down in front!
9 02 2008Hurray Peter! Yesterday, he received his award for Special Achievement from the principal of his school. There was a small ceremony in which a handful of students received this award. All recipients were hand-picked by their teachers.
Peter was the youngest to participate. Mom & Dad hid from view as Peter was brought into the auditorium - seeing us would have thrown him into further confusion as to why he was being pulled from his classroom to attend the ceremony. He sat with the other recipients, quietly & maturely.
At the start of the ceremony, the school mascot entered the arena - Cosmo the Crocodile. Island Creek Elementary is filled with crocodile images and likenesses. Even little Peter is used to seeing them everywhere, but Cosmo entered the room, walking, smiling, green, and 6 feet tall! As he entered, one could hear the sounds of a preschooler becoming slightly unsettled.
Wisely, Peter’s turn came very early in the program. Each student was to receive a certificate from the principal, shake hands with her, walk over to Cosmo, shake the reptile’s hand, turn to the camera for a photo op, and be reseated. Peter carefully took his certificate from Dr. Owner and the vice principal, the fuzzy beast maintained a safe distance from the whimpering lad, and he returned to his seat.
I, on the other hand, had my own battle to fight in the audience. I borrowed my brother’s video camera to record Peter’s academic milestone. I emerged quietly & stealthfully from my hidden position in the crowd, sat myself on the floor in front of the audience - so no one could obstruct the camera’s line-of-sight. Peter’s shining moment was all of maybe 10 seconds, and I wasn’t going to miss it.
No one, however, told the man who apparently thought Peter was cute… so cute that he wanted to get him on videotape. As Peter was receiving his certificate, and was now facing the crowd (still upset about Cosmo), this guy jumps down in front of me, completely blocking me (and the camera) from seeing Peter’s proud moment in the spotlight. Now, while figuring out a foreign videocam, I had to get up and move to see the action!
Anyway, here it is - captured on videotape. Don’t blink - it’s over in a hearbeat!
You’ve done amazing work this year, Peter Mankin.
We Love You!
Tags : developmental delays, PDD-NOS
Categories : Family / Parenting
With unseasonably high temperatures in the 70s yesterday, I roasted a pound of coffee yesterday out on my deck. I was accompanied by my usual assistant-roastmaster Peter. His list of expected duties is small;
Out driving with the family today - running some errands. Approaching
a busy intersection, the traffic light changes from green to amber - and then finally to red. I slowed the car down and stopped at the intersection. As this is happening, Peter calls out “Verde… Amarillo… Rojo.” When the light finally turns green again, and I’ve picked my jaw off of the car’s floor, I am told that it’s Verde again, and that I should proceed.
Peter surprised everyone last week by eating waffles in school. In order to keep things moving forward, I made a batch of home-made waffles for breakfast this morning. My waffle iron makes round waffles, but Peter’s teacher told us that he fed himself waffle sticks. I gave him the choice of waffle shapes.
“Peter, would you like round waffles, rectangle waffles or triangle waffles?”
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