- A few months ago Miss Sarah gave Justin some pictures with picture/word cue cards. It was to help Justin put together two word phrases like "brush hair" and "kick ball". It didn't take Justin long to figure them all out and even go beyond the phrases she invented.
He has been using two word phrases for a while and now Sarah gave us homework to begin trying to get three words at a time out of him. Even if it's just adding "please" after "want help" or something like that. It has gone really well! I think I can even say that Justin now has the expectation of being understood. That is a completely different approach which puts the onus on us to try to understand. It's is still work, but fun because we get the chance to experience what's going on in his little head. It turns out to be quite a lot!
- Sarah has also made Justin a couple of these books for him to read. She puts the pictures at the bottom and he reads the simplified version. He really seem to enjoy them. He can be like Travis.
- Miss Caroline left to start her own office in Austin so Justin has a new OT therapist, Miss Jenna. They have been working on writing and tracing lines, shapes, and letters. He gets the gist of the pattern, but he can't get the corners yet.
- Justin has been doing some projects at therapy. This was the ornament Justin made for the tree. He's working with regular scissors and he's struggling with the opening and closing motions. The loop scissors he has just need to be squeezed to cut, so this is the opposite motion. He cut this candy cane all by himself! And then he put the beads on himself too.
This was the Thanksgiving project. It's a "feather" that describes what Justin's thankful for. We ask him this question a lot and this is his usual answer so I wasn't surprised!
- Miss Penny helped Justin meet a huge milestone: He can jump! He can jump forward, straight up, and even off a 12-inch step. He still doesn't land with his knees bent every time, but he's made great progress. And he can pedal a recumbent tricycle. He started with a tricycle that used both hands and feet, and now he is transitioning to just feet. He can't keep the motion going for very long, but he's doing better.
- We are learning that Justin has a very good memory for the things that are important to him. He learned quickly that birthdays mean presents and that even Jesus birthday meant presents for him. He knows that Pop tells him stories and gives him apple juice, and that's what he asks for as soon as we get to his house. And we had better be careful about what we promise because Justin will hold us to out word!
- And a potty update: Whew, it doesn't seem like it's been 5 months since we started this process. I really hoped we would be done by now, but instead we seem to be regressing. I wash at least one set of his sheets every day, plus one or two pair of underwear. I finally gave up and bought pull-ups for nights. I am not sure what is so hard about nights when he was doing so well, so until we figure it out I am taking a break from daily laundry. It seems like any little thing gets him out of whack and the first thing we notice is accidents. And he even has had some accidents during naps. I had to wash ALL of my in-laws bedding when we had our Christmas celebration. Comforter down to mattress pad. I am just glad that's as far as it went.
- CPAP update: He has figured out how to take it off and he does. Frustrating. He will even get out of bed and turn it off sometimes and other times he just takes it off and lets it blow. So he gets to play on the ipad if he leaves his mask on all night. A lot of times we have no idea, but fortunately (or unfortunately) he has no idea either. I think that's part of our problem. We need to make it harder to come off and we really can't. It's kind of a catch-22 with the potty problem. (He can't make it to the potty if the mask won't come off.) He has been sick so he hasn't worn it all the time and I have noticed a difference in his level of alertness. I think that's a good confirmation for us.
- Justin really wants to do everything Travis does. That's usually a good motivator for learning so we really like that. Justin likes doing school with Travis and is trying to learn letters. He runs and climbs to keep up with Travis. But then there are the times when we have to say no. Travis is great at soothing Alaina and he gets on his hands and knees over her and talks with her and when Justin tries to imitate him he ends on laying smack on top of her! Still struggling to figure this one out.
- Justin is still very much a little boy. When he gets hurt or sick or he is sad or tired, he needs mommy and even though he is older than Alaina, he doesn't understand when I can't hold him. He has started biting his nails and I worry it's because he is not getting the attention he needs. Maybe I just worry too much! :)
- We saw some family over the holidays who we don't see very much and they commented on how much progress Justin has made over the past year. (The last time they saw him.) Oh my goodness! What an encouraging word. I so needed to hear that from someone who really truly noticed! It's hard to step back and look that far to see, but God planned those words for my ears on that night. He is amazing, let me tell you!
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