Oh boy have we been busy!

Oh my! We have a little talker here lately. He is babbling babbling babbling...some of the words make sense on occasion!

Preston has actually been putting 2 words together lately. He has said "Bye Daddy" and "Bye Mommy" etc. Not all of the time but really starting to get there. OVer the weekend he had some great progress. Saturday he had his coat on and came to me and said "Mommy. Yacket. Off". YAY! I was in tears. So excited to have him communicate a need with me.

We're enjoying this new facet. He may be really taking off now. What a blessing to us this Thanksgiving season.

2 new videos

2 new videos of Preston. The first is going through the Kaufman Speech Praxis Cards with LaQuita.

The second one is of him mimicking Coooper singing Rock Chalk Jayhawk Go KU.
Both show his great progress.

Enjoy!

http://s105.photobucket.com/albums/m202/kerrieb67/?action=view&current=PO20081101_0010.flv

http://s105.photobucket.com/albums/m202/kerrieb67/?action=view&current=PO20081101_0052.flv

Great Speech Therapy Session

Preston's speech session was EXCELLENT. He was engaged and following commands and responding fantastic. at one point, LaQuita said to him "That's mine, Preston." To which he replied "No. MINE." Well, we looked at one another and I think both of us were just about to scold him when we both realized and screamed "OH MY GOSH! He's never said that before"......I almost cried and we were both SOOO excited!! That is something we have been waiting for for a long long time.We have practiced fighting with Cooper in front of him before saying "No, mine." etc...just seeing if he would mimick that with NO luck ever....I also was able to get him to answer my "What's that/this" question for TEN things in LaQuita's book last night!! Apple, shoes, bath, car, truck, cow, bear, baby, duck and dog! So, it was a huge day for us.

Wonderful progress. Now, let's just pray he keeps it all.

Nearly Halloween!

The last couple of weeks we have seen some really great progress with Preston!
Last week his sessions with Angie and LaQuita were both really great. He was attentive and engaged.

One of the problems we have with Preston is that although we can ask him to point several items out (as in labeling "point to the ball, car, cat, dog, etc. etc.) we have not been able to get him to just label himself. His daycare provider, Imy, has gotten him to start saying "Imy" or "I-knee" as we like to mimic him-as he stands at the sink and then says "dee" for a drink. He used to stand at the sink and scream -so that is HUGE. I got to witness that today and it just really made me proud!

This week, I have been making a marked effort to ask him "what's this?" It has taken a little prodding but he is getting it. I have gotten him to label ball, shoes, car on cue every time.

Tonight, he joined me for the first time EVER in singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and he did the hand movements, too! No words made any sense but he TRIED which is HUGE. He also helped me sing "Old McDonald". He likes "eee I eee I oh". At dinner we sing "Oh the lord's been good to me and so I thank the Lord for giving me the things I need the sun and the rain and the appleseed. the Lord's been good to me. Amen"...He started saying "amen" a while ago but I noticed the last week or two he is sinigng along with us....no words that match but it's a start.

Saturday night we ralized how much more he understands that he did even a few months ago. I was trying to get him to eat a hotdog...he was pursing his lips together and and refusing. Out of sheer desperation I said "If you eat a bite, you can have the cookie" and I'll be darned if he didn't open his mouth up and take a bite of that hot dog!! That is absolutely something even a month ago was NOT apparent.

He is definitely moving in the right direction thanks to our wonderful wonderful therapists!! We love you girls!!

More progress!

Preston had a great week. His sessions with Angie and with LaQuita were both awesome!
He was interactive with both and attended pretty well, too. He did color matching/sorting and even matched some animal sounds to the animals. His babbling and mimicking are truly amazing us. It's a lot of fun to listen to him. He has lots to say (like his mama!)

Nice progress!!

Two great things this weekend.
One, I was telling Taylor to go tell Coooper it was time to eat, when Preston shot past me and yelled "Mon. Eeeee" (C'mon eat)

and
We were in the van and Mike was filling the tank up and Preston was watching him through the window and said "Daddy. Dut-died" (Daddy outside)!!

Two giant leaps forward! I was also able to get him to identify several items in a kids hoisehold items book-----house, book, chair, kitty, truck, car, toothbrush, door, tree, milk.

Somedays he is just so in tune. Lots of fun seeing the wheels turning in his little head!

Well, we have quite the babbler here lately. Preston seems to be bay babbling a lot. Holding his own conversations. He had a fairly good session with Angie this week and with Carrie. We didn't meet with LaQuita because she was sick-we hope she is feeling better. His session with her last week was good.

