I marvel, I ooh and aah in awe, but rarely do I outright brag. So, forgive me for doing so now – but when it comes to my son, there will be none of this modesty bullsh*t.
A few months ago, we discovered Ricicli kids’ clothes at Monster Art & Clothing, one of my favorite stores in Seattle. They sell stuff made my local artists – clothing, bags, wall art, etc. Against one wall, there was a small selection of kids clothes. The owner told me all about the designer – she repurposes and recycles adult clothing and makes incredible, very cool and hip new clothes out of them for kids.
So last month, we went to the Urban Craft Uprising show, where we picked up few items – t shirts for us, a gorgeous collage painting framed in cut up parts from a recycled door. There was SO MUCH I wanted to buy. As we were halfway through our exploring at the craft show, I spotted the Ricicli stand. As we dug through the clothing, we had a nice, long chat with the designer, Christina. (So pretty, and so freakin’ talented.)
Well. This past Sunday, my little Felix got to take part in the Ricicli Fall 2010 photo shoot. How freakin’ handsome is he?
That first one is my favorite. I was surprised when my mom wrote and said that that photo makes her sad, because HE looks sad, “Like he lost his best friend.” I guess because I see that expression all the time, I know better – that’s not sadness on his face, that’s what he looks like when he’s lost in thought.
It was a social experiment – for both him & us. WE’D never spent time with other parents in a group and HE’S never spent time with other kids (his age or otherwise.) It was fascinating to watch. The other babies were all gaga & smiling & grabbing and flailing all over. Nugget watched from among them, but he did just that – watched. He’s an incredibly observant kid. He did do a little touching & holding of toys, but not a heck of a lot. He’s like me – he sits and he watches, but he doesn’t bother with small talk (or small noises or small smiling).
Something I noticed almost since the day he was born: Do you know how most kids/babies have that sort of vacant-eyed baby look? Nugget has never had that. I’ve searched & compared & tried to take myself out of being his mother, but nope – it’s definitely not there, and yup, most other kids definitely have it. It’s not a bad thing – I can’t think of another word synonymous with “vacant” that lacks the negative connotation. It just is.
(This is where I go into the second part of this bragging post.)
My therapist (of course I have a therapist, I’ve ALWAYS had a therapist) also specializes in working with gifted children. She’s met Nugget a number of times and has suggested that he’s already showing some pretty big signs of growing up to be a gifted child – the biggest being his very intent watchfulness. Music to my ears, of course, as I’ve always held intellectual development in the highest regard. I’m already fretting over how to not be pushy about it, or how to not give him the impression that he has to be “smart enough” to please me. I figured it was pretty likely, seeing as both his parents were considered “gifted” throughout school (well, Mr Nikki was actually in gifted, I was supposed to be, but I didn’t want anything to do with it and my parents weren’t the type to get all that involved or make me do anything.) The only time my mom did have anything to say about, really, was when the guidance counselor told me my IQ score and she’d said, “You shouldn’t have told her that, she’ll never be quiet about it now.” Harumph. Well, I was quiet about it – quite quiet. I was the type who “didn’t live up to her potential” (though I turned out pretty freakin’ well, not to mention happy). In fact, I got this information one week before I decided to drop out of high school. So I hope to find a balance between being involved/encouraging and not placing too much emphasis on following all the rules to “work to your potential.”