These days, it's all about the dinosaurs. Patrick started watching a new show on PBS called Dinosaur Train, and now he can't get enough. Luckily, Annie next door has a lot of dinosaur things she's outgrown, so she's been giving him a steady stream of plastic dinosaurs, books, puzzles, movies, and even a collection of stuffed dinos. Patrick's surprised us with how much information he retains: "No Mama, that's not a Pteranodon, it's a Corythosaurus." "A Triceratops is a herbivore, but a T-Rex is a carnivore." "A Brachiosaurus has a long neck like a giraffe." Robin is just trying to keep up...
School drop-off is getting much better, and his teachers report that he's come out of his shell and is quite the chatterbox. On the way home in the afternoon, we talk about the day, and about his feelings. "It was a happy day *and* a sad day." In the past, when asked who he played with, he'd always say "Just Patrick." Now he might say "Patrick Dailey. And Timmy and Ryan too." He especially loves the sandbox and the tricycles.
Patrick's sleep schedule is much improved with his new programmable nightlight. We have the blue moon light up at 7:30pm, and at 7:30am it changes to a glowing yellow sun. He climbs into bed sometime after 7:00 and we read until the moon comes on. Patrick knows this means lights out, and puts up minimal fuss. He then stays in his bed all night until the sun comes on. He'll occasionally sleep in a bit, but it's usually precisely 7:30 when he comes thundering down the hall to jump into our bed.
After-lunch quiet time continues to go well. He usually goes through his entire bookshelf, one by one. His latest favorites are the Berenstain Bears and Richard Scarry books.
Until recently, Patrick showed no interest in jigsaw puzzles. When Alex was here last month, he put together a 24-piece Thomas puzzle with Auntie Robin. Patrick must have noticed, because he's since mastered the Thomas one and Annie's dinosaur puzzle as well. The first couple of times took a lot of coaching, but now he can complete them on his own.
Patrick is enjoying another session of Soccer Tots. The Tuesday evening timeslot works well with Michael's schedule, as he's often in Colonie anyway. Whenever possible, we meet up at Afrim's then have a family dinner at Wolf Road Diner, taking our usual spot at one of the booths in the back. It's hit or miss with Patrick -- sometimes he'll be very well behaved, even ordering for himself: "I'd like the spaghetti, please." Other times, he's just too wound up and we have to leave early...