Today I went through flashcards with him and he picked out all of the following things from choices of 2: Cat, Chair, door, dog, truck, car, fish, cow, ball, and maybe a few others. He did not mess one up! Absoutely perfect!!

We're working on sorting with him over the next couple of weeks.
He is definitely starting to show a great deal more of comprehension than he has in the past.

Not so good this week

For whatever reason, Preston has not had a good week at all.
He has been fine for US but on Wednesday with Angie he was not attending at all and really gave her a hard time. He did end up doing a fishing game with her and some color sorting and she blew some bubbles and let him catch them. We decided to check with Nikki about meeting 3x a month instead of every other week to see if we can get him back in line. Thursday, was even worse with LaQuita. For starters he didn’t want to leave Imy’s with ME. He was really mad when I carried him out of there. I can tell you that has NEVER happened. He is mama’s boy all the way. So, then when LaQuita got to the house, he screamed and threw fits immediately. He wanted nothing to do with her and hand over hand by mom was NOT going to cut it. He was already past the point of no return and we hadn’t even started! She offered him some trains and he played by himself for quite a while and then warmed up a bit to her. They were able to do a little bit of work but it was just bad all in all! Then she got her cars out and he had some fun with those but she really didn’t get much work out of him. So, he was definitely worse for LaQuita than he was for Angie. I am going to work on the vowel Kauffman cards with him this weekend and we will work on some sorting of colors and animals. We have been working on body parts and some days he is good at that some days not so much.

Imy said the other day she asked him to shut the gate (baby gate) and he kept going to the front door and trying to shut it and was completely confused by her commands-something he has understood for a long time. He just couldn’t seem to understand what she was asking him to do.

He is definitely not progressing at all right now.

Mid September

Preston had bad sessions with LaQuita and Angie last week. He did not want to "attend" at all and was a real pistol. LaQuita considered it regression. He was not doing things he had done several times previously.

I notice when I try to practice with him, he quits quickly. He doesn't want to work at all.
Which sort of makes me laugh because after all it is PLAY...but he figures it out quickly that it really is WORK! I hope the rainy weather was the reason he was not doing well. He also both days had bad nap times with Imy.

On a bright note yesterday he came to me and signed "more"....he had had nothing recently but I finally sumised he wanted a snack (which wasn't hard to do since he has a bottomless pit in his stomach) So, he told me he wanted something and that is always good.

He is walking on his tip toes a LOT the last couple of weeks. We are noticing it more and more. Not sure if that means anything or not but I don't like seeing it since it's sometimes associated with the spectrum.

Hopefully, this will be a better week!

Imy discussed a concern with me today. She has been working with Preston to ask for a "drink" but no matter how much they practice, he only grunts and points. She will say "Preston say 'drink' but he doesn't get it. She'll say "Preston, you have to 'talk' " and then he will say "talk"....this is concerning to me since drink is a pretty basic need. We're going to start working with him here on it some more--maybe even the sign to help lower his frustration level. Plus it's really a good goal to actually get him to ask for SOMETHING...even if it's sign language it is communication.....

We had a good session last week with Carrie and a good one with LaQuita. LaQuita is working on the Kauffman cards (http://www.kidspeech.com/index.php?page=42) with him. He is doing well with them. Now, if we can get him to put them together and form words!

August in review

Last week Preston had a great session with both Angie and Laquita.
He is mimicking all of the sounds LaQuita is working on with him. I can't remember the name of the cards but they represent all of the sounds in the english language. I recorded the portion of the session where he was mimicking every sound (with bribery-LOL).

We're working on colors and animals and imaginary play.
I looked at pictures with him today and tried to get him to identify "mommy" and "daddy" but he just wasn't getting it. We will keep working on that as well.

I am noticing he is really screaming/screeching a lot to get our attention or to try to tell us something. This morning I had my back turned and he keep shrieking and I finally turned around and he was pointing at the dog who had found a cup with the remains of a shake in it and was licking it. Preston was trying to tell me but wasn't sure how to tell me....He used to say "no. no. no." So it was strange that this was how he responded. He also did a lot of shrieking/scremaing in the pool and was clearly trying to communicate that way.....that will get old FAST.....

We watched his old Signing Time DVD today at his request. He loved watching the signing and followed all of the signs and repeated them. It was fun to see him do all of them again. There are still some words he will not even attemp to say and only signs them!

Nikki was out 2 weeks ago. She is our caseworker for ITS. Preston's delay is still significant enough for services, We are now 3 months from meeting with the school district for evaluation and assesment for the preschool there since Johnson County Infants and Toddlers Assn. will onlyh work with him until he is 3. LaQuita's evaluation showed him at a 9-12 month level for speech and language. The delay has to be greater than 25% for services.

