writing and laughing

Sam is writing. This afternoon he wrote this and showed it to me with the proudest smile, then asked if he spelled it right. This is always a tricky question, because sometimes he gets very upset if he's wrong. I told him it was right for "shoo, fly" and close for the kind of shoe that you wear, then told him that was spelled s-h-o-e. He filed this information but then apparently forgot it and illustrated the shoo (those are laces, by the way, viewed from the side so you just see them as dots):



Then this evening he was working intently on something while Omi and I were making dinner. This is what he came up with (the masking taped used to correct errors):



(in case you are puzzled: "I wish I had a dog.")

Again he asked if it was right. I said it was fantastic and a great sentence and very good writing, and that he was just missing an A and a D. He then tried again... and again... and again... and kept getting stuck on various bits, especially the repeated "A-D-A-D" (which makes sense as a place to get stuck). He was ENORMOUSLY frustrated. There were tears. He refused all gentle suggestions (e.g. to just squeeze a letter in between). He finally, with a bit of help from Omi, got it. And was enormously proud.



So, Sam is a perfectionist. This is related to him not wanting to draw for much of the past year because he couldn't make things come out "right". And I'm torn: I don't ever point out spelling errors unless he asks, but when he specifically asks if it's right? should I lie? I feel like I shouldn't, but pitching the tone of the feedback is tricky.

Frida-wise: she laughed for the first time last night when J. was nuzzling her belly alternating with saying an exaggerated "hi!!". So, like a superstitious pigeon, J. kept nuzzling and calling "hi!!" for the next 15 minutes, during which she "heh heh'd" at random intervals until it wore out (and he kept going for another several minutes of extinction). I'll try to post some video soon...