Day 13: Determination

One of the first things I learned about Lego’s personality was that when he’s determined to learn something, he won’t quit until he’s done it. But until he’s ready, he won’t really try. When he was four months old, he decided one day that he wanted to learn to roll over. I was working on my computer doing some freelance editing. I lay on the floor next to him on a blanket. For two hours, he lay on his back and tried over and over and over to get onto his stomach (apparently the harder way to roll). Finally he accomplished it, and the look on his face was priceless! He was so proud of himself.

Of course, once he was on his stomach, the next thing he wanted to do was crawl, but his arms weren’t strong enough for that yet. His legs pushed hard, but his face planted into the floor. For months we had to basically keep him off his stomach when we could because he’d try to crawl and end up crying in frustration when he couldn’t. Then he finally learned to army crawl, and he was off.

But when we tried to teach him to crawl on hands and knees, he’d have none of it. He was actually a pretty late crawler because he was perfectly comfortable doing the army crawl. And I knew he could stand and walk before he did. I would try to trick him into standing or walking by letting go, but the minute he wasn’t holding onto something, he’d collapse. One day, though, he just decided he was ready, and off he went. By the next day, he was crossing rooms.

The things he’s learning now aren’t as dramatic, but I’ve noticed this trend continuing as he gets older. He’s learning to count, so he practices a lot, like when he’s doing dishes (as I mentioned before). When he was learning his colors, he’d try to name them all the time with a questioning tone of voice, asking for us to let him know if his guess was right.

I hope this determination to learn sticks with him—and serves him well—throughout life. It’s fun to learn, and I’m glad he knows that now. I hope school and life don’t suck the joy of learning out of him.