A Moose...or Maybe a Reindeer

I'm sitting here at almost 11 o'clock at night, which is early by my nighttime standards, eating Cap'n Crunch.

Don't judge me. It's pretty much the perfect food, really. It's not quite sweet enough for me to feel like I'm eating something unhealthy right before bed.

I was looking forward to this day because this was the day Christian was going to paint his first picture for me. I mean for us, but really it's for me.

I was really excited because this meant that he'd be doing something kind of, sort of, in a round about way resembling what he might be doing normally at this age. So, of course, I was excited. And I had been wanting to have him do this for a while.

When the OT suggested it, I was on it! I bought Chocolate Fudge pudding, I contemplated buying new magnets for the fridge in order to display my Picasso's work of art.

So of course, he would be irritable today. Of course, that's the way it would go.

We had decided to put him in his stander because that is our best set up. It's got the best tray because it is so adjustable that you can pretty much put anything at any angle for him to touch and see. And in his stander, he is alert. If he's too comfortable, he tends to get lazy and zone out. If he's challenged, he's activated and alert. So we like the stander because he's comfortable but it's just enough stimulation to keep him active.

Today, of all days, he was not happy in his stander. The stander is usually a happy place for us. Not today. But we pushed on. He whined, and we pushed.

I'm glad we pushed. I mean I would have liked him to enjoy the experience just a little more but we take what we can get. He responded to the gooey chocolate pudding under his hands by opening his hands and keeping his wrists straight. The OT also worked with his chocolaty hands and brought them to his mouth so he could taste the pudding.

So we were able to get Christian's very first, albeit reluctant, finger painting out of the deal. This means so much because as Christian gets older, there is a greater divide between him and kids his age. When he was 11 months old, it wasn't too far off. But at 2 years old, it's now a widening gap.

So this picture means a lot to me. I mean he was irritable and stubborn, much like a two year old might be, and he painted a picture with his hands, much like a two year old might do.

And I proudly hung up his picture on the fridge, much like the proud mama of a two year old who just painted his first picture might do...

I'm not sure he really knows what he was doing, but it really doesn't matter. That wasn't the point. The point was for him to get touch, smell, and taste stimulation. And that he did.

Now deciphering what exactly he finger painted is another story. Observing these paintings is a lot like making shapes out of clouds.

I see a moose. Or a reindeer.

I think it's awesome. Even better than Cap'n Crunch.