James' new tricks

Thanks goodness for my iphone video feature! I have been utilizing it a lot lately, capturing the latest new tricks that James  loves showing off.  He is a music lover and gets a kick out of singing songs with motions such as "wheels on the bus", "happy and you know it", and "itsy bitsy spider".  We often sing while he swings on our porch.  


James has become quite the communicator. I mean he definitely knows what he wants and doesn't want and is adept at letting us know the difference. He uses a mix of sign language, words, and violent shaking of his head yes or no.  James is very happy when he successfully gets his point across and I feel that this is a big accomplishment for all of us. His special instructor introduced me to the writings of speech specialist, Down Syndrome parent, and author, James McDonald, about speech development in children. I think what he has to say is critical to not only the development of speech but also a factor in good parent/child relationships.  His article on speech development stresses: having frequent play interactions with your child (being a play therapist, I understand the importance of this), he says "be your child's favorite toy; also help teach your child about taking turns by practicing this with him while playing and being able to WAIT; and progressive matching (doing and saying what your child what your child is doing and saying and then add a small step more). For those interested in knowing more, his article can be downloaded at: http://jamesdmacdonald.org/Articles/FDown/FromIsolationtoConversati.html

James has also become quite independent lately, especially since he is walking more now.  He watches everything big sister does and wants to do it too. I am coaching Lila's soccer team (we are the Queens, which is fitting) and James loves to watch our practices.  He has been walking around the house kicking balls the last few days.  He is very proud of himself when he is able to kick it.  It amazes me how much he has changed and how "big" he has become just over the last few weeks.  And of course we have a jubilant celebration at each new step of his progress.