Monday, October 25, 2010

18 months



What an exciting month we have had over here! Wesley is walking everywhere now. He loves to pick up a toy in each hand and just wander through the house, exploring everything. He's also figured out that he doesn't just have to take the two top toys out of one of his toy boxes. Instead, he can dump all the contents out of all five of them, choosing to carry around the last two toys he finds. What fun that is for Zach and I as we get to clean up the mess!

Join with us in rejoicing and praising the Lord for the new things Wesley is learning to do!
  • He said and signed "ada" (all done) last week (emphatically!) for the first time in months. While he hasn't done it again since, it is a reminder to us that he CAN do it. So we keep working with him, hoping that soon he will start signing and speaking more consistently.
  • He is handing me picture cards to show me what he wants. He even went to get a picture card the other week to bring it to his speech therapist so she would turn on one of her toys. Also, most of the time, if I show him two cards, he will chose the one that he wants and give it to me. These are huge cognitive milestones. Our speech therapist was telling me that most kids she works with take months to figure this out. So, she thinks it shows that while his muscles in his mouth are so weak and uncoordinated that he finds it difficult to talk, he seems to understand what it means to communicate and is learning to do it when provided with the necessary tools. The most exciting part of this new development is that he LOVES to hand us picture cards. He is SO PROUD of himself. Whenever he gives us a card to show us what he wants, he gets a huge smile on his face and laughs. It is such a joy to watch my son be so happy that he can communicate to me what he wants.
  • In the past two weeks, he has squatted down three times to pick up a toy and then stood back up without falling over. Considering how often he falls over and how much he struggles with balance, this is AMAZING! We are continuing to work with him, but are so excited as we see improvement in this area.
  • He is now drinking thickened liquid (apple sauce and pureed Gerber 2nd fruits) from an open cup with minimal spilling. He is permitting us to hold the cup for him and support his jaw, which is a big step for him, especially since for a long time he did not want our hands anywhere near his face. He has even started putting one of his hands up to help me hold the cup, and sometimes he pulls my hand back under his jaw to indicate that he wants more. His swallowing is slowly improving, so hopefully soon we'll be able to introduce juice!
  • He has started clapping! This is very important because bringing hands to midline is something Wesley has always struggled with. We think this might be one of the reasons he is not interested in sign language. He still claps to one side, holding one hand out and reaching over with his other hand to pat it. But, now that he has figured it out we can start working on moving it to the middle.
  • Since he's started clapping, I have seen him sign "more" for two different therapists. He still won't sign for us, but I'm happy to see him starting to understand and try it for them.
  • At speech therapy last week, he said "in" multiple times when working on a puzzle with his therapist. It was a transportation puzzle, and she would repeat the same phrase over and over again: "bus goes...", "car goes...", "truck goes...". After a while, Wesley figured it out and would say "in" for her when she paused. He also said "aaay" (yay) with us each time we cheered for him as he put the puzzle pieces in.
  • Wesley's chewing is improving. His feeding therapist this morning informed that she is very happy with the way he is chewing and moving his tongue around while eating crackers. I think this is the first time I have ever heard a feeding therapist/speech therapist tell me that Wesley is doing anything well in the area of feeding. Wesley is still having a difficult time with textures and is refusing to even try most non-cracker, non-pureed foods. But, we love our new feeding therapist and are praying that the Lord will give her much wisdom as she seeks to help him improve in this area.


1 comment:

Katie said...

God is so powerful! I love hearing these updates about His work in Wesley!