Bug loves Starfall. It's a good opportunity for him to learn and practice the alphabet, phonics and of course, words! We have been letting him spend some time with us every day exploring the site. At first, he would just watch us. Then he would grab our hand to point to letters. Now he points to letters himself, knows lots of the words and sounds that accompany each letter. It's amazing to see how fast he's memorizing them!
We've been trying to work with him to get the correct number of syllables for each word (even if they're not the right syllables). Usually, Bug just says the first syllable for each word. He usually drops off the last consonant sound too. This can make understanding him EXTREMELY difficult, which is frustrating for both of us. Our speech therapist has encouraged us to clap or tap out syllables to help him notice the difference. Slowly, he's adding a number of multi-syllable words to his vocabulary. Yesterday we heard "do-noh-saw" for dinosaur, which is seriously awesome (seeing as we started at just "doe". Apple also has two syllables now. So we are making good progress.
I'm struggling a bit to incorporate the sensory diet. I've never been a schedule type person, so it's difficult for me to remember to do his tactile "exercises" every two hours. I might need to set an alarm until I get into the habit. That being said, he does seem to really enjoy them.
On Friday, I took Bug on a little "date". Adam and I decided that on his Fridays off, one of us would take Bug for some quality one-on-one time. It can be difficult to get Bug the attention he needs while Wiggle is up during the day, and one-on-one time also gives us a chance to focus on his therapies more. I brought him to the library. We'd only gone one other time, well over a year ago. Unfortunately, we didn't get off to a great start because I think he thought we were at a doctor's office so he kind of freaked out. Once I got him in the building, he took a while to "warm up" enough for me to put him down. Then he discovered that there were lighting inside of the foyer we entered before the kids area and spent most of his time in there. I picked out a few books, checked out, and as Bug's behavior started getting bad, we headed out. It was a bit frustrating, but he was kind of tired, so I'm sure that didn't help.
We did make it to church yesterday. It was a bit rough, but overall I feel like it was a good start. We weren't too excited about going since both boys got up super early, but we made it there. Of course, Bug started crying as soon as we pulled in the parking lot. I had told him prior that we were going to church, but I would stay with him in the nursery, that I wouldn't leave. As we walked into the building, he was really really crying, so I kept assuring him that I would be with him the whole time. Adam and I split up (so he didn't have to see Adam go) and I managed to get both boys into the nursery and sat down. It took a bit, but probably within 10 minutes he calmed down enough to play with toys in my lap, at about 30 minutes he was secure enough to leave my side for a snack at the table and then he took off on his own. I also got to talk to the main caretaker there. She apparently works for a physical therapy clinic, so she's not unfamiliar with our challenges with Bug. She was extremely supportive and said that when he ages out of Early Intervention (at age 3) she knows some good OTs and STs if we need to continue therapy.
Adam came to get us for communion. Bug started panicking again about going into the church, so we decided that was a good enough start and to try to keep things as positive as possible. Our goal is to decrease the amount of time I spend in the nursery. Next week I plan on leaving once he's comfortable enough to leave my side. Hopefully this becomes earlier and earlier as he becomes more familiar with the nursery and the kids. We definitely feel like we need to consistently go to make the whole process more routine and less scary.
It can be so tough to handle social situations. I think he finds them very overwhelming and overstimulating. Obviously, because he struggles with speech, he can't exactly tell us what's wrong or what he'd like to do or not do or how we can help. I have to try very hard to keep things positive and push his limits a bit without completely freaking him out. Still every outing we have, every interaction, is another experience for him, an opportunity for us to practice and learn and interact. This week is just our speech week, so I'm trying to find good opportunities for socialization and experience outside of the home. Plus we have to take advantage of the beautiful weather!
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