I first found them around Memorial Day last year and thought we'd give them a try. Of course with intentions of increasing his oral awareness, biting, and fine motors skills. Not because they are fun. Heavens no. My brain works in strange ways, people. He didn't understand the concept and didn't want the tube anywhere near his mouth, so I chopped them up into pieces and put them in a bowl. He ate them with a spoon.
Fast forward to two weeks ago when he was eating everything and anything in site and I gave one to him out of sheer desperation. Guess who's eating them all by himself? Tube and all? Yep. I'm so proud of him! And, the fact that they are natural sorbet bars makes me feel less guilty about giving him more than one.
We are working on teaching him how to push the frozen goodness up through the tube. Sometimes he attempts it on his own, or bites the tube itself which pushes the goodness up. Other times, he's quick to just hand it to me. I don't think so, dude. "You Do It" is a very common phrase around here.
And then I stumbled upon this handy chart the other day.
Anyhow, I've posted the chart on the kitchen cabinet as to remind us what he can do on his own, and to facilitate helping him learn new independent skills. I laughed when I saw the dog dish and the word "feed" on the chart. Something so simple that I hadn't thought of. He loves to give Rocky treats, so why not practice scooping and pouring by feeding him too? Genius.
We're all about fostering AJ's independence around here. Sometimes, yes, we do things out of habit, in a time crunch, or even subconsciously. But he's proving more and more than he can do more and more so, we're going to do our best to encourage him.
Even if it means he gets to eat 4 sorbet bars at one sitting. Practice, right?
No comments:
Post a Comment