Working Toward Independence

That is the motto of the "new" preschool. New facility, new teacher, new classmates.. lots going on to shake up a 4 year old. So.. it's been a busy few weeks. Everyone seems to be settling in to this new schedule all right. Funny how in thinking about this theme it occurred to me that he IS a lot more independent than before this experience at school. In a lot of ways he holds it together better than his NT brother and sister.. he certainly handles stress better. So.. we're working toward independence. Still not verbally communicating but there are other ways he's getting his message across. Stay tuned...

He finally said it!!

Now, granted, I cheated. I'd had a situation last week where he read aloud (as he usually does) a request I wanted him to make verbally. Always trying to get him to use his words.. and it had worked surprisingly well. He'd actually strapped himself into a booster seat and was walking around the kitchen with this contraption strapped to his backside and trying to get me to open it up for him so he could strap himself back into it and do it all over again. So, after asking him verbally to say "open please" about 4 times I wrote it on a piece of paper. He said it. I praised him and told him that wasn't so hard to do and look.. I opened it. He then continued to verbally make the request as he played his game. So yes, when the thought crossed my mind I thought it might be a fun experiment. I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote "I love you Mommy". He read it aloud once and then modified it. He said "I love you too Mommy". I actually cried. He's 4 years and 5 months.. and he finally said it. =) I want to believe he generated the sentiment internally and was sincere but even if he simply pulled it from his vast database I can't complain.