In the last month or so Freddie Cheese has discovered his index finger on his right hand (lazy lefty is always much further behind on milestones) and it’s amazing, not only does he was to point at everything when you’re reading a book but he also has the strength to press buttons on his toys. Along with his strengthened index finger has come the ability to pick items up with his pincer (mainly food) and his pinch has reached a new level of pain. For a child whose fine motor skills have always been extremely poor this is huge, literally huge! It means the way he plays has changed and he understands the power of the point (when they point and you have to say what it is their pointing at). I’m currently enjoying watch him repeatedly press Beat-Bos buttons then pointing to his eyes/tummy in turn and looking for me to say the word. This child continues to amaze me daily. Not only have his fine motor skills improved but he’s also making progress with sounds and communication. Freddie can now produce the ‘T’ sound, often just saying ‘tttttttttt’ to himself. He can say Mama and Dada and he knows who we are, he’s called out ‘mama’ a couple of times when he’s wanted me. There’s a few other sounds he can make but, in more general terms, he tries to repeat sounds we make when we talk to to him. He also understands ‘cuddle’ if I ask him if he’d like a cuddle or I say ‘mama cuddle’ he will roll over to me and hold his arms up if he’d like a cuddle, if he’s sitting on my lap he’ll throw his arms around my neck and nuzzle in, or he’ll make it perfectly clear he doesn’t want one. We think he understands quite a lot of words. Ultimately it’s about repetition and making things simple for him, which we do. We also use a handful of makaton signs which he is starting to get (extra thanks to Mr Tumble) and he can sign ‘friends’, he’s also got much better at waving/clapping. He’s started moving his hands more and we think he’s trying yo use more signs but we’re not sure what they are yet. Basically, Master Cheese is coming on leaps and bounds! It’s genuinely incredible to witness but I can’t help but have a lump in my throat about what might be around the corner. I guess that will always be the way though, it certainly doesn’t take away from our enjoyment of now.
