Connections

Bug has been continuing his EXCELLENT progress interacting with people! This weekend we Skyped with Grandma and Grandpa S. and Bug was far more interested than he's been before! He counted their fingers and we sung them the ABC song from Starfall. :) He did drift away a few times (football was on), but kept coming back, which was great.

Then today I took the kids to a nearby park. Bug did a lot of his usual running from place to place (after getting in a ton of swinging, of course!). He did have a bit of an interaction with a couple of other little boys who were interested in the same rocking horse that he was. I think they had some issues with the lack of language.

The best part was that Bug saw a mom sitting and playing with her daughter. The daughter was piling leaves and woodchips onto the table and they were pretending to eat. Bug went and sat right next to the mom. I went over to watch and help if needed. Bug attempted a little bit of imitation play. Mostly he cozied up to this other mom ;) She told me that he had seen her and was watching her around the playground too, so there must have been something about her that was intriguing and inviting. Our friend M came over and sat next to Bug and he tolerated that really well too. It was a very positive experience!

We have definitely noticed an increase in Bug's social awareness! Kerry, our speech therapist mentioned it too, that Bug gives a lot more eye contact and pays attention to others, even if for brief moments. I've noticed him talking more too, and he's getting good at communicating his needs, even if only using a few words. He definitely wants to interact with us and for us to understand him. Hopefully we can keep up the motivation for him and we can start using longer phrases.

As Wiggle gets more mobile, I think Bug is getting a more frequent stream of interaction. Wiggle is constantly going for Bug's stuff, so he has to always be aware of him. We are trying to teach Bug to use words ("No no. No touch. That's mine.) and not to take things away. Definitely age appropriate stuff going on. :)

We've been working on some songs too. Bug really likes Starfall, and we've all learned a couple of the songs. He likes us to sing them and chimes in with words (no melody) if we drop off. All day today he's been saying "Di-saur traaaaaaiiiiinnn" to the rhythm that the theme song goes.

I'm so proud and so impressed with Bug. He is doing such a good job and it is such a blessing to be able to work with him and watch him grow!