"Playing" with Nikko

I underestimated Ronin and Audrey. They have no desire to rip off the PECS pictures from the visual schedule. In fact, Ronin has embraced it so much that he "reads" it first thing when sitting at the table for breakfast. He has also pointed out to me that I am missing a card for "Go home" as in when we went to Maya and Rex's house, then the next picture was snack, then dinner, and I remarked how I forgot that I should have a Go Home picture. Ronin proceeded to nag me about having that card for the next two days. (I still have to make/find one). He also noted that Audrey should have a nap time picture. Finally, he asked me tonight if we can have a bath time picture, to go in front of the bed time picture. Amazing.


I'm also behind on posts because I have been concentrating solely on this daily schedule after the kitchen is cleaned up and kids are sleeping.

Nikko's school report 10/14/10
Speech - A bit cranky at first. Worked on requesting, colors, 1-step directions and "Where is ______?"

10/15/10 - Speech - We worked on greetings, "Where is ____?", answering What questions with picture choices & body parts.

Tonight I got a bunch of pictures from the school regarding Nikko in class. He was playing on the floor in front of another boy and a car garage. He was building some odd-shaped tower with odd-shaped blocks. He was holding a mask and laying in a toy bed. He had a picture with Ronin on the playground. He seems to be content to be in school, which makes me very happy.

On Saturday we went to a birthday party for my SIL and her daughter. Ronin followed Maya around like a puppy, Rex and Audrey were playing some screaming tag games, and Nikko was eating potato chips and playing on a pink inflatable dinosaur. He joined in some balloon games but mostly stayed by himself. I don't know why I didn't think to push Nikko to interact more with the kids, but I should have. Today while we chilled out at home, Ronin mentioned that he liked to play with Nikko. That really warmed my heart. Playing consists of laying on the floor and pushing their Thomas trains and box cars around the track, sometimes rolling right over each others' trains, or going in reverse at my behest. I think today I might have had an interaction or two with Nikko that elicited somewhat spontaneous interaction, meaning I asked him a question and he said YES instead of repeating what I said. Not saying he still doesn't repeat, but I think he actually answered a question which currently escapes me.