A Little J Update

J continues to well with pottying. It took him a week to be comfortable enough to potty at school, but once he did it for the first time, we haven't had any problems. He has gone days without accidents and tries very hard to not have one even when he does have a slip up. We are so proud of him, and he loves to hear us praise him.

He is continuing to say new words and try harder words. This week he clearly said "applesauce" which is probably his first three syllable word. He combines a couple of words and gets very excited at school & home when he can verbally communicate his wants & needs. His SLP has done a great job at school of teaching him how to move his mouth for certain sounds, especially the tongue. A few months ago, his tongue would be out of his mouth to make the "n" sound, but now he says "banana" on a good day and just "nana" on other days while keeping his tongue in and reaching the roof of his mouth to make the "n" sound each time. The apraxia is still evident as the new words don't come automatically, meaning we clearly see him having to think about how to say the word. Dave and I just want to scoop him up and hug him so tight when we see him trying to get words out correctly and thinking so hard about how to move his mouth. Lori said in time the words will become more automatic, but this is how more difficult words start out. Believe me, we have come such a long way...I am not sure he was saying more than a few sounds (not words) the word "more", and signing this time last year. He couldn't blow or do other oral motor tasks last year. Six months ago, we were seeing no two syllable words come out and minimal one syllable sounds aside from animal sounds which they actually count in the speech community. We definitely weren't getting combined words. We are training the brain, and it is a process! We celebrate every single new word or word attempt and are absolutely amazed at the determination of this little guy. God has blessed him with a huge amount joy even though he has to work so hard at something that seems so easy to us. He is my sweet child, with a truly precious heart like his daddy, who will probably give me more gray hairs as I worry about him! Thank goodness he is laid back and doesn't get frustrated or worry!

We got his IEP progress report which noted his progress, and we were very pleased to see this from his school SLP. Mommy has come a long way, too, with accepting that he has to have an IEP. It really isn't a big deal, but I never imagined I would be on the other side of the table listening to a team of educators explain to me what they are going to do for my child. I am supposed to be the one TELLING the parent what I am going to do to accomodate their child in meeting their educational goals. I checked my pride card in at the door in November of last year, and we have pressed forward. God has given me the opportunity to meet many other teacher moms, as well as, moms who are OTs, PTs, SLPs who find themselves feeling that same way as they sit in that IEP meeting for their own child. Funny how it works that way, but it does.