ABRS update

Thursday morning Preston had his BRS test done. We had sleep deprivation orders and had to keep him up until Midnight Wednesday and wake him up at 4am for the 8am appt. Mike took the midnight shift and I took the 4am shift. He really did well despite being tired (and hungry in the morning since he was being sedated-he could not eat after 2:30am) We got to the Speech and Language Clinic at 7:40 am....he was already getting cranky and we were just trying to get moving! The audiologist did a basic hearing test and then we proceeded downstairs to Radiology where we prepared for the ABRS (which is a glorified hearing test-they do this on newborns) they were testing 3 pitches and 3 tones. 4 adults had to hold him down to get that IV in. He was SO strong and SO mad and this mom was broken UP over seeing that! The audiologist couldn't' understand why we had been given sleep deprivation orders....ACK! So, that was incorrect but I had the paperwork in my purse and the original May appt. had required it as well. So for whatever reason it was not necessary. The ABRS test came back normal. We were happy but not surprised. Our speech pathologist will now take the audiogram that they got from that test and hopefully be able to find some reasons behind his major delays.

Today he saw two different dogs at 2 different times and pointed and said "Dah" each time. That's important because it shows generalization and that he can tell it's a dog even if it's not just the one type of dog he knows is a dog! Also, when Angie was here on wednesday he started singing "Neena. Neena". We knew immediately he was singing "Clean Up Clean up" and oh boy were we PROUD!!!!! It's his first time to try to sing something---except MAYBE a few months ago I think he may have tried to sing Old McDonald but it's been quite some time ago. Either way, it was GREAT accomplishment!!

The week of July 28-Aug 1

Carrie and LaQuita were both here this week. Angie is now coming every other week.
Both sessions went fairly well. Preston is a smart little bugger who seems to really know when the "play" that they are doing with him is truly "work"! LaQuita brought little and big trucks that were multi colored so we could work on little and big, as well as matching. His mimicking, once again was outstanding. His color matching not so much.

We're all ready for his big ABRS test on August 14th.
He will also have his annual review with Nikki to make sure he still qualifies for services through the county.

We have been singing Old McDonald a lot the last couple of days and he seems excited by it. Hopefully, it will jar him to join us or try to join us, soon. He is really communicating with us better and better-of course this does not mean he is talking. Mike's mom, Reba watched the boys this week and Preston locked himself in Mike's and my bedroom. She called me and I was at first trying to tell her how to jimmy the lock and then I just said "Yell through the door and ask him to open the door". She did. Then he opened it. That's a pretty big thing for us since his comprehension had been so low. It seems to increase nearly daily.

Scooping with Angie

Working on deep pressure sensory with Carrie

Last Week

The sessions were pretty ordinary with both LaQuita and Angie. He does seem to be attending for much longer than he used to be.

On Saturday he accidentally turned the vacuum sweeper on and as I was coming to help him out, he pointed to the vacuum and said "mama, uh-oh" That was pretty amazing!

this morning he had his pre-op visit with his pediatrician for the ABRS test he will undergo on August 14th. Since he has to be sedated, they had to have sign off from his Dr.

We're working on color matching sorting. I have been tracking all of his consonate and vowel sounds for LaQuita.

July 17th

Had an "ok" session with LaQuita. Not sure what was going on with Preston but he had difficulties attending. Possibly tired. Swimming lessons for the whole week has sort of messed with our routines. It's really likely that the pool just whacks out his senses. But every night we stay a few minutes after to play in the baby pool and every night he seems to do better than the night before. Like I said he doesn't LOVE it but at least he is hating it less each day. Plus, I will be sure we go to the pool a lot over the next few weeks just to keep working on meeting those unpleasant feelings.

He has been saying the following phrases this week "Bye, Daddy" (to anyone anywhere) and "Up, daddy" to his daddy in the mornings to get out of his crib.

We have been working on different songs this week. I think I heard him trying to say "eee Eye Eee eye ohhhhh" last night!

July 14th-16th

Preston has had a pretty good week. He had a great session with Carrie. We are working with new straws this week to help strengthen his mouth muscles so that we can work toward controlling the heavy drooling!

We did start swimming lessons this week and Preston has been none too thrilled with them. I noticed the first night he avoided eye contact with me, as well as anyone else in the class. It's a "mom and me" class so we're in the water together. Now, last night he didn't seem to hate it QUITE as much! LOL.....I really think it's either a sensory thing or a "out of my routine" thing. But we are trying really hard to get him to just get used to going to the pool and having fun. Most of the time he isn't happy until we are putting his shoes on to come home. He seems to "tolerate" but not "enjoy". Me being the former swim teacher/water fiend I am, I would like for him to love it but will settle with his toleration for now! I did have him jumping off of the edge of the pool to me last night and he did really seem to like that and he was engaging with the instructors last night so that's good.

