Little Successes

Apraxia is so complex and when you mix it with Little Man's self regulation diagnosis, it's even trickier and more complex. He works his tail off in therapy and every day to get us to understand him and to become engaged in communication with us.

When Hubby comes home from work, he always asks us about our day...often I will remark about the kids' behaviors and Big Girl will show off something exciting or rattle off a bunch of stuff...but Little Man will give big hugs and smiles and then I will comment on something we did so Hubby can ask him direct question about his day, and LM can respond with a smile or a nod.

A few times in the recent weeks, LM has become creative in showing hubby what he experienced over the day. The other day we had a huge downpour in the afternoon and the sun was out, which meant an instant rainbow! So I carried Little Man outside and called for Big Girl to come out - and we saw this huge, bright rainbow. Later when Hubby came home, we were telling him about therapy, cheer camp, and our trip to the store, Little Man found a drawing of a rainbow in Big Girl's room, ran to hubby and pointed to it and then out the window and yelled, "Me!"

It is so hard sometimes to understand what Little Man wants, yet at other times, common sense just has to prevail. I either find myself simply "knowing" what he wants by slight gestures, or consoling him when I don't with, "I'm so sorry you are frustrated and can't tell me.". Granted, I think I am able to understand it most of the time, so now I'm able to add "Mind Reader" to my resume. ;)

This weekend, we got rid of a ton of stuff...so much that I felt bad, so we went to Toys R Us to get a new toy. Big Girl got some big kid legos and I was looking for the Little People Airport LM played with at a friend's house. Well, they didn't have an airport, but there was a small construction car ramp by Little People that he seemed to like, so we went with that. Well, later that day when Hubby came home and saw the new toys, Little Man picked up the box and pointed to a picture of another ramp set and pointed to hubby and then himself and cried, "Me!" Yup, as you can guess, he wanted that ramp and the same motions and "Me!" carried on throughout the evening. It's interesting, because Big Girl can ask and ask and ask for everything (and we don't always get it for her), but it was the first time Little Man has asked for something for himself. We have toy catalogs and advertisements out, but he has never made that connection...until now. So of course, after our washout of a yardsale, we celebrated his new found assertiveness for wanting something, and got it for him...and we all played with it after his nap. Later on tonight, he pointed to his new toy and then to himself, and then to his mouth which had a smile and said, "Me!". My instincts tell me he was telling me that he was happy. :). Yup, don't need to be a mind reader for that! :)