practice makes capitals

there are many moments when i learn from my children. today i learned two lessons. the first one is to be a better listener. the second one, a more specific manifestation of the first, is to respect and remember that in some ways kids have self knowledge.

today i decided that we would try to work on r's handwriting. since fine motor control is difficult for him, we have been doing a variety of gross and fine motor tasks outside of OT to help develop those skills (such as skating, swimming, painting, play-doh. beads, legos, yoga, trampoline, etc.). his handwriting and drawing capabilities, like his gross motor skills, lag his peers. but what i love about r is that he does not give up. this evening, we sat down to work on our letters. we practiced his A's and B's. despite his having difficulty with knowing where to start, where to connect parts, etc., he was upbeat and talked positively about how when you don't know how to do something, it is good to practice. despite a bit of frustration on dad's part and my part, he held on to his own perspective. he seemed to understand his own difficulty and see the need to repeat the task with patience. he was also very proud of himself when he was able to sound words and read words like "ANT" and "BAT." the experience reminded me that he is not necessarily frustrated with his experiences but does try them with encouragement and guidance. it may take a while but he is definitely interested and willing. we have to take our cue from him and remember to be patient. we also need to follow him in knowing how to break things down so that they are in small accessible increments. what i realized is that learning to write the alphabet in alphabetical order makes no sense. A is much harder than F. so i need to sit down and figure out a more logical order to learn these things.

k and i had fun today. she took a nap but we played and read books and did some art earlier. she was not hungry today. but did manage to eat some cracker jacks before dinner when she asked for and ate 3 soy sausages! she is a solid older toddler. one of my favorite times with her is when she is lying in bed and i am in the rocking chair in her room. she likes to fall asleep by looking around and once in awhile i will catch her eye. when that happens, we both smile and she frequently says "i love you." to have a toddler initiate an "i love you." is pretty much one of the warmest feelings possible.