We had a good session with Angie (Behavior/ECSE) and his progress in that area is such that we have all decided to start meeting every other week now! So, that is cool! Of course we LOVE seeing Angie but since he is starting to work up to and at a 24 month level cognitively and is progressing nicely we're going to try to scale back.

He did some great color matching and sorting yesterday. Fun to watch. He also did his big hug and run between Angie and I--he spread his legs and arms out and then runs toward the object of his affection and throws himself in their arms! He was most definitely sensory seeking for some deep pressure.

Nice comments

The Ferrara's were over the other night for dinner. We hadn't seen them in months. We had such a great time. Preston was MR PERSONALITY....lol....he was flirtacious and fun and loved following the big boys all over the place. At one point Cari said to me about Preston "He's so engaged. I have never seen him this engaged". It was so nice to hear from someone's perspective. We don't always see that. We don't always see the changes but it's nice to know that they are noticed by someone else!

Speech 7/10

Got a good reading on Preston's progress since last August as we finished the one year evaluation with LaQuita last night. In August of last year Preston's receptive language (what he understands) was at a 3-6 month level and his expressive language (communicating wants and needs) couldn't even be tested appropriately since he had virtually none. It now appears he is testing at a 9-12 month level for both areas. We're also thinking that his receptive is higher than that but for now that is a good guage.

Preston worked well with LaQuita. When she said "Go Car" while they were playing cars he said "Dough Dah"....he also mimicked her saying "boink". He mimicks VERY well these days!

We're continuing to work on body parts this week. Wait. No, I can't remember our homework-ACK-sorry LaQuita....I will look at it again tonight and update....lol.....

Behavior Session 7/10

Well, Preston had an excellent session with Angie. YAY. He stayed on task and particpated fully in several activities for lengths of time that broke records for him. He was very antimated and adoring with Angie. He did lots of of hugging and kissing and flirting. He played peek a boo with her when she was writing her notes at the end of the session and he kept "yelling" at her to play with him. He would hide his head behind the ottoman and pop up and say "boo".

He did some awesome matching and turn taking.
We hope to see more of this type of behaviour!!

New communication

Well, when I put Preston to bed I have noticed the last few nights that when I lay him down in his crib and put his blanket on and give him his cloth diapers to lay on...he is on his tummy and grunts "uh-uh" and points at his bottom. He wants it patted! So, he is telling me that in his way but he is telling me! YAY!

July 4th

We met with Angie (ECSE) and LaQuita (SP) this week. We had to cancel with Carrie (OT) due to a conflict.
Angie did some testing with Preston and after the vacation break he "just wasn't that into" her. The session didn't last too long, but we did find out he is progressing nicely.

LaQuita's session went better. But still not as good as normal. that week off really wasn't good for keeping routines and things. LaQuita was also able to test. When Preston was tested last August at 18 months old, his Receptive Communication was at a 3-6 month level. Yesterday it was at 12-15 month level! So, we have had some nice progress. We weren't able to finish the Expressive Communication testing but should be able to next week.

This week we are working on body parts of his and of a doll or of another person!
Right now he only knows his nose and his belly button and other people's noses.

Happy Fourth!

We had a great vacation.

Preston said "thank you" to me for his breakfast the other day.

He was not prompted. Just said "Dah-Doo"....I said "you're welcome" . It was great!

He is ready to get back to work with Carrie, Angie and LaQuita!

Week in review

We met with the whole team on Wednesday to make sure we are all on the same page regarding Preston. Looked good. We're going to start a notebook to keep track of homework and that will make things easier on the therapists as well as Mike and myself and our tasks.

Preston has had a really good week. LaQuita (Speech) is looking forward to starting some diagnosis testing on him when we start back after vacation. Preston hadn't seen Angie (Behavior) in a couple of weeks and that waas evident in the way he treated her! He still completed tasks which was BIG deal. He usually would just get up and walk away but this time we could lead him back and finish the tasks. He didn't give Angie much eye contact but the team meeting was shortly after our session with Angie and he was sure hugging and loving on her!!

We're continuing to work on animal identification with Preston. We are also working on "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" with him and on body part identification.

Oh another thing he did during speech was he identified an animal and then put the matching figurine on the animal flash card and THEN when asked to hand the animal to Mommy HE DID IT! He doesn't normally associate me with "mommy"....He knows who I am and he knows I am his mommy but he generally hears "Give" and immediately kisses and hugs someone. We kind of got past that this week. That was a great milestone!

