December 23, 2001 - Sunday
This puzzle is a picture of an old man dancing with a cane. He's the "Song and Dance Man" and is the main character from a book Harry received as a gift with this puzzle from our neighbors when they came to visit Jeremy a few weeks ago. Harry's done puzzles before, but mostly ones with piece that go into individual spots isolated from the other pieces. So, a week or so ago I thought Harry was doing well to complete the puzzle essentially on his own only after I had helped fill in all the background pieces. After all, the puzzle says it's for ages 3 and up. Harry was diligent about the puzzle, too, doing it many times in a row, though always with help.

With all the new toys Harry got for his birthday,the puzzle hasn't seen much attention over the last week, but today I came in from working in the garage to find Harry doing the puzzle (many times over I was told) for his grandfather, who arrived last night for the holidays, and doing the entire thing himself; all 19 pieces, all in the proper place. That's a huge difference. A week ago I'd do the edge pieces because he really didn't seem to understand about rotating the pieces until they matched. The body parts back then were a little more obvious and only needed minor outside help. Today, all those difficulties were apparently behind him and I was very impressed. Harry, who is now quite conscious of the camera, was very proud, too.


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