What has Axel been working on?

When we got Axel, nobody in Serbia really thought he could do much. They knew he was smart and able to figure out some things, but there are many old ideas about people with Down syndrome in Serbia (and even in the U.S.!) so he wasn't really taught anything. Although, I do give his foster parents credit. They had Axel for 18 months also and taught  him many things like how to make a bed, do some household chores, etc.

A year ago, just before Axel's spinal fusion, he had learned to do the first step in shoe tying. But then he had surgery and was in  his halo and couldn't even see his feet, so pretty much forgot about it. This winter we (ok, his OT did it all) started the teaching process over again.

Now look what Axel can do!


 I would like to point out, do you see how his arms are starting to fill out??? Make it stop! And I must say, "Look what you're doing." at least 7,022 times per day.