We'll be in Colorado all next week on vacation!! It will be a while before I can update.

OT Monday June 16th

We had a really good session with Carrie yesterday.
By chance, Carrie's 7 year old daughter was in tow and joined us for the session. Preston adored her and was willing to work-I LEFT THE ROOM!! Most of you know that is a big deal as he doesn't let me out of his sight very often! He really liked Maggie and was excited to take turns with her and show off for her. He took turns nicely and did some nice color matching. Carrie showed a concern for Preston's left eye and is having us meet with a pediatric optomotrist to have his eyes checked. Looks like it may be crossing. We will see what the Dotor says about that. Anyways it was a nice session and Preston was just enamoured with Maggie. We have asked that she join us again it was such a good session!

Speech 6/12

Well, it started out a little questionable but the session was really terrific. And by started out I mean initially, maybe the first 5 minutes we wondered if he was in "avoidance" mode....he came out of it nicely and he had some GREAT progress. The biggest thing to me was all of the mimicking. He was mimicking everything so nicely. We finally got him in a game of "Mine" "No, Mine" "NO, MINE"....etc. I hope he will instigate this soon. I tried it several times last night (after LaQuita left)and he didn't really want to "play" that way again...but I'll keep at it. He also did some good matching of animals and cards. He mimicked high five, 1-2-3-GO, and several other things. I need to look at my notes.

His progress lately has been really good. All due to our wonderful therapists and their committment to seeing him progress. We are so thankful for each one of them every day!!

Oh and he said "Banana" on Wednesday morning. That was a first! "Nana" YAY!

Monday OT

Had a good session with Carrie yesterday. She brought us some straws to use for the week. We're trying to strengthen those mouth muscles and maybe control the excessive drooling.

He followed well. Had some attending issues but for the most part was pretty engaged.
He seems to like Carrie which is very helpful!

He has also started JUMPING. Very exciting. It's very cute to see. I will try to get a video clip of that.

A great Speech Therapy Session

Ahhhh, the work is paying off. LaQuita and Preston had a great session yesterday

They did some fun games, where there was a lot of interaction and some sensory stimulation that Preston really responded to. He was sitting on the couch and LaQuita would act like she was going to sit on him, but she would actually, be laying back on him. He would PULL her back to lay on him! He would ask her for more and they both giggled a lot. Would have been a GREAT video to upload here but that was about the time I realized my camera was BROKEN! ACK!!! And you all know me and my camera….so that was a bit upsetting….But I did get this picture since it’s really the viewfinder that is broken.

Also, LaQuita was getting Preston to identify pictures on flash cards. He did GREAT. He identified truck, car, baby, dog, cat, apple and ? one other….She would hold the card up and say “What’s this” and he would answer! He did that for several minutes and did very well at it. Finally when they were done, he took the flash cards and was holding them up to ME and saying “DAT?” (What’s that?) He was playing “Speech Pathologist”!!! It was SO cute and such a milestone. He also said "apple" nearly PERFECTLY.
It was a great session.

At dinner last night we were all sitting at the kitchen table and watching the bumble bees swarm around the back bushes. They are very aromatic. When they would go away, he would look at me and shrug his shoulders, lift his hands in the air and say “Air Dough?” (Where did they go?) It was GREAT. We did that for probably 10 minutes. The interaction was so fun. It was just a great day for speech all around!

Several items.....

We're having a pretty good week. Carrie (OT) came on Monday. Preston did pretty well for her. They played some good games. His fine motor skills seemed better to me.

I found the counting pig (Fisher Price) and bought it. Preston has been having fun with that.
Since we have been saying "1, 2, 3 GO" to him...I hear him trying to mimic that. He has the 2 (DO) and the Go (Dough) down pat. The rest is mumbling but I get the jest of it. I am hoping he will start mimicking the pig-that's the idea.

Last night he was an "only child" for the whole evening. Coop is at grandma's and Taylor is on her mission trip. He seemed very verbal. He was babbling a lot and very animated. I even asked Mike if I was on target by saying "He sure is being talkative". Mike agreed it was out of the norm for him. He wasn't talking to us, but just talking in general as he played. He really never does this and if he does the rest of us are talking over him.....

We have been trying to get him to answer questions.
I asked him last night "Who's that?" and pointed to Mike and he answered "dada"....Mike did the same for me, but he didn't "get" that question. But I do notice he is saying "mama" more. Not sure if he is really calling ME mama or not but I am hearing it more.

