Itty Bitty Ball

When we left Kids on the Move, they told me the best thing I could do for him was get him into playgroups and classes and things, since he is already getting the speech therapy he needs through the school district. So I went down to the rec center to see what they have. Unfortunatly, the class that would have been perfect for him was right on top of our neighborhood playgroup, which I love too much to give up. We have two groups of four kids his age, and we just rotate houses and host our foursome once a month, Wednesday morning. They are adorable, and it is fun to play games and crafts and sing songs, etc. The class that did fit our schedule was called "Itty Bitty Ball".

The downside was that it was for 3-4 year olds, and Tyler just turned 3. So not only is he far behind most kids his age, he was also one of the youngest in the class. I was concerned, and rightfully so. They were teaching kids how to kick the soccer ball with the inside of their foot and score a goal, and I am just working with Tyler to "kick. In. KICK . . . no, not your hands, KICK . . . okay, IN aim for the goal . . . kick a little harder . . ." It was kinda trying. But I think this pictures says it all. He was thrilled to be there. He just wanted to stand there in his oversized T-shirt and watch all the other kids doing such cool stuff. I had a really hard time trying to get his attention to make him do the tasks, but occasionally he found one he liked. His favorite was running the bases on baseball day. "Run run run run STOMP run run run run STOMP!" Even if most of it went over his head, I still think it was a good experience for him overall. I just had to learn that it was okay to let him space out for a little while sometimes, because he was still learning by watching the other kids and it made us both happier to not stress out of him performing every task perfectly. And he did improve his ball skills quite a bit.

In the meantime, he is really doing great lately. His vocabulary is increasing almost every day, and the speech therapy has been helpful as well. Sometimes it is little things, like how he used to tell us "see you later!" and now also says "see you 'morrow!" and "see you next time!", but I love seeing it develop. And I feel so grateful to have Kaitlyn, because I think she is good for him. Today she started to get into our singing time- she started flinging her arms around during "wheels on the bus", and got pretty close to mimicking our movements during "twinkle star" as Tyler calls it. The cute moment was when Tyler decided he wanted to sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider", so he took her hands and tried to make them move in the right way for that song as he sang. Seriously, where is the camera when you need it? I love seeing him try to teach her and help her along.

And tomorrow we are going to go see Miss Melva, and see if that preschool will be a good fit for him. It is right around the corner, and everyone in my ward seems to love her. The funny part is that the class his age currently has 8 little girls in it. We'll see what Tyler thinks of those odds!