It's All About Values

Last night we discovered a new value of Sammy’s:  tap dancing.

I’ve watched tons of videos of dancing with her: ballet, hip-hop, swing, you name it.  She always enjoys it.  But after a walk in the rain yesterday, Adam was inspired to play a video of Gene Kelly’s Singing in the Rain:

Sammy had her “observation face” on the whole time.  She didn’t smile or react much in any way – but she was watching intently.  So Adam searched for more tap dancing videos and he played Fred Astaire’s Puttin’ on the Ritz for her:

In the middle of this video, Sammy must have accumulated enough data, because her calm broke and she screamed:  I CAN DO THAT!  I’M GOING TO PUT ON MY WATER SHOES AND I CAN DO THAT!  She ran to her shoe basket, put on her Crocs, and came back and started stomping her feet and swinging her arms.  She combined the “tap dancing” with her usual spinning and some clear mimicry of the video.  We could see the joy of discovery in her face.  She was enraptured!  (I took a video, but she’s naked except for the shoes, so I can’t share it, which is a bummer.  I’ll have to learn how to edit those pesky videos someday.)

After a while, she got frustrated that her Crocs were not making the tapping noise, so she went to her toy bin and got out one of those clapper toys which you can shake to make a great tapping noise.

She combined the clapper with the dancing in the Crocs and we had a tap dancer in the house! How smart is that!  It’s all about values.

I’ve been looking for some kind of physical activity for Sam to do on a regular basis.  She’s just not that physical of a kid, and I think she’s ready for something where she can learn to control her body and exercise her gross motor skills.  I’m signing her up for tap this summer for sure!

It’s amazing what a simple activity can teach a young one.  I mentioned recently that Samantha has taken to showering with us instead of taking baths.  She loves it!  Now that she’s been doing it for a few weeks, she has learned:

• How to open and close a twist-off bottle cap.  She was able to open these sporadically before, but since Adam filled up a tiny hotel shampoo bottle with her Johnson’s Baby Shampoo, Sam’s skills have improved to the point where she can do it every time.
• How to pour just the right amount of shampoo into her hand.
• How to set that tiny bottle carefully on the shelf so that it does not tip over.
• How not to slip and fall in the shower (although we really need to put those adhesive sticky things down).
• How to soap up and wash every part of her body.  She was pretty good at this before, but now she is really thorough.  I haven’t washed any part of her in weeks.  Those tiny bars of hotel soap are great for kids!
• How to keep soap out of her eyes. Well, she’s still learning this one, but she’s getting there.
• How to shampoo her whole head of hair.
• How to stick her whole head under the shower to rinse her face and hair.  This was a big accomplishment for her. 

None of these things are monumental, but she really didn’t care about any of those skills until she needed them to shower.  We’ve found that Samantha is not motivated to do things just for the sake of doing them.  For her, it’s all about values.

Two years old is not too young for an Advent calendar.  Sam has already been “counting,” meaning that she parrots the sounds, one-two-three, etc.  She definitely knows the concepts “one” and “two.”  I have a feeling that she’s going to be focused on learning her numbers this month, now that chocolate is involved.  It’s all about values.