Big Boy Bug!

 The funny thing about having kids is that you know they're growing, but you don't really notice until all of the sudden it smacks you in the face. Bug's progress can be like that too. Sometimes I'll look back at old pictures or videos and just feel amazed at how far we've come. For as many struggles as we have, Bug is making amazing progress. Even last summer, Bug's communication was limited to typically single words or very short phrases. Many multi-syllable words came out only as one syllable and we had to teach him how to do each syllable. Banana was "nay"...which doesn't even really make sense. Now, he can say banana, although he tends to slow down for long words, so it's maybe not fluid, it is completely understandable.

And the great thing about his speech clearing up is that he's learned to be more persistent and try harder to get us to understand him. As he grows, his ideas grow and it's our job to help him get his language up to speed too. Unfortunately, sometimes we lose it a bit, and we go through a frustration period.

Last week, he kept asking for "cohver" and I couldn't figure it out. "Cover? Critter? Kroger?" So we went to Kroger. And he threw a fit and wouldn't get out of the car. So then I guessed "You want the other Kroger?" and he repeated it, so I drove to the other Kroger. And wouldn't you know, that was what he wanted. We think because they have more truck carts. But it's all speculation and guesswork.

All day, Bug has told me "dress". I think he means dressed. As in, get dressed. But he is dressed. I am dressed. Wiggle is dressed. I asked him if he wanted to go somewhere. "Where do you want to go?" "Go dress" and I have no clue what that's supposed to mean. I know that a lot of times he'll ask for a carride early in the day and we'll say "Well, we're not dressed" or "We have to get dressed first"--but we are dressed. So I don't know. Is "dress" a place to him. Did we say it and it became a name for some specific place? Days like this, I wish I could see the pictures in his mind, so I knew, so I could give him words. We're working to teach him to ask "What's that" which would help, but it is all so slow.

We also worked through a tantrum today because he wanted a Duplo car and plane from a book--he told me the book was "stuck" and again, plain guessing on my part, I built him the car and plane and he was happy. Then he got frustrated because they didn't fit inside of his Little People semi. He got mad and I asked him to talk to me about it. He said "Car in truck" which was really good. I told him they don't fit, the car was too big--spacial issues still really thwart Bug. I built him a semi out of Duplos, but I guess it wasn't good enough. Poor guy.

We did get a bit of prewriting in today! I wrote his name in highlighter and gave him a pen to trace. He wanted to scribble, but I put my hand over his so he could try doing lines. We did two out of three letters in his name, not too bad!

OT last week went very well again! Bug dominated the ABC train puzzle that he did the week previous--he only needed help on one or two pieces at the beginning. It is so amazing to see, but it's the PERFECT example of how PRT works. We want him to do fine motor tasks, like jigsaw puzzles. So we give him one with preferred objects (letters and animals). He is so interested in it (he actually picked it out on his own to do) that it doesn't seem like work to do it. We get to talk about the letters and animals and watch as it gets longer and longer. And the whole time he is enjoying it. Super neat.

Geri also said that he's met all his goals so she made new ones for him! It's so rewarding to see him go through OT. His motor planning is really clearing up and it's making him more adventurous at the playground.

I also think that as he becomes less concerned with how to physically do things, he can pay more attention to other kids. Last week we went to Chick-fil-A and I let the boys play after eating. Bug wouldn't  climb very high up a tower, which he needed to do to get to the slide. Two older boys came in and we watched (and I narrated) as they went up the tower and through the tubes to the slide. Sure enough, after watching them a couple of times, he tried it himself! It really stressed to me that he needs to have opportunities to watch other kids and play with other kids. He does seem a bit uncomfortable sometimes, but he's showing a lot more interest and seems receptive to some interaction from them. 

Cuteness break. We are doing so much reading with both the boys. They still power struggle a bit, but a lot of times we'll have both of them snuggled up to us for a book. Love it!

Potty training is just not there yet. Bug will not "go" on the potty. Not sure what the breakdown is so we're taking a step back for a while (he still goes in undies if he asks, but I need to rethink our plan of attack). That being said, the little stinker keeps taking his diaper off in the middle of the night and it's creating a heap of laundry and starting the day off more stressful than we'd like. :P

This week is a weird therapy week. We didn't go to speech yesterday, but will go on Friday instead. We'll see what we learn this week!