Henry at 4

* Food continues to be a challenge, but he is reacting fairly well to the food therapy we've added to his regular OT. He eats the hound out of Trader Joe's strawberry cereal bars. Only Trader Joe's strawberry. (Interestingly enough, Keith recently met a fellow ASD dad whose son equally loves a certain flavor of Harris Teeter cereal bars.)

* If he hasn't had enough proprioceptive and/or vestibular input, he becomes very excited and active. He might spin and sing or jump and crash into pillows, bedding or soft furniture. Sometimes this is accompanied by unusual grumpiness, but it is more often joyful behavior that might appear to be hyperactivity to those who don't know.

* Trains. Need I say more?

* Still loves reading and becomes more and more involved. Pointing and asking, "What's that spells?" is common during bedtime reading. He has lots of sight words.

* Using a timer (usually the one on my iphone) has become so helpful for transitions that he will ask for it if I don't offer it. For example, I brought clothes to him this morning and asked him to get dressed. He responded, "I need to hear the timer, Mom." After one minute he got dressed without complaint. This works well for leaving fun places, prompting for bath time, ending TV time, etc.

* He knows where everything is.
"Henry, I can't find your drink cup. Where did you leave it?"
"It's upstairs in my room, Mom."
"Henry, where are the sandals you wore yesterday?"
"In my bathroom, Mom."

* He frequently calls us Meredif and Keef.

* I'm thrilled he has a neighbor he loves, and I pray Abel will be his loyal, lifelong, encouraging, I've-got-your-back, goofball, dreamer friend - like my Cassie. (But some days I think if he asks to see Abel one more time, I'm going to jump out of the window.)

* He still needs a nap on most days, but if he misses it the afternoon is not a nightmare. He just goes to bed earlier and more quickly at night.

* He plays more immaturely than (or more developmentally behind) his peers. He and Abel get along so well because Abel is just 3. I pray he won't outgrow Henry. Henry does have sweet boys in his preschool class, but as of May I know the gap was widening in their shared interests.

* He is looking forward to preschool. We are very happy he'll be with his typical peers 4 days each week instead of going to the special ed room in public school two days a week. He rises to the occasion.

* He continues to avoid writing, color, and cutting, as well as his riding a bike.

* He has great verbal manners and uses them correctly. But the more he picks up on adult language, the more I have to be careful to mind my manners too. He occasionally lapses into "uh-uh" and "yeah," but for the most part he's great and often receives compliments.