This and that...

I found a website that carries puzzles for ages 2-5 that are inexpensive and are nice "in between" puzzles moving from single piece ones. The website is here.

Last day of swim lessons for the kids was today. Katie is jumping off the side and swimming to the edge on her own now. She has learned gliding, back gliding, free style, and back stroke.

John is getting used to being in the water, blowing bubbles, kicking, and moving his arms. He enjoys water songs and splashing, as well as running around the spa, jumping from step to step.

Speech therapy is becoming more demanding and John doesn't want to pay attention. Eye contact is still very poor and he completely avoids any contact when he doesn't want to "say his words". He is learning about "quiet hands" and sitting still to listen to the directions. He is still impulsive and doesn't really pay attention to the teacher's direction. He almost anticipates what she is going to ask him to do and just doesn't sit still long enough to focus on what is being asked.

Developmentally, John has hit a different stage of separation anxiety, asserting independence, and tantrums, which is great in one sense and also exhausting in another.

As speech continues to increase and become more understandable, I'm beginning to see things that I didn't notice before, like the extent of his social delay. Prior to language, it was difficult to sense his social awareness. As it develops, it is becoming more clear how socially behind John is. Staying in a group, following directions, interactive play with others, and following a conversation is very hard for John. If he gets fixated on a particular thought, it is hard for him to move on, unless you acknowledge the thought and talk him through it. Although he sometimes can move on, it is becoming more obvious that he returns back to that same idea/thought/word and doesn't always respond to what is being said around him.

For example, in the office tonight, Katie and John were laughing about a joke Katie had made earlier by pretending to type on the keyboard and say "elmomovie.com" (which doesn't exist, but Katie thought it was funny to add the .com and got John laughing and saying it as well). This evening they were doing it again for Bill. Katie started to do something else and John kept saying it. We acknowledged it a few times and Bill asked John what he had for lunch. John ignored him, keeping the joke going over and over. Bill then asked John where daddy was and John didn't pay attention. I stopped John and asked him where daddy was and he said he wanted a bath. I told John to tell Daddy where he went for lunch and John said "elmomovie.com".

Another example today was at Speech class. I watch through a window while Tonyia works with John. When it's over, they come out and we talk in the hallway. John was upset that the door wasn't closed. Tonyia told John it was ok. He started to flip out and kept asking to close the door. I picked him up and told him to tell Tonyia goodbye. He said goodbye. Tonyia and I had a few other things to say and he started crying about the door being open.

These are just small things, but they are signs of social interaction. We need to keep an eye on it and try to talk to John in conversation now that his speech is improving so much. He is immature and delayed, and is just starting to use speech, but we need to recognize these interactions so we can help him.