More Spaghetti and Meatballs, Please!

I remember back when Wesley first received his SPIO vest, which provides compression through his trunk.  With the stabilization it provided, Wesley spoke his first word, learned his first sign, and started walking consistently within the first week of putting it on.

This week has provided similar excitement around our house.  Wesley's OT brought one-pound ankle weights to his therapy session last Wednesday.  She explained that wearing them for 20 minutes at a time every two hours would provide proprioceptive input that would assist in organizing his brain, helping him to be more aware of his body, stabilizing him, and calming him.  At first I was skeptical, as this seemed too good to be true. But truthfully, we have been AMAZED at how much these weights have helped our sweet little boy.

Within several hours of having the weights on for the first time, Wesley sat down and worked at a three piece puzzle until he put all three pieces in.  He has never even been interested in a puzzle before, much less able to correctly place puzzle pieces.  He also rapidly stacked a set of ten stacking cups his developmental therapist brought that he had never seen before, and he attentively worked at putting plastic coins into a small slot.

We have been working for months on helping Wesley to sign "please" whenever he needs help instead of screaming or throwing himself on the floor.  On Wednesday night, as Wesley was yelling again, I dutifully went through the process of saying "Does Wesley need help?  Say help, please!" while signing "please".  To my complete and utter shock, Wesley broke out in a huge smile and signed "please".  It was a beautiful moment, as Mike was home and able to see Wesley's sign too.  We cheered and cheered for Wesley as he beamed with delight.  Even more impressively, Wesley has continued to sign "please" when we prompt him, and this has been without the loss of other words or signs.

Wesley has also started imitating our hand motions.  He now shakes his fingers with us as we sing Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, lifts his arms up in the air as we sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and tries to copy us as we gesture while talking to him.  While we would love to see him try to imitate our voices and words, we know that beginning to imitate our hand motions is a huge first step.

On Wednesday night for dinner I served a family favorite - Creamy Herb Tomato Pasta with chicken.  I decided to offer our dinner to Wesley, and he willingly ate several bites before refusing more. While this was not a complete success, Wesley's refusal was not as adamant as usual, which gave us new hope.  So on Saturday night I prepared spaghetti and meatballs, praying that this would be the night that Wesley would join us in eating our dinner.  To be honest, while I was hopeful, my expectations were low.  I fully expected him to take a few bites and then refuse more, just as he had on Wednesday.  Instead, Wesley GOBBLED up his dinner!  I couldn't feed him his meatballs and pasta fast enough.  He didn't seem fazed in the least by the fact that these textures and tastes were quite a bit different from his usual Spaghetti-O's.  And once he had finished all of his very well-done pasta, he continued eating more of Daddy's, again seeming to not notice the difference in texture that would usually bother him so much.

This marked the first night in almost two years that I made one dinner and we ALL ate it!

So today I'm sitting here lifting my jaw back up off the floor and thanking God for the work that He's doing in Wesley's life.  It is amazing to me that God could use two one-pound weights to make such a difference in our little guy.

"Oh, magnify the Lord with me, let us exalt his name together!"  Psalm 34:3