I have been working on telling Preston when I am leaving the room since he has a really serious attachment to me. I mean it's nice to have your kid love you and want you around but this is seriously overkill and to see the tantrum he throws when I leave the room even to go to the garage or bathroom or to my bedroom to change clothes is awful. Angie suggested I start telling him "I am going to the ________, Preston. I will be right back". I am sure this is going to take some time....but so far it's not working yet! I know he is fine within minutes of me leaving but it's still not pleasant for anyone.

Preston keeps going to the cabinet where the cups and bowls are and pointing and saying "DIT"...well, I am not sure what "DIT" is but it's NOT drink.....so it must be snack or bowl or something. Anyway it's definitely communication and that's what we're trying to derive from all of this!

Not meeting with Angie this week-or next actually. So, the 18th is the next time with her.
Meanwhile we will see LaQuita tomorrow!!

A great week!!

We met with LaQuita (speech) at 4 yesterday and Carrie (OT) at 6. So it was busy but both were really good sessions.

In speech, LaQuita was asking Preston to identify objects on flash cards. He nearly got them all right which was a first for recognition of objects. She even got him to answer his FIRST question EVER---- when pointing to an apple on a card that we had already asked him to point at she asked him “What’s that Preston” and he said “apple” or “ah-all” So, that was great!! He was able to stay focused and do the tasks and didn’t have too many throw downs.

With Carrie she had some new toys and kept him placed on a towel on the floor. He could play with those toys if he would stay on the towel and he did great. He loved the toys she brought. Lots and lots of fun and learning. One was putting coins into a farm (Fisher Price Farm Bingo) and he handled the fine motor operation great which has been a problem in the past. Even having to turn the coin to the side to put it in wasn’t above him and we were both pleased at how well he did. In the same game he did some matching of animals and seemed to be pretty consistent and handled the task well.

All in all a fantastic week!!

Preston's session with LaQuita last week was less than perfect. He did have some real positives that had happend and that he relayed for LaQuita. He "talked" to his dad on the phone and made inflections and intonations that indicated a conversation. He is responding to "look" and his name much better. We'll say we're hoping for a really good session today and if yesterday's session with Angie is any kind of precursor for how today's session with laQuita will be....it should be fantastic. He did really well with Angie. We were able to redirect him several times. He did one activity with Angie for 20 minutes!!! That's definitely nearly record setting. Taking turns was difficult for him. He didn't really WANT Angie to have a turn using the magnetic fishing pole to pick up fish but a little redirection and some high fives and we got him back in line. YAY!!

Imy reported that when she gave Preston his lunch the other day, he looked right at her and said "thank you" plain as day! I guess all of the kids got excited, too!

Preston's session with Angie was strained yesterday. He wants to control everything. We had to force him hand over hand to complete a puzzle he was perfectly happy doing until Angie took the pieces from him (he was already controlling where the board was placed) . He did a few other things for her but it was pretty limited. At the end, he went over sat on her lap and loved on her a bit....probably just enough to convince her to come back next week!

Angie discussed the possibility of having a team meeting with all of the therapists, our caseworker and Mike and I so we can lay some ground rules for what we will accept and what we will put our feet down on. I think it's a good idea.

Yucky Progress!

The other day we were sitting at the dinner table and Preston said to me "deghkky". He said it with an upturned nose. Sort of like "gross". Well, I know from our diaper duty that this is for "Yucky"...when I change his diapers I say "Pee-yuuuu...YUCKY" and he loves to say that back.
So, he was telling me at the table that he had a poopy diaper! So, for some that's not exactly rocket science but it sure was nice being forewarned and told it had happened!

We're hoping for a good meeting with Angie today. The last few sessions with all of the ladies haven't been too whippy. Hopefully, we will be back on track today and I can report some great advances!

Mike met with Carrie (OT) and Preston on Monday. Sounded to me like it was not a great session. Preston really wanted nothing to do with Carrie no matter how engaging she is! He showed her over and over how stubborn he is. Carrie wanted him to drink some yogurt through a straw to help strengthen his mouth muscles. He kept going to the kitchen and getting a spoon and using it instead...and then when they wouldn't let him do that, he used the straw as a spoon. Carrie says he is one tough nut to crack!! She left him some chew toys this week and he is actually using one quite a bit. We have seen him chewing on it. We notice he doesn't really seem to suck on his pacifier as much as put it in his mouth and hold it off to the side.

He is mimicking so well these days. We even think he is replying to "I love you"...now his sounds more like "ba-ba-bo" but hey it's something! Also he is covering his eyes and saying "tee-doooo" (Peek-a-boo) All good progress!!! I seem to hear him babbling a lot lately....just general vowels but I think he is sneaking new consonants in on me. I need to pay more attention and then record those. I keep forgetting.

