Victory is Mine!

I know it probably doesn't seem like much to most parents. Here's a perfectly healthy 16 month old boy who is sitting in his high chair eating crackers. Most kids do that anywhere from 6 to 9 months or so.

This is the first time he's fed himself. Yep, my little Princeling has not felt the need to shove food into his own mouth until this point. He meets with a therapist once a week because we already know he has some delays with his fine motor skills. As far as the putting things in his mouth goes, she seems to think he can do it, he just hasn't known up until now that he can do it. But he put it all together in the last couple of days and FINALLY he's figured out what to do with that cracker. As you can see by the tray, he still would rather smoosh them up and sweep them to the floor, but he's getting some into his face which is a start. Anything small and/or slippery (like cereal or pieces of fruit) kicks his ass, but if it's big enough for him to hold and take a bite, like crackers or toast, he's got it!

I find myself wondering if he's going to go the same route as Bobo.

Miss Bobesie has been entered into our school's extended-day kindergarten program. It's a special Title I literacy program that helps kids that need extra work with literacy skills. I wasn't sure why she got picked...they choose the 15 kids that need the most help. I mean, Bobo can read! Like, read the newspaper, read. So I asked her teacher about it. She said that the Title I teacher was surprised too. Her scores on her kindergarten screening weren't "low, low" and she can in fact read. But here's what she said: "I see her sometimes thinking a bit longer about what her next step is with a project or with a task, and working hard to 'put it together'." She seems to think that the full day of school will give her more time to experience the classroom environment and work with the demands that come with it, thus making her better prepared for first grade.

I told her that the issue with Bo has always been not that she can't do things, rather that she won't do them until she's good and ready. And if she's doing something she doesn't want to do, rest assured she is paying it minimal attention, if any. So I told her teacher (who is awesome and I love her so!) this bit of insight and explained how I tell when she's just flaked out on me because she's uninterested in what she's supposed to be doing. Hopefully it will help. I don't know...it's taken me five years to get a handle on how she is.

So I wonder how much of Dave is going to be just him doing things when he wants to do them, and how much is him just not knowing how to do it. Like eating. It never occurred to him to put things in his mouth. He is late getting to that stage of development. But with walking, he can. I've seen him do it--when he's not thinking about it! As soon as he realizes what he's done, he chickens out and drops down to the floor to crawl. He can stand, he can take steps unaided, he can get up without holding onto anything. The kid can walk. But will he? Hell to the no!

Bug? Did everything she was supposed to when she was supposed to, and on the early side of normal as well. She's always been happy to learn new things and to share what she's learned. Bobo is the exact opposite. Dave seems to have a bit of both in him.

Three kids, three very distinct personalities. They are interesting people. Victory is mine!