March 18, 2008

Timothy

I started blogging 6 months ago today. And I started off with an update of both kids. It seems 2 times a year isn't too much to make a note of where my kids are in life. Even just re-reading those 1st posts, I can see how much they've changed. So here goes:
  • Never meets a stranger. He ran past Dan and me the other day to hug a solicitor. We have some learning to do in terms of levels of relationships. On the bright side, he is finally connecting emotionally to Dan and me. He likes for one of us to lay down with him and talk for a few minutes before he goes to sleep, and he will let me snuggle with him random other times as well. In true SPD fashion, he prefers deep pressure to light touch, but the fact that he'll let us touch him at all is amazing!
  • He's reading! Mostly 3 letter words or words that are familiar, but he's definitely there. The best part is he really desires to read and tries to read anything he sees, whether it's a word he knows or not. We were warned that speech delays can cause reading delays, and we're happy to see that hasn't happened.
  • Mr. Men Show is his favorite cartoon. There are about 20+ characters who are named based on their personality (like the 7 dwarfs). It's all about how these characters learn to get along with each other even though they are so different. I like that it shows him people who are different can relate and interact. Today, out of the blue (we haven't seen the show in days), he said, "Mom, Mr. Grumpy told Mr. Tickle, 'Not EVERYONE likes to be tickled.'" And I am one of those.
  • He is extremely competitive. We are trying to figure out how to make the most of this part of his character right now. Any book recommendations would be appreciated.
  • Obsessed with sports teams. He knows all NFL & NBA teams, and has most MLB, NCAA-B, and NHL teams down. He knows their city, team name, and logo. It's a bit frightening at times. How did he get interested in hockey? He likes for me to pull up a sport's website (nfl.com, for example). Then, he clicks on each team and studies their website. He will write down scores per quarter on his doodle pro and watch video highlights of the game-then come tell me who won.
  • He has made up an "NFL teams" song/dance #. The tune is the same each time, and the lyrics are the team names. Example is: "Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers...they're pirates!" And the dance moves are a little different for each team (the Dolphins get some fish action with his hands). It's absolutely HYSTERICAL! We have to be really careful because it's serious entertainment to him. There is a stage at our playground down the street, so this has becoming a fun performing act there-and he's actually getting other kids to use the stage as well. If you turn the volume up really loud you can see some video of it here (we don't know why, but the Chargers have become the "underchargers"):

4 comments:

Stephanie Kay said...

I love hearing about your kids. I couldn't get the video to work. It played about 2 seconds and stopped. = ( I really wanted to hear that song! = )

Anonymous said...

okay, i've never heard of SPD! or that T has it. when did y'all figure it out? i enjoy hearing about your kiddos as well. thanks!

Bea said...

I see what you mean - you've got one too! Bub hasn't focused his information-gathering skills on a single topic yet (such as the NFL), but I suspect it's just a matter of time!

Shayna said...

I used to love Mr. Men! We had the picture books when we were in Scotland, and they were pretty popular characters for merchandising if I recall. I like that they each have a distinct personality/mood characteristic, I think it's a great way to teach that descriptive vocabulary about people's personalities. And good for Timothy with his reading! I'm so glad he's eager about it.

I haven't heard of SPD before, either. How interesting, and what a blessing (I would think) to have something that helps you understand those characteristics and focus his therapy. Just reading about it a little, it seems to share some characteristics with mild autism spectrum disorders, which I have researched because I had/have a few characteristics myself and I'm just interested.

I don't make it around Blogland regularly, but I really love reading about your kids and how your lives are going, so thank you for sharing!