Update from Christine - Feb 24th

From Ms. Christine -

Rosalinda said that Holland had a good drop off this morning. He asked for Cindy once later in the morning, but wasn't upset about it. He has been playing with the trucks and sand outside a lot and has been really enjoying helping his friends onto the firetruck. He's happy to take turns. Holland was using some beads inside and Rosalinda was excited about the control and dexterity he has with his fingers. He definitely has a lot of motor control when he focuses on a task - both gross and fine motor. He played with the vet office and used the blocks to build roads for cars today.

Rosalinda said that he was dry for his change again today, but told them "pee." He didn't want to sit on the potty, but she said she thought he remained dry until the very end of the day when she thought he peed. She commented on how he's really growing in his awareness of his bodily functions and is very vocal about what's going on in his body. When I got him, he did indeed have pee in his diaper. I sat him on the toilet to see if he had anything else, but he just squeezed out a drop. Yesterday, I changed him right before we went to pick up Sofia because he had poop when he woke up (he walked out of his room and told me). I put him in a pull-up and after picking up Sofia, we went straight to the Triangle. I brought him to a restroom and had him try to pee (his pull-up was dry), but he didn't have anything then either. To my surprise though, he held it all the way until we got home at about 5:45 and peed quite a bit (he held it for 3 hours!). I feel like I'm able to start trusting him when he says he doesn't have pee during a potty sit. He has been able to hold it for quite a long time, so long as there aren't any big tantrums (when he sometimes pees).

Yesterday, Sofia and Holland had a really good time laying out a blanket, taking off their shoes and having a picnic at the Triangle. Sofia would point out every new picnicking group, excited that other people had the same idea as us. It was just a nice calm and relaxing lunch/snack for the three of us. Tim and I bought kites for the kids' birthdays and both of them were able to fly their little kites successfully yesterday. The smaller size of these kites might just fit Holland better since it doesn't pick up as much wind and strength as a larger one does. Although he still walks slowly towards the direction of the kite, he was very good at holding on yesterday. Sofia swings it back and forth vigorously and runs with it. I know she's excited, but sometimes holding it still is the best way to go : ) We went to Mandola's for gelato afterwards. She got to pick the flavor (strawberry) since it was her birthday (Holland got to pick the flavor at the yogurt shop a few weeks ago). She fell asleep on the way back, waking up in tears when we got back because she said she didn't sleep enough. She recovered after a couple minutes. It's just never fun to be woken up right after you've fallen asleep.

I've noticed that Holland's been saying "no," a lot more lately. Before, I felt like he just was figuring out that certain questions could have the answer "no," to it, so he would say it to everything. Now, though, I think he knows the difference between "yes" and "no" and just says "no" to assert himself. Totally normal, but I know I need to be even more aware of how I phrase things now. If I do ask him a yes/no question, I try to honor his reply, but because he is less compliant these days, if it's really not a choice (like washing hands, going to the bathroom, cleaning up, leaving, etc.), I try to phrase it either as a statement (i.e., "It's time to wash hands" vs. "Do you want to wash hands?") or give him a choice within the mandate (i.e., "Do you want to clean up the pans first or the utensils?")