Split Personalities

My little Nathaniel is a wild man. He loves to run around, climb everything, get into everything, and talk non-stop. Whenever I'm with him, he tells me stories. They are basically gibberish, but he has a varied gibberish vocabulary. He says lots of real words, too, and is getting especially good at two-syllable words lately. He also fusses and screams a lot at home. When he wakes up in the morning or from a nap, when he can't get something to work right, and when he doesn't get his way, he gets angry and yells. That's why I was very surprised to learn what he is like at school.

First of all, apparently he uses a good bit of baby sign language at school. He doesn't talk much, except when he says "all done," after eating and when he wakes up from a nap. I guess that's how they know he's awake, and they quickly move him to the other room so he doesn't wake the other kids. He also doesn't cry much, even if he falls and gets hurt or gets bitten by other kids. If they turn the TV on at the end of the day, he walks over to the rug, sits down quietly, and watches until I pick him up. At home, he's not super concerned if the TV is on. He'll occasionally look up and talk about what's on screen (bears and Elmo are his favorites), but that's it. They also told me he's usually "in his own little world" and just reads a lot of books. He reads lots of books at home, so that's not that different, but I was surprised at how quiet and calm he is there. I'm glad he loves books, I just hope he's not too antisocial!

Then, about a week after they told me all of this, they told me he was being a bit of a bully and hitting the other kids. And laughing about it. Then a few days later his daily sheet said "Nate needs to work on being nice to his friends and not pulling their hair or pushing them down." He pulls my hair all the time, and he thinks it's hilarious, so I'm not surprised as much by that. I guess I'm just surprised that he isn't super interactive unless he's being mean. I hope this is just a phase.

I hope he will start to be more interactive and friendly with the other kids, because they all get excited when I drop him off. Half of them yell, "Nate Nate!" Some of them come running to give him hugs or share toys. He's still one of the younger kids in the group, so hopefully as he gets older, he'll feel more comfortable.

Anyway, here are some pictures of his recent doings.

He loves balls, especially this soccer ball.

Sick day at home, ready to watch brown bear (Brother Bear).

Sick day again. Watching The Rescuers.

Selfie with Mommy. He was not impressed.

Sometimes he's a redneck.

He loved the fishies at Bass Pro.

Watching Sesame Street.

He tried to buckle this tomato sauce into the booster.

Chicken Salad Chick. He loves the buffalo flavor. And pickles!