Good Afternoon! Einar is napping after a great morning with his friend, Nathan. Nathan came over while we were eating breakfast (around 9:30) so that his mom could do the laundry without any little hands helping with the folding. The boys played with the trains and cars for awhile and walked Flappy the Duck around the house a few times before it was time to go out for an adventure. We also used the nose blowing station that I have set up where there is easy access to the tissues and a little trash bag next to the tissue box. Einar is getting really good and going to blow his nose when asked. I guess it's more like wiping his nose instead of blowing, but the results are similar and there aren't snot trails anymore either way. Nathan is more advanced in the nose blowing department since he actually blows when the tissue is up to his nose!
Once we got in the car, we went to the Learning Links at Las Palmas Elementary here in San Clemente. It is a free drop-in center for parents with children ages 0-5. There is a preschool teacher always on duty as well as a nurse and there are weekly visits with speech and physical therapists. It's quite a resource for the community and the boys and I had a good time playing with the trains and reading some books. The teachers are there to help the kids share and learn about how to play well with others. At the train table, Einar, Nathan, and another boy actually each played with their own trains on the same table without any grabbing or crashing for quite awhile. I also was able to ask about the biting that Einar has been doing. It sounds like I need to help him get some words so that what comes easiest (biting) isn't what he used when one of his friends grabs the toy, but he instead says "I'm playing, back off!" or something similar. Since he only seems to resort to biting when he's tired or hungry, it should be relatively simple to intervene during those times so that the behavior doesn't happen. It's just going to take some more diligence and monitoring on my part--wish me luck!
P.S. In that one picture, Einar is showing everyone his sexy stomach. This week I've been having him lift up his shirt when I change his diaper to help me out and I guess he figured that having a picture taken was also a good time to lift up the shirt.
