Blossoming Baby

Iann had speech therapy on Friday with his Lionel (go see the King's Speech if you have no idea what I am talking about!) and, after about 4 sessions with him, my little scamp has realized that BM will make him work. So, instead of being compliant and doing most of what BM wanted, Iann tried the "I am so cute, don't make me work" tactic. Didn't get him far. BM isn't here to be Iann's friend, he is here to help him find his voice. Quite a few times BM told Iann "You may not like me, but you will (eventually) do what I want." Go for it man!

I was happy to report to BM that I have been working with Iann every day, teaching him new words (signs) and working on PECS. PECS stands for Picture Exchange Communication System, in which we are teaching Iann to use pictures to ask for things. For example, I have a picture of bubbles. I'll get it out, show Iann the bubbles, and wait for him to pick the picture up and hand it to me. Then I say "Bubbles" and blow some. I then put the picture back, and don't blow more bubbles until Iann gives me the picture again, and looks me in the eye. The eye contact part is really important. Repeat as many times as Iann is interested in bubbles.

As BM pointed out, my work is paying off. Iann is now talking ... not with words as most of us do, but with sign language. He can now say about 20 words and learns at least one new word each day. My biggest challenge right now is learning the signs myself so I can teach them to him! BM reckons that Iann is now solidly at an 18 month old communication level, but still doesn't know why he isn't trying to babble more varied noises.

"Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma-ma" is Iann's main babble, with the occasional "ba-ba-ba" or "fa-fa-fa" thrown in for a change. This is a little worrying to BM so he suggested that we take Iann to an audiologist in Grand Junction for a thorough hearing check. Iann is certainly able to hear, but to what degree? Does he hear all sounds or just some? These are the questions BM wants answered. So, off to another specialist appointment we go.

Another area where Iann is blossoming is in his awareness of other kiddos. On Thursday night we went over to eat with a family we get together with about once a week. We've been doing this for almost a year so Iann knows these people really well. They have a girl who will be 3 in May (3 months older than Iann) and a boy who will be 1 at the end of the month. Usually their daughter follows Brynn around, and Iann plays by himself. Not this time. Iann was following them around too.

Iann still gets strapped into a booster seat so he'll focus on eating, and has always been happy to sit with the adults and eat, until his food is finished. Thursday night, we lost his attention as soon as he saw the trampoline outside the window. He started signing "jump" and was so emphatic with it, I thought he would tip over his chair. We let him down and he was gone, jumping with the other 2 kids. On the tramp, off the tramp, around the corner to the slide and back. Repeat a hundred times. He was right there with Brynn and his little 2 yr old buddy.

At one point, their daughter was put in timeout on the piano bench, and my boys wandered over to see what she was doing. The timeout didn't last too long but all 4 kids had a blast:

Iann and I went back to this friend's house on Friday morning and our two year olds played together. I was almost in tears - it was so great to see Iann playing with another child. Now, don't get me wrong, they didn't sit down and play lego's, they wandered about outside for most of the morning. But if one got on the tramp, the other followed. If one went to the slide, the other was right behind. When one came in to warm up, they were both inside. They wanted to be together, that much was obvious.

My little one is growing up. Sure, he is still way behind in both communication and cognitive skills, but he is moving forward in leaps and bounds now.