Reading

I've mentioned before that Nathaniel can recite certain books we read a lot.  Sometimes I'll test him to see if he is listening.  I'll skip certain words or change them to if he will laugh or correct me.  But, he did something recently (about a month ago) that I hadn't seen before.  He flipped through a book that he doesn't necessarily read a lot and he started making up a story.  He'd flip to the next page and keep going.  I wasn't always sure what he was saying, but he was really into his story.  

I know pretend play and imagination are big milestones for kids.  Nathaniel hasn't always been one to do those things.  Some kids seem to live in a make believe/magical world.  Nate hasn't ever been into playing with his stuffed animals like they are people, etc..  He does play pretend food all the time, pouring and pretend eating etc.  He also sees things differently which I think is a form of imagination.  For instance, he saw a top (you know those toys you spin) and he called it an umbrella and held it over his head.  I like that he sees things in ways I wouldn't necessarily think about.  He comes up with names like 'flower bubbles' for dandelions or 'sucker cakes' for cake pops or 'laters' for leftovers.  

I wouldn't call Kevin or I the most imaginative people ever either so he probably gets his more methodical imagination from us :)  Although, I'd argue most scientists have a great imagination - how else can you see microscopic processes in your mind!  When Watson and Crick thought about how the DNA helix turned in a spiral... genius..  Not that I"m some great scientist (only in my dreams), but it is probably one of the things I find most interesting. 

Anyway, I was so happy to hear Nathaniel making up his own story and enjoy telling it to me.  Watching him discover things about himself is so fun.