Update from Christine - Jan 24

From Ms. Christine -
This morning, HMF took out the container of blocks, taking a few out at a time and putting them in the holes on the top of the container. He was quickly done with that and soon put it away to try the 4-shape rectangular shape sorter. That too was easy for him, and he quickly tired of it, exchanging it for the soccer-ball shaped sorter. This was definitely a challenge for him, but I think it's just within his reach if I work with him and encourage him. He gets such a different sense of accomplishment from getting one of these shapes in as opposed to the two easier ones. He'll sometimes try very different shaped holes than the shape he's holding, but sometimes he'll know right away and go straight for the correct one. I've been naming the shapes and talking about how many sides and points they have. If he needs help, I've told him which color I think the correct hole is on and I've slowly and methodically turned the ball so he can get a good look at all of the holes rather than letting him spastically flip/turn the ball over. Other than that, he's been playing a lot with his grill, the car/gas pump, and the musical tool bench.

I also included some pictures of Holland putting on his socks, taking them off, and putting his pants on (these are a few weeks old...). He's so good at getting his socks and shoes off by himself that I can't even capture it on camera without a blur. Putting socks on is still challenging, but sometimes he can do it by himself. He often gets his pinky toe stuck still on the outside and gets frustrated. He can get his shoes on by himself (I have him step into his shoes) and he's doing so well with his pants/pull-ups/underwear these days! He rarely gets two legs in one hole anymore and he's often telling me about seeing his feet (a trick I taught him to be able to stand up without being stuck stepping on his pantlegs). I can't remember the last time I've had to help him pull his pants/underwear/pull-up up completely. All he needs help with is zippers and buttons and the occasional turn of the pants to get a foot in the correct hole. I've been talking a lot about left and right (left foot in the left hole, right foot in the right hole) so hopefully some of that is sinking in too.