Grocery shopping

B is flying so quickly through his programs that sometimes it's hard for our team to keep up. This afternoon, they were literally out of things to do and suggested we do some sort of community outing since I continue to push for those experiences. Since I already planned to go to the grocery store, we took B there. Correction - we took B, big brother, a therapist and our pca. Nothing like bringing an entourage to shop for food. B did awesome - he happily climbed into the car cart when we got there and did all sorts of labeling when asked. Smooth sailing. And as a bonus, the girls bagged my groceries for me. The sales associate commented "wow - that's sure a luxury to have someone bag your groceries". Indeed - I would've killed for that kind of help back in the day when I was doing it solo. And I know all my mom friends would probably love to have that kind of adult-to-kid ratio. It definitely comes at a steep price though.

We have a new therapist starting on August 1st - a guy! It'll be nice to change things up for B and have a male teacher (other than daddy) for a change.

Don't give up

One of B's favorite new tunes is one from Thomas (the tank engine) that goes like this: "Don't give up. Show determination. Don't give up - you'll be a big sensation". It's adorable to hear him singing such big words and it's one of those songs that gets annoyingly stuck in my head. As I was humming it today, I had to laugh. It's actually the perfect theme song for life around here. We just keep throwing more and more challenges in our path and facing them with determination.

The biggest challenge right now has to do with an effort to up the "fun" factor of B's therapy time. The more fun he's having - the more he's motivated to work hard and learn. So we're restricting his favorite things to therapy time. It does seem to be increasing the value of his time spent there. The tough part is the rest of his time. Granted, he's in therapy roughly 7/8 hours a day. But that leaves a good 4-5 hours of downtime. He can't have his trains, his Ipad, his bed or his favorite shows and videos during that time. No downtime for B means no downtime for Mommy. It's tough. It feels like a constant dog and pony show trying to find something he might be interested in when it's so obvious what he actually wants. He will bring me to the TV, give me the remote and continue to gesture and push my hand toward the TV. Poor little dude. He's frustrated and I'm worn out. My only saving grace at the moment is that our pca is here practically full-time so she can share some of the "fun".

Tomorrow we start our potty training efforts. We will be checking B's diaper every 30 minutes to get an idea of his "patterns" and how often he is going. After a week, we'll assess whether he's ready to get started. I'm excited by the idea of being done with diapers - not so excited about the process of getting there. It was hard enough with our "typical" child.

The data looked good for this week though. He is talking up a storm - sometimes as many as 40/50 vocals in a session. We're about to introduce motor imitation. He has been able to imitate movements and sounds with his mouth lately which is ULTRA exciting. All the things that need to line up in order for us to really teach him to talk are starting to fall into place. It's soooo much harder than the way most kids learn and soooo much slower but it's happening. Slowly but surely. And we are not giving up.

Something's happening here

B is becoming a bit of a parrot. At times he is practically repeating everything he hears - even whole phrases. We put his PECS on hold and talked recently about finding another alternative communication device to try. And then he started talking more and more. He's not really using language to communicate yet but I am able to get him to repeat a request.
Me: "B, do you want a cookie". B: "cookie". It's a baby step but it's HUGE.

He had his ELM (early learning measurement) assessment on Wednesday and he gained ELEVEN new mastered skills. FIVE of these were vocal imitation. "Say Mama, say Dada, say Baby". Let me say that again. Vocal imitation. He has never done this before.

I wouldn't say the lightbulb has gone off yet but something is happening and it's very exciting. Our team leader said several times in our meeting that he is in a period of acceleration right now. I hope he keeps it up.

First dentist visit

Yesterday, I took B to the dentist for the first time. I was dreading it in a big way. A small part of me was hoping that it'd be another of those things I worried about that ended up being no big deal. But mostly I was dreading it and unfortunately, the dread turned out to be warranted.

I took one of our therapists along and big brother because he also had an appointment. We went a half an hour early in case B had trouble just being in an unfamiliar place. We had the lobby to ourselves and our therapist actually was able to do some therapy with him while we waited. He was very motivated to work because he was so excited to be out of the house. He did awesome during the wait period. He even did awesome going into the office. I brought his stroller and a whole lot of other goodies to try to keep him happy. He was willing to touch the hygienist's gloves and her tools but the minute she came near him to clean his teeth, he totally freaked out. We ended up with me in the chair, him lying on my lap and me holding his arms and head while our therapist held his legs and she and the hygienist tried to pry his mouth open. He cried the whole time and was red in the face and sweaty. I felt so bad for the other 3 year old in the office. I'm sure we probably scared him to death.

It was the dentist's idea to schedule the boys at the same time but that ended up being very bad advice. Big brother has been 2 other times with no problem but did not like the taste of the fluoride this time and was a little fearful himself. So before we were fully holding B down, I was going back and forth between the two of them and trying to console them. I didn't feel like big brother got the level of attention he needed or deserved. So now I know  and will schedule them separately next time.

Throughout this torturous procedure, they kept telling me that we could stop whenever it was too much. If they only knew how much I have to put this kid through on a daily basis, they'd know that was not an option. Plus, we were there and it wouldn't have made it any better to try another time. If anything, it'll likely be harder next time since he knows what to expect.

The good news is that both his and his brother's teeth look good - no cavities.  And we made it through and don't have to do it again for another 6 months. And he recovered very quickly.

I was strong. I have had experiences in the past where holding B down while he cries makes me cry too (blood draws, shots). I held it in. That is until his ultra sweet big brother said "mommy, is it ok if I get down from my chair to see if my brother's ok?". My eyes welled up quicker than I could answer him.