He's Got a Knife!

Teddy has a high interest in helping in the kitchen, coupled with limited safety skills. It's not the best combination, so we work with very close supervision and sometimes hand-over-hand assistance. He's gets so excited when we let him help stir dishes on the stove. Although it makes me nervous, he does very well holding the pan handle with one hand and the spoon with the other. 

There's no way, though, that we trust him with an actual sharp knife. He's been working with a butter knife. The challenges with that are that it's not as sharp as needed to cut some things, and the bigger challenge is his inability to know which way to hold it. He often tries cutting with the knife upside down.

So we discussed this with his OT, and she recommended several different options. We purchased a set of serrated plastic knives intended for young children, along with a wooden cutter. He is doing great with holding the knife properly and is chopping so well. And he's so proud of himself. And so are we.

Halloween - the Best Therapy

I think it's safe to say that Halloween is Teddy's favorite holiday. Now that he's past the phase of being freaked out by costumed characters, he loves most everything about Halloween. (There was one scary beast character that got the side eye from Teddy.) And I loved watching him experience everything!

I say most everything because he'd really love everything about Halloween if he was allowed to enter everybody's home, traipse into their backyards and explore their garages. Those were the only disappointments for the evening when I redirected him from those activities. 

I was so proud of Teddy this Halloween. That might sound odd because all he had to do was wear a really cute costume and get candy, right? When you think about all the effort and skills that go into trick-or-treating, it's like every therapy rolled into one activity that lasts a couple hours. And Teddy rocked it. 

Wendy with her beloved Peter Pan and his Shadow.

From walking so much (with only a few breaks in his chair to rest) to stepping up to every front porch because everyone has a step I swear, he did so much physical therapy. He only fell once, caught his balance several times and trucked through ditches like nobody's business. 

He knows the sign for candy or treat, so he signed that at many houses, along with thank you. Near the end, folks got more of a wave than signs, but they still knew what he meant. (And Dave looked up how to sign trick or treat, so we now have a year to practice the full sign!) 

Grasping candy in a bowl and taking only a piece or two, much less letting it drop into your own bucket, is monumental from a fine motor standpoint. His therapist would be proud of his release skills as he practiced all night, not to mention when he decided to carry his own bucket.

That was my favorite moment. Even though Teddy was putting candy into his bucket all night, I was carrying it because he was holding my hand part of the time and holding his beloved sword that he was so proud to have. All of the sudden, though, leaving one house, he looked at the bucket 2/3 full of candy and realized he should be carrying it. He threw down his sword and used two hands to pry the bucket from me. From that point forward, I was not permitted to carry the bucket and was relegated to sword duty. He was also extremely concerned when he climbed in the car that his candy bucket wasn't in his arms.

This was the few moments Teddy was actually with the kids. I'm not creeping behind him. Oh wait ...

Teddy is such a social butterfly that going from house to house to see all the people is completely his jam. He honestly thought we were supposed to go inside each house because why else would they open their doors. He did amazing at listening overall, going to each front door, ringing or trying to ring the doorbell and then moving on to the next house. Seriously, taking him trick-or-treating was absolutely amazing this year!

I think we should consider trick-or-treating once a month as therapy. I think Teddy would be on board, but now I need to convince my community. 

Pants are Pointless

Weeks like this make me appreciate our childcare providers more than ever. I always appreciate them and try to tell them how much we love them and couldn't manage without them. But weeks that we're juggling childcare and work drive home that point. This is one of those weeks.

For example, I went downstairs to grab lunch today. In the living room, along with a wide selection of toys, I also saw a broom, a dustpan and an oven mitt. I found my husband in the garage, trying to free Teddy from his entanglement in his running chair with his leg trapped. I assisted with that and commented to Dave that he looked like he was facing a firing squad. His reply was that at least a firing squad would put him out of his misery.

I can relate. Yesterday afternoon I spent the better part of my afternoon trying to get Teddy to wear pants. Teddy can independently put on his pants, but he has to be motivated. Otherwise, we assist him in dressing. It's not a big deal, except when he's actively resisting. Then, the child remains unclothed. I didn't fight him for the first hour, simply ignored him as he sat pantless on top of the dining room table while AJ worked on his school work. I joked to AJ that in traditional school, at least he doesn't have pantless classmates sitting on top of tables. 

However, when Teddy was miserable in the house, wanting to apparently do nothing except cause trouble or whine, I tried to get him ready to go outside. I'm pretty relaxed in my parenting style (as is evidenced by the pantless kid on the table referenced above), but pants are required for going outside. 

Look at those angry eyebrows.

I asked Teddy to put on his pants. I tried to assist him, to no avail. I used his talker to model how to use it to say, "You need pants." That didn't entice him to come by me, which normally he's so excited to use it that he cooperates until he gets his hands on the device. He chewed on his pants. He whimpered. He moaned. He cried. But eventually he put on pants.

Have I mentioned how much I appreciate our sitters?