Preston seems to be getting frustrated with tasks he does not want to complete during his speech therapy sessions (well and the sessions with Angie). He was difficult for LaQuita yesterday. She was, however, able to engage with him a little at the beginning by being silly and playing silly tickle and peek a boo games. He lost interest quickly with most of tasks LaQuita had for him. We're hoping next week is a better week in general! We are all noticing a lot more mimicking. He said "Go" once PERFECTLY....the rest of the times he said "Dough" but once was good to hear. He CAN do it. So that is good.

Lately when I change his diaper I will say "Ewwwwww. STINKEEEEEE"....He thinks that is really funny. The other day, he just had a wet diaper so I said to him "Let's go change your diaper"...He went over laid down and scrunched up his nose and said "Ewwww....Deeekchy" It took me a second to realize that he was instigating that conversation-I had not said that since the last REAL stinky diaper the night before! He said it several times. It was wonderful to hear him saying that! Hearing him say anything is nice.

LaQuita would like for us to continue to work on asking him "What's that?" and praising whatever response he gives with "That's right. That's a truck", etc. Angie has us working on matching this week. LaQuita also suggested some matching by taking animals and having him put them on the correct flash card with the matching animal on it.

Preston wasn't too interested in Angie's toys or games today. We finally figured out that we needed to start out with something more simple like the play dough. The toys were just too demading for him today. He was agitated but Angie got him involved with some sensory therapy near the end of the session. He was having issues with his fine motor skills too and that seemed to frustrate him which in turn discouraged him.

One thing we have noticed this week is that he is mimicking much more! Seems like you can ask him to say about any word and he says it. Now, no one would necessarily hear him say the word and understand it but the annotations and inflections are correct. It's fun to hear him "TRYING" now to respond to our requests for words.

We had a great session with LaQuita last week. Preston was very engaged with her. He stayed at several tasks for several minutes. He worked HARD. He identified several pictures. He said "open" as well as he can say "open"...it sounds like "uh-oh". LaQuita left us with a good task. We are to ask him "What's that?" just evoking any kind of verbal response and then respond to him "That's right. It's a ball" or a "truck" or whatever. It's not going great so far but I think it will just take a little time.

Angie taught us the sign for "Help" a couple of weeks ago. Preston has been using it very well for the last week or so. He seems to "get it" most of the time and understand what it is for. Sometimes I have to remind him and sign Do you need "help"? and then he signs it and a couple of times he has actually instigated it himself.

Tonight we went to the park to play. Aboout 10 minutes before I had planned on leaving, Preston started to whine and throw mini tantrums....he was not happy and he and I could not figure out what it was he wanted. Finally, I asked if he wanted to go bye bye and he seemed happy with that answer. I got Coop and we headed to the car. Preston seemed happy once we got in the car but let me just say it was a long time figuring that out and it amazed me. He never wants to leave the park!

He does seem to be understanding much more of what we are saying to him.
Yesterday we were in a Doctor's building and he was engaging with strangers....smiling and waving like I have never seen him do before. He was waving at anyone who went by and was expecting them to return the exchange!

Angie was here today to work with Preston. He was in a fantastic mood until he saw her and then it was all over. He just was NOT interested in her games or her toys! The first half of the session was spent just trying to get him involved and from throwing fits. He did finally come around. That kid can be quite a pistol. He was mimicking a lot today. Lots of "mmmmmm's" and "ummmmm's" etc. I am hoping he does better with LaQuita tomorrow than he did with Angie today. Carrie called and she will be coming to the end of our session with LaQuita tomorrow.

Progress

Last night Preston went to the kitchen and stood where we keep the banana's, pointed and said something ----no idea what it was but I am going with "banana". lol!

Also, last night he identified the following animals on his flash cards: duck, cow, kitty, dog, sheep, horse. Today he identified and said the following words/pictures in a book: ball, socks, shoes, truck, milk.

When we were playing with a race track yesterday, whenever we would push the button that pushed the cars to start he would say "DOUGH" (Go)

Slowly but surely we're getting some communication out of him.

We have been working on sensory issues too. It's been tough to get adjusted to adding those into our routines. We have definitely done so with the electric toothbrush....we have wrapped him up tight in a towel....we have been swinging and having him push and lift. He helps me add clothes to the washing machine. Carrie comes again tomorrow and we can get some better direction from her.

Background

Just for a little background.....Preston Walker Bennett was born March 23, 2006. He weighed 9 lbs 2 oz. and came via a planned C-Section. It was an uneventful pregnancy after what seemed like an eternity of trying to conceive. We took fertilty drugs at one point and discussed Invitro as well as IUI with my OB who was doubtful we would conceive without medical intervention. We finally threw in the towel in December of 2004 and took a cruise in January of 2005 set to be a family of four. That summer, we decided to add to our family and adopted a dog from the Humane Society. Milo moved in and 4 days later I conceived Preston....This baby was as near to a miracle as we could imagine.

