socialization

After music class, the kids get to take turns playing an autoharp with a pick. When he was younger, Luke would strum a few times and then easily pass the pick off to another child. Now that he's older and can speak when Tiffany (the teacher) asks him to share with a friend, he says, quite simply, "No." No muss, no fuss, no whining, just "No." The past few weeks I've had to pry the pick out of his little hands.

When they're not strumming, the kids can push buttons on the autoharp (changing the chords). Luke likes to push the buttons, so after I wrestle the pick from him I usually put him near the buttons for a while. Last week there was a little girl nearby, occasionally leaning in to push buttons. She's good at sitting up, but doesn't talk at all or walk, so I'm guessing she's 10-11 months old. When she went to press buttons, Luke leaned in and shouted "Back off!" Sigh. That's what we say to the dogs when they come begging at dinner.