Oh Playgroup, We Love You!

For a LONG time Sophie was working primarily on gross motor skills. So much so that some of her other areas of development had to take a back seat while she learned to walk. Watching her today, you would never know how hard she had to work to get here. Her stride is confident, balanced, strong, centered, purposeful, and her gait is nice and tight. Now that her attention is diverted elsewhere, we are seeing an EXPLOSION of new skills. I cannot begin to keep up with my beautiful girl.

even at home, one of her favorite activities is the play kitchen and food

So, to be short, in her incredibly wonderful playgroup today she spoke TWO new words, water and splash. She said this while playing at a water table. In the table were 3 sets of animals; a momma duck and 3 baby ducks, a momma pig and 3 baby pigs, and a momma whale/fish and 3 babies. It's not unusual for Sophie to dislike it when she gets her hands or clothes wet (even if it is just water). Not today. She was soaked and loving it. Not only did she bust out with 2 new words, but she spent 20 minutes matching the correct babies with their mammas. When the piglets were with the mamma duck (oh, and she was quacking and oinking too) she would fix them. Matching! Her DT Judy will be so proud!

can't get her to eat real pizza, but share pretend pizza with a friend and she's on it!

Last week, she surprised me by washing her own hands before snack time. Today I got it on camera. Watch in amazement as my baby girl shows us what she can do. To those who have no experience with special needs, you need to know that this is a BIG deal. She knows what she is supposed to do, where, and how. She can't get the soap on her own, but when asked, she looks to where it is. Later, during music time, listen for her pretend snore while bear has gone to sleep.

Priceless!

on a side note, I do try and label my posts so that they can be searched. I have recently noticed that rarely does a post get labeled with "disability," or "down syndrome" without also being labelled "happiness."