After a pretty normal first 16 months or so of his life, we went for his 15 month check up (we were a month late) and Dr. Roziona (Pediatrician) asked about his words. At that point Preston only said "hi" (although emphatically) He had said dadda earlier in the summer, as well as mama. But no longer said those words. He didn't appear to have any sort of naming convention for Mike or I or anything else for that matter. Dr Rozina suggested that we contact Johnson County Infants and Toddlers Assn. for an evaluation.

I met with Nikki Weideman in August of 2007. She scheduled LaQuita Rabanaal to come in and evaluate Preston's speech and language. At that time, he was assessed at a 3-6 month level and everything else (behviorally and cognitively) he was right in line with where he should be.

Over the next several months we had lots of progress and a few setbacks. At the time of Preston's 6 month evaluation, it was suggested that Angie Steiger come in and evaluate him, since he was having "attending" problems with LaQuita. He seemed to be getting up and leaving and was hard to keep him attentive to LaQuita's visits. He was really having issues with LaQuita at the time. He seemed to be avoiding her and not making eye contact and playing only with me and paying attention to me but not to her. No matter what fun toys she brought he wanted nothing to do with her. It may have stemmed from a 3 week period that we decided to put him in his high chair for their sessions. He may have been "punishing her" for trapping him in the high chair-lol.....Once Angie started (one hour a week)seeing him weekly, he seemed to be ok with LaQuita and allowed her to play with him and started making eye contact again and was having fun with her.

Angie's evaluation let us know he may be sensory seeking. An Occupational Therapist was called into do an assessment. It was decided after the assessment that 2 hours a month would be allotted for an OT to come into the house and work with Preston regarding his sensory issues.

Carrie Grossdider our newly assigned OT came out April 17th and we began working with her.
The last several weeks have seemed to show quite a bit of progress. Which is why I decided to start keeping this on-line journal. My cousin asked me if I was tracking his progress personally like as in a journal and I thought a blog would be much more along the lines of something I could handle updating!

We met with Angie tonight. She is the Early Childhood Special Education teacher.
Preston didn't do as well today as Angie and I talked for a few minutes at the beginning of the session. Angie thought that may have thrown him off some. He just wasn't interested in her or her toys or games!

Children's Mercy Evaluation Team

We met with the evaluation team at Children's Mercy Developmental and Behavorial Sciences group yesterday for Preston's evaluation.

We spent a long and exhausting morning with the group of Doctors at Children’s Mercy Preston got pretty worn out, too. He fell asleep on daddy's shoulder while the Doctors went over their findings with us.They had a lot of work for him and a lot of questions for Mike and I. There is a LOT to take in and several areas of concern. The first being that he is moderately to severely speech and language delayed (DUH-lol).

They could see why they were looking at him for signs of Autism but really aren’t thinking that is what is going on. It appears to be several things. They won’t rule autism out at this point but he is not being diagnosed with it at this time and may never be-which is good! Their primary concerns appear to be Oral Apraxia and possibly dyspraxia. These are all things we will continue to work with the Occupational Therapist on. Speech Pathologists are who ultimately diagnose those types of conditions so we will leave that to LaQuita (our wonderful SP who also, by the way specializes in Apraxia!) at a later time. There also appears to be some attention deficit areas of concern. His attending is just not good-even for a 2 year old. We will have a big report to pour over. Lots of could be’s and maybe’s but I didn’t feel we got any real tangible answers. He also seems to be sensory seeking a great deal and will no doubt really do well with our direction from Carrie (OT). Since he is not pointing much and doesn’t know how to differentiate between different items-slow learner was also mentioned. We always thought he was a great problem solver and well above his age but truthfully he was right at about the age appropriate level for that.

They also noted that he has a lot of difficulty with transitions so that is something we will be working on, as well as always wanting to eat and have something in his mouth at all times. He has a lot of work to do. In fact we all have lots and lots of work to do.

To date he says when asked the following questions:

How old are you Preston? He replies "DOOOOO"
What does a kitty say? he replies "Mow. Mow." (rhymes with "how")
What does a puppy say? He replies "Aarrrrrrrrghhhhh"

He is saying mama and dada in a limited way
Sometimes says "Es dough" (Let's go)
He is a good mimicer but does not seem to initiate words himself.

Lately he signs "more" saying "mo-mo-mo-mo-mo" over and over and it pretty much equals "get it for me" not necessarily "more" of anything.....just get it.