Rex's Party

Today we ventured out to a birthday party for 2 year old Rex, our cousin. It was in their backyard and the weather was perfect [in the shade]. Nikko found some bubble wands and tried to whip the stick around, but opted later to line up the containers instead. He was also interested in the tub fish pond. I feared that he would start playing with the water, splashing it, and ultimately jumping into the tub, but surprisingly he didn't. I saw Nikko touch the water with the bubble wand and a finger or two, but he mainly just watched from above. Again, surprising. Another surprising thing he did today was sit in a swing hammock of his own accord. He did this twice, and I almost wondered what was wrong with him. I was able to observe him the second time around because he was right next to me. There was nothing odd about his behavior, he approached the swing, climbed into it and sat with his feet dragging. He didn't spin or rock out of control; he just looked like he was a dude chillin' in a swing. Shelly would have been proud of him. I was sitting on a Sesame Street blanket with Audrey, staying out of the sun. Nikko would come over and plop himself down on the blanket in a "dude chillin'" kind of way. He didn't do any stimming (except for lining up the bubble wand cases) and didn't do any running in circles, looking sideways, or crashing. Except for the bubble wand stuff, he looked like any other boy running around in a backyard, but not talking.

We came home and the boys got another opportunity to play outside. The rain had washed away the chalk drawings I made of an airplane, car, house, dog and street so I drew some lines down again. The boys seem comfortable outside, but I don't like the mosquitoes making a meal of out them. Nikko doesn't try to run down the driveway away from the house, but I still can't take chances. My bubble machine died, too, so I think I have to go buy another one. Grrr. Later in the evening I was watching Nikko look at himself in the mirror while Signing Time was on. He signed the word Hot. Clear as day to me. I was able to get him to sign it to me upon request later, and made him feel proud for doing it. He hasn't signed the other signs lately, and I wonder if he'll continue to do it when prompted. The imitation is fine, even if the meaning isn't there just yet. Tomorrow we have playgroup and I hope I can rally the troops out the door by 9am. We have two sessions left, so I hope I can see a glimmer of something in them.