We are embarking on a little experiment inspired by something Sofie's Speech Therapist said. We were playing with a little fishbowl with stuffed fish Sofie had to pull out with Velcro fishing pole. The therapist said she was gently holding onto Sofie's hand "to break the cycle" of putting the fishing pole in her mouth after each time she pulled a fish off of it. The therapist said that it is easy to get into a routine and that Sofie's mouthing of objects can easily become just part of how she does stuff. That observation got me thinking about Sofie's casual rituals. She is not one to obsess about doing a particular act but there are certain activities that work their way into her daily routine. One activity that is proving to be hazardous is Sofie's cha-cha tip-toe move when she gets excited. I have believed for a very long time that Sofie's tip-toe move occurs when she is really happy and is connected to her challenges expressing excitement in a more traditional way (squealing, dancing, etc.). I think Sofie's challenges with expressive language have created unique ways of communicating passionate emotions. When Sofie is VERY angry she scratches the ground or her legs with a very angry grimace. She sometimes squeezes her hands and shakes with toddler-tantrum-rage when she is mad.
As I mentioned earlier, it is Sofie's fits of happiness that are the problem. The other day Sofie got so excited watching a TV show that she did her cha-cha move so fast that she got tangled in her feet and hit her cheek on the entertainment center. Luckily she barely had a scratch but the incident made me wonder how we can curb the cha-cha-ing. I think I am going to try to use the therapist's advice about breaking cycles with Sofie's risque dance moves. So the experiment begins...
Ozzy and I are going to try to gently intervene as much as possible when Sofie is cha-cha-ing. We started delicately running our hands down Sofie's calves to her feet and saying "feet down." Amazingly enough, Sofie puts her feet down when you do this. And she keeps her feet down when you keep your hands on top of them. And even when you pull your hands away, her feet stay planted for a little bit. She returns to cha-cha-ing only when she can't contain her excitement any longer. I am hoping that through some gentle intervention we can help train her brain to express her joy with her mouth. Of course, she is yelling and babbling more these days (thank God) but I am hoping this will help bring things to the next level and perhaps save her from a few bumps and bruises too. The Speech Therapist said Sofie's wonderful progress forces us to up our game and expect more from her. The curse of having such a smart girl :).
Along with working on Sofie's cha-cha-ing I am trying to push sign language more for the same reasons-Sofie's amazing brain. She caught on to saying 'please' after only a week of working on it. I want to introduce the sign "angry" for when Sofie is very upset. MAYBE she will be less destructive if she can say how she is feeling. Who knows, right? Worth a shot. Regardless, we just have to keep building Sofie's vocabulary. Sofie has a pretty natural way with sign language. We are so amazed by her intelligence. What an amazing girl.
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