I wrote almost a year ago is still true. He generally knows exactly what he wants and when he is in a new situation he is very cautious – he analyzes the situation and considers what to do next. Recently I handed a cake pop to him – we all know that Wyatt loves cake more than anything. But this cake looked different, it was covered in a hard shell so he sniffed it and then licked it and then took a tiny nibble. Once he was convinced that it was really cake and mommy wasn’t trying to trick him into eating something healthy, he quickly ate it and asked for another one.
He loves puzzles. We have a stack of wooden puzzles in the boys’ room, the only toys we keep there. Both of the boys play with them, but Wyatt is very serious. And when he finishes a puzzle he claps and yells “I did it”. When we went to Juliana’s Kindergarten open house he found the puzzles and spent most of the time working on them until he found the books and sat down to “read”.
Wyatt walks around with a serious look on his face because he is thinking – what is he going to do next, what is happening around him, etc. We went to Kennywood a few weeks ago and he was very skeptical of every ride. He would sit quietly and try to figure out what was going to happen.
Most of the time he was disappointed by the lack of speed. He was initially intrigued by the motorcycle ride and then clearly bored when it slowly went around a circle. He wouldn’t even hold on to the handle bars once he realized it wasn’t going to get any faster.
His favorite rides were fast and exciting – the little Phantom roller coaster and the Kangaroo. After the first time around on the little Phantom, he yelled – “Again, Again!” He started the ride on the Kangaroo with a serious expression and before we finished the first time around he was laughing and enjoying every second.
So if you see Wyatt walking around without a smile on his face don’t worry, he isn’t sad. He is busy thinking and plotting his next move.
cute!
I didn’t realize he was such a serious child. Makes you wonder what he’s thinking. I see where you can always lighten him up with cake. I recall now he had some very serious looks when we were at the beech. He had such a good time there!