Impressed

This, my friends, is not a potato.

Although it looks very spud like, it is actually a self-portait of Spencer.  Specifically, it is the first

self-portrait he ever drew.  The date: July 18, 2011.

When we had Spencer's parent/teacher conference last September I mentioned that while I was not concerned about his fine motor skills it was definitely an area in which he could improve.  His teacher told us not to worry and reminded us that he had just barely turned 4- it's not like he was expected to do calligraphy.  We talked about how writing, coloring and drawing just weren't interesting to him and once they became interesting his ability would soar.

So, here we are.  July 2012.  Spencer drew this picture last week (which was technically June).  This is Elliott and Spencer.  Elliott is shorter but has much, much more hair.  They both have freakishly long legs and sad, stubby arms.  Elliott has an unfortunate club hand.

The point is that Spencer's attention to detail has improved drastically.  His interest in writing and drawing is off the charts.  He's still not into coloring (like coloring pictures in coloring books) but he is all about generating his own pictures.  We even had to put a daily limit on the amount of paper he is allowed to use.

Part of my job is to screen all of the incoming kindergarten kids for academic, speech/language and fine motor delays.  As part of the screening I ask them to draw a picture of themselves.  I check for a head, body, eyes, nose, mouth, ears, hair, arms, hands, legs and feet.  The only thing Spencer is missing are ears.

I screened him the summer that he was 2 for everything except fine motor skills and he passed the kindergarten screener back then.  He's not starting kinder until next year.  I think he'll do just fine.