Not in the development books: Child will learn to tease you

Last night, Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star was playing on one of our Pandora baby channels and Max said, "Bar mitzvah!" 

I said, "Huh? You want that song at your bar mitzvah?" We've been making a list of music he'd like the DJ to play. 

Max said, "YEAH!" Then he cracked up. 

Gotcha, Mom! 

Max has learned how to tease me. It wasn't something I ever missed during his development, same way I have never once regretted that Max doesn't say "What-ever!" to me like SOME siblings I know. But now that he's teasing me, I am psyched. Because this is cognitive progress. Also, this is what teens do.

There's some gentle mocking happening, too. The other day, I pulled a box of crackers out of the snack drawer only I'd put them in upside down and a bunch spilled onto the floor. "Ha ha ha ha ha!" said Max, giving me his best you're-such-a-lovable-klutz grin.

Lately, he's also doing this funny thing that I am pretty sure he got from his teacher, Linda, who has a great sense of humor. I'll ask him a question—say, "Max, do you want to run to the supermarket with me?"—and he'll put one finger to his forehead, like he's thinking, then say, "Hmmmm...NO!"

I'm not just excited by all this, I'm delighted. As I've said before, I subscribe to the "What not to expect from your child with special needs" school of parenting. I have plenty of hopes for Max's development, but no expectations. Because he will do what is he capable of doing, on his own timeline.
 
And so: Yeah, teasing! I'm going to work on getting Max to say, "Kid-ding!" Not the least of which is, he needs to get better at articulating k's and d's.

A day at Imagination Playground

A few months ago, I read a magazine article about Imagination Playground, a breakthrough play area at South Street Seaport in New York City that encourages unstructured play. David Rockwell designed it, a big-shot architect who's tackled everything from hotels to the set design for the Broadway show Hairspray.

The piece mentioned movable foam parts kids could use to build stuff, sand, water structures, a tower to climb. It sounded fantastic, and much more exciting than the usual slide-swings-jungle-gym playgrounds. Then Beth from Role Mommy and Kim from Mom In The City invited a bunch of local bloggers to a family event at Imagination Playground. Is it weird that I was even more excited about it than Sabrina was? I felt bad, Max had school, but we'll definitely come again.


First, we had lunch at the lovely and fascinating South Street Seaport Museum, catered by 'Wichcraft and Stew Leonard's. Double yum. Sabrina was especially pleased that I let her have a cupcake before her sandwich (because, er, I did that too).


Then we hit the playground and like all the other kids, Sabrina jumped right in. I did wonder how they're going to keep the blocks clean; am I turning into my mother? Not that there's anything wrong with that, Mom.







Overall, I was wowed; ditto for Sabrina, aka Ms. Picky. Imagination Playground is a really creative take on the standard playground. I also liked that there were park rangers there to supervise. A tiki bar with frosty drinks would have been nice, too. He, he. Sabrina's review: "It is fun to go to! I played in the water! I got sand in my sneakers! They need purple blocks for Max!" Be sure to bring good sunscreen and hats for the kids (there are a bunch of umbrellas but the play areas are out in the open). Imagination Playground is accessible to kids with disabilities—the playground is mostly level, and there's a ramp you can ride a wheelchair around that gives you a nice view of the entire space. I know Max would have a blast in the water play area.

If you're visiting New York and plan on exploring South Street Seaport, Imagination Playground is a great place to take the kids.

Imagination Playground location: Burling Slip, John Street between Front and South Streets
Hours: Open daily 9am-7pm

How are the playgrounds near your home? The ones by us are pretty good, but in my dreams, there would be one that's just for kids with disabilities.

Update: Beth shared a video she put together, check it out!

C is for Celebrate

The most amazing thing has been happening: Max is recognizing letters. His occupational therapist at school wrote to tell me that she drew some letters on the ground with sidewalk chalk and Max clearly said a "C." This gives me hope, real hope, that he will be able to read. If this had happened years ago, I would have immediately called the OT and thrown a barrage of questions at her—do you think this means he'll be able to read? Have you worked with other kids like Max who took a long time to learn the alphabet but were eventually able to read? Back then, I desperately wanted someone to have a crystal ball. Now, I savor his progress and try not to read too much into it.

The speech is coming along, too. Consonants remain tough, but he has a pretty distinctive "Mommy's home!" that he says when I walk in through the door at night. Those have to be the two best words ever.

The kids are off on spring break next week, I'm not, though next month we are taking them on a Disney cruise. It's coming in handy for threats ("Pick up the toys or you're not going on the cruise!").

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Spring!