Letters. It was one of his first obsessions. It was one of the first things that started coming back after his words disappeared. This picture was taken in December 2008, more than three years ago. He was three, and he was already telling us his letters.
Today he is six. He still loves letters more than anything. He knows them all - uppercase and lowercase. He even knows what sound all of them make. He can sing not only the alphabet song, but also the Letter Factory alphabet song complete with letter sounds.
And it doesn't stop there. He knows words. He loves WordWorld and SuperWhy. Any word that has ever been spelled on either of those shows, he knows. He knows them in order, by episode. The boy can spell hundreds and hundreds of words. He can out spell big brother easily. He's even starting to read on his own.
He is absolutely rocking kindergarten.
We worried so much about both of the twins starting kindergarten this year, about how they would do in the regular classroom and how much they would be able to participate in the regular curriculum. Xander wants us to know that he's got this. He's totally got this.
Back in December, all of the elementary school kids took the state standardized test. Guess who got the highest score in reading comprehension? Not only the highest score in his class, but the highest score for all of kindergarten in his school. Yes, that would be Xander. Our spell boy.
No, kindergarten is not typical for him. He has a full-time aide who works with him - and she is pretty amazing. Mostly she keeps him on task. And keeps his temper in line. She also helps regulate some of the sensory needs and breaks that he requires. And she helps him move between his many different classrooms - regular, resource and specials. Frequently, she adds tasks into his day, to give the rest of the class time to finish. Because Xander flies through everything. He is always ready to finish the work, so that he can move on to the next best thing. He hopes that will be computer or recess. He's less excited about science class or more work.
But the point is Xander is doing great. Letters. Words. Numbers (to 100). Counting by ones and twos and fives and tens. Colors. Shapes. Coloring inside the lines. Cutting and gluing. Spelling tests. Little Reader books every night. And all the other kindergarten skills.
Xander has come a long way from that picture. Letters are still an obsession, yes. But he's added so much more. Number one or number one hundred, it doesn't really matter. We are proud of him, every single moment, every single day.