Sometimes, Sammie hits me over the head with how crazy intelligent he is. Every so often, when he seems to sense that I need a reminder, he does something so mind-blowingly awesome as to make me explode with pride and also take a huge step back and remember that, in spite of his delays, he is remarkably adaptable and quick to learn!
Today, Sammie seemed to sense that I needed the extra confirmation from him. So he triple whammied me with milestones.
First Milestone: Non-Verbal Conversation: We often engage in block play. Now, usually Sammie insists on placing the blocks himself and will only accept "help" in the form of passing him different shapes or fixing ones that fall down. Today, however, he engaged in his first serious session of "Turn Taking". I would say "Sam's Turn" and he would place a block. Then, he would patiently wait while I said "Mom's turn" and placed a block of my own. This may not sound like a lot to most people, but what it means is that Sammie was engaging in a non-verbal conversation with me. In fact, at one point he started to walk away. When I said "Sam's Turn!", he returned and placed a block. This back and forth dialogue went on for at least 15 minutes- an incredible amount of time in toddler minutes. Following block play, Sammie and I took turns taking pictures of ourselves in my phone. He recognized his face and my face and delighted in the exchange.
Second Milestone: Showing His Independence: For the last little while, Sammie has shown an interest in wearing my shoes around the house. So I wasn't surprised to hear him clopping loudly around my kitchen while I was making dinner. However, when I turned around, I was shocked to find that Sammie was wearing his very own snow boots! He's only worn them a handful of times, and has never even attempted to put them on himself. In fact, he's only ever shown mild interest in putting shoes on in the first place and typically is pretty complacent about allowing them to be put on his feet. This was the first time Sammie showed me that he was able to choose his own footwear and put them on by himself. This was a huge sign of independence and of self-awareness.
Third Milestone: Trying "New" Things: It is very common for children with developmental challenges to experience difficulty in trying new things. When it comes to verbal/oral delays, they are even more prone to food aversions than most kids. As such, Sammie has a pretty restricted diet and refuses to eat anything beyond his chosen list. As part of my homework, I've been trying to introduce "new" foods to Sammie- and by that I mean foods that he used to eat, but has since given up on. This seemed to be a good starting point before introducing entirely new tastes and textures. One area of concern has been Sammie's protein intake since he categorically refuses to eat any meat (with the exception of McDonald's hamburgers...if you can call that meat) Today, Sammie refused turkey slices, a grilled cheese sandwich and multigrain bread. I decided to test him one more time using his very favourite meal: Kraft Mac and Cheese. To this I added a full tablespoon of crumbled tuna- enough to affect the taste but not so much as to change the texture dramatically or be hugely noticeable upon first sight. Sammie took the first bite happily but displayed surprised when got it in his mouth...usually this means that there will be no second bite. Imagine my amazement, when he began to shove huge (baby) forkfuls into his mouth. He didn't only eat it- he devoured it! And then he gave me a grin that showed me very clearly that he knew what I had done...and he was OKAY with it! And thank goodness...because you know what they say: Sam can not live on bread (and peanut butter) alone ;)
So there you have it! One of my very best parenting days ever! I don't know what it was- maybe it was the extra one on one time we spent today. Maybe it was the three days of solo parenting that forced me to take part in activities that are usually more dad-specific. Maybe it was just that Sammie himself was having a great day and was ready to do some milestone mastering. Either way, it's been awesome! And I'm so excited that we have so much to update Daddy on when he gets home!
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