Aiden is getting stronger every week! It's so amazing. Here he is with Mrs. Rusty last week. He had to throw balls and hold up the hoop so she could throw balls. The little stinker loves to throw right handed even though he does everything else left handed.
She then had him use the rope and try to lift himself out of the ball pit. He needed quite a bit of help but he kept trying. Well, he said he was done because he couldn't lift himself up but she urged him to keep trying so he did.
I wanted to include this next picture so I had proof for Aiden that he really did hang on to the rope all by himself without letting his feet touch the ground.
The next exercise Aiden did was new for him. He loves this little house that has a bunch of locks on it. You have to unlock the doors to get out the shaped pieces that are inside and then lock the door back up. Mrs. Rusty coached him to have the hand position that is appropriate to lock and unlock the door. He was having to focus so much. In the picture below he has his little shoulders all tensed up ... well, that and he likes to use his upper body rather than just using his fingers.
He then gave her the pieces and she placed them on the side of the ball pit. He then had to retrieve them using a long pincher tool thing and place them back in her hand. Look at the far right picture below. He sticks his little tongue out whenever he is doing something challenging, especially involving motor control and moving his body.
He figured out right away that it's easier to grasp the pincher tool using both hands but we need his hand strength the get better so he was only allowed to use one hand. In order for this to happen though, Mrs. Rusty had to hold his right hand so he wouldn't use it.
After they were done getting the shapes, she had him draw a monkey on the mat that hangs up in the therapy room. Aiden actually even asked to use chalk which is pretty surprising because 1) he doesn't like chalk dust and 2) he normally doesn't like to write voluntarily. Mrs. Rusty does such a great job with coaching him through the process of making something. They made great monkeys and I was so surprised he could follow her directions and drawing to mimic hers.
The fight for Aiden to put his own socks on is starting to diminish. He now only gets to wear them at night if he puts them on. The other night someone was calling my name from their room and I was so tired. I answered back, "stop calling my name. If you need to go potty, go potty. If you need socks, put them on. Anything else needs to wait until tomorrow." (I didn't say I was going to win mother of the year award) Everything is quite for a few minutes and then someone is calling my name out again. I yell back the same thing I did before. I heard nothing else ... for a few minutes. On the third time, I was so annoyed and turned on the hall light (so I can somewhat see in their room) and said, "who is calling me and what do you want?" Aiden replies "I put my socks on by myself! Do I get a sticker for that in the morning?" He was so excited that he did it by himself so I didn't want to crush his world by telling him I was not answering a silly question like that when I already told them what I did. So, I shook my head in slight disbelief for a moment that I seriously got up to find out he doesn't actually need anything, and in fact, is finally doing things on his own. I told him "that's a great job Aiden and you get a sticker tomorrow. However, from now on, you can ask me that in morning. Great job though." You should have seen the smile on his face when he told me he put both socks on by himself.
We are still working on putting our shoes on but we are starting to finally make some headway on the socks which is very exciting. We went from rewards for putting socks on (M&M) and then to bargaining (I'll do it this time but you have to do it next time; or I'll do one sock and you can do the other). We gave him stickers for about a week of putting on his socks and now he just realizes that he has to do it (and doesn't get a sticker; but he can earn a sticker putting his tennis shoes on!). In fact, he put his shoes and socks on enough times last week to win a special airplane from Ms. Rusty. He LOVES this thing and we if he starts arguing about not wanting to put his socks on then I just say, "that's fine; I'll help you but we will have to take the airplane back to Mrs. Rusty to hold on to for a week until you can earn it back."
And here is something about Eli: He's starting to dress himself!!! Yeah!!!! Unlike Aiden, he has no idea how to match and doesn't even care. BUT, he's pulling his undies up all by himself, putting pants/shorts on if we are really patient, and even the shirt. He's starting to want to be independent like his big brother which is neat to see.
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