Gains

AJ's Dad and I were talking during dinner last night. My personal opinion, AJ would haul off and punch me in the face if he could. I imagine him saying, "Mom, I'm done! No more doctor's offices, no more appointments, I'm tired." Thats when AJ's Dad said, "You know, he never gets a vacation." We as adults do (although we all want more!), but he doesn't. The last few weeks have been absolutely crazy, with double appointments on most days. So no, no vacation for our little man, but we try and give him down time when we can. Trouble is, give him too much downtime, his muscles stiffen, he becomes rigid, and old patterns return. We can't win :)

On the upside, he's had quite a few gains this past week & this week, so we thought we'd share:

• Pulled a toy with string attached to retrieve it
• Looked at mom when toy stopped/made that eye contact to say "Help me, make it go" THIS IS A HUGE COMMUNICATION GAIN!
• Comes to Mom or Dad 7/10 trials when he wants something instead of crying/tantrum
• Going from sit to stand on his own-on the changing table :)
• Standing and walking along everything
• Making many different sounds that we've never heard before, lots of longer sounds
• Made his lips vibrate (like raspberries) while making a sound
• Allowed his speech therapist to do all cheek stretches, lip muscle strengthening, and touch his face all over!
• Vocalizes rather loudly when he stares at the office light from his changing table
• Drinking whole milk/cream only (no CIB!) for 1 week now.
• Drinking out of new/bigger/faster-flow sippy cup
• Great lateral tongue movement to the left side of his mouth with the help of "Pop Rocks"
• Calmed in a new place within 2 minutes, then the next day 30 seconds and played on his own on the floor
• Has enough trunk support to kneel on the yoga ball

In addition, we received Dr. Bob's official psychological report yesterday. And I quote, "AJ is a good psychological candidate for a cochlear implant." Overall, AJ operates at around a 14-16 month level. He is 27 months. That means, in the 14 months we've had him home, he's caught up over a year. That is EXCELLENT. Way to go AJ!

Music to our ears...