Elinor's Everest

Elinor has been graduated to a smaller hole for her container play. While throwing little people into a big bowl made some sort of sense to her, this little square is somewhat perplexing. Right now we are all a little perplexed at Elinor. When she has a snack in front of her, her hand mouth coordination is really quite good. When she is supposed to pick up a little toy and put it in a specific place, it is quite another story. Her developmental specialist is having us try to mingle a few snacks around her toys to see if it triggers the same coordination that eating does. I've only tried it once and so far and it only managed to make her weave around the otherwise ignored toys to get the snacks.
We just got done meeting with her Occupational Therapist and without knowing what Aly and I talked about (snacks vs. toys) he just mentioned that kids learn how to do things when they recognize a need. I asked if that is why Elle is quite good at eating but pretty rubbish at container play and he said "exactly". The need could be eating or the need could be exploration and play (which kids need almost as much as the need for food). Elle doesn't quite get the need for exploration and play as other kids do, so we are struggling. Anyway, interesting stuff.
I thought I would make a video journal of Elle's progress in some areas, and so here is a pretty typical few minutes of a session of container play, with Elinor at 18 months.


As you can see, this isn't easy for her. But she seems to maintain a determination. (I love the stare down that the people get when she focuses on one.)
We are working everyday at this with the hope that with a lot of work, Elinor's Everest will one day be, well- Everest.