Little goals.

Finn has being doing so well in his first couple of weeks with Early Intervention.  There have been so many little moments that have been SO big for him, and we are so so encouraged. 

Rather than rattle off my long mommy list of "omg Finn did this!", I thought I'd focus on a couple of things we have been working on and are especially proud of!

I personally do well working on specific goals every couple of weeks for Finn.  It helps me focus and makes things a little less overwhelming.  So two weeks ago we started working on brushing Finn's teeth and having him use a utensil to eat.  These were tough goals for us because Finn wanted nothing to do with either. 

The tooth brushing- forget it.  Finn didn't cut his first tooth until he was 10 1/2 months old, so I didn't even get him a toothbrush until this past April when I was shopping for his Easter basket. 
God he hated that toothbrush. 
Every morning he would come into the bathroom with me and smile as he watched me brush my teeth, and then as soon as I came near him with his little toothbrush it was all over.  I don't know what he does to get his lips to close that tightly, but it was harder than prying open a jar of pickles to get into his mouth.  Impossible.
His early intervention teachers encouraged me to try different approaches- use my toothbrush, use an electric toothbrush, try different toothpaste, offer a reward, don't give up.
Lucky for me the very first thing I tried worked.  I put a little bit of his baby toothpaste on MY toothbrush and he was willing to try it.  Then I added the "special reward" of getting to drink a sip of water out of a little paper bathroom cup, and he was sold.  (Finn loves to drink out of these little paper cone cups they have at the water station at our pool, so I thought he might be excited about the little paper bathroom cups and I was right!) 
He loves to brush his teeth now and it's amazing to see what a little creativity and determination can accomplish.

The goal of having Finn use a utensil to eat was a little different.  I know that technically Finn is still pretty young to be eating with a spoon or fork all of the time, but the goal here was for Finn to use an object correctly and understand it's purpose. 
Finn has always been a great eater and will eat very nicely off of a spoon that I am feeding him.  But when I tried to turn the job around and use hand over hand to make him hold the spoon, it was a nightmare.  Lots of morning outfits ruined, and lots of pissed off Finn faces. 
So I decided to bring in a new utensil- the fork! 
I thought he might like a baby fork better because he could stab his little pieces of food and see a clearer cause and effect than he might with a spoon.  The baby fork was met with some apprehension, but with lots of over the top encouragement and sound effects we won him over. 
Yesterday he started doing it all by himself.  Billy literally saw him look around to make sure no one was looking before he used it.  This morning he let me take his picture. 
Lazy baby- you're busted!  I will spoon feed you no more!

I love these little goals because I can look back to two weeks ago and see clear progress. Way to go, Finn!

It's fun to see him learn and for me to learn how he learns.  He forces me to be creative and I like that. 

One of the funniest things I've noticed the past two weeks is that with all of the hand over hand modeling I have been doing with making him point and use a fork and wave and everything else, Finn has really picked up not necessarily on doing what I'm making him do, but on using hand over hand.  He loves to use hand over hand on me now!  If he drops something he will come get me, grab my hand, and put my hand on what he wants me to pick up.  Like he is modeling it for me or something!  I'm the teacher, baby!  Sheesh!  I have to laugh, because he's smart as a whip in the weirdest way. 

My next goal for Finn is getting him to use his hair brush and getting him to do a simple puzzle.  Because what's more important than good hair and problem solving?  ;)  Thanks for checking in on us!