Jack's New Milestone....

Starting to Scribble

Jack took a pencil from behind my ear earlier this week and walked off.  Being a conscientious mother, I followed him to see what he intended to do with a sharp implement not suitable for toddlers.  I tried to be sneaky about following him because he is at the stage where he loves to play chase around the house (he runs off giggling while I chase him) and, of course, I did not want him to put his eye out....  Anyway, he headed for the coffee table where I had been sorting the mail.  After he pushed every single piece of correspondence to the floor, he spotted one of my "To Do" notepads.  He picked it up, waddled to the kitchen, and plopped himself on the floor, legs spread with the pad in between. He then proceeded to scribble with the pencil on the pad.  At this point, I am convinced that my child is a genius since I have never showed him paper, or a pencil--much less which end writes!  I know in my heart that my baby has learned from watching the family and I experience conflicting emotions of pride, fear (how I will handle such an intellectual child), and excitement. Wow!  What else does he know??  I was so excited, that I took Jack outside so he could show daddy his "drawing."  Jeff was suitably impressed, and asked Jack (who had somehow taken off his diaper soon after stepping outside) to "show daddy how to write." Jack complied over and over again, no matter where Jeff moved the paper.  I finally got over my shock and took some pictures so I could document this amazing feat.  Then, I googled "toddler milestones" at BabyCenter.com only to find out that "scribbling" is only considered an "advanced skill" at 12 months rendering Jack's new trick at 13 months... rather unexceptional!  Did I mention that I asked at daycare if they had shown Jack what a pencil was, etc?  "Jack?" they said "Ooh, that boy just loves to color. We color all the time, don't we Jack?" Sighhh..., just call me "clueless!"  Anyway, behold my naked, little "Hemingway/Picasso" below-