So where are we today? On Saturday Charlie will be twenty months old. This is both terrifying and amazing. There was a lot of question as to whether or not he would make it past his first week, so to see him travel so far and to thrive is is s wonderful thing. I try not to forget that.
So I looked around and tried to get a feel for the kinds of things a typical kid can do. Many, many of the milestone charts are geared towards gross motor skills, which is not our best area. When I try to find more than that then I find that Charlie is not SO terribly behind. He can't talk, but he seems to understand. He learns daily. He attempts to feed himself with a spoon and we are teaching him to drink from a cup using an independence cup:
He uses the top one. He also drinks from the faucet, which he finds completely delightful. He figures out how things work with a quickness that amazes me. He'll give you a kiss if you ask, but you can't complain if it's a little slimy. He shows people preferences and recognizes voices on the phone. He's making some new advances as well that I'm thrilled about. In his walker, he usually just stands there. Now days he manages to make it move. He's still not taking independent steps, but he's starting to figure it out.
I'm excited to report that the Feldenkrais seems to be having a positive effect. I realize that I was conflicted because of the amount of energy it takes to go to sessions. Our practitioner is wonderful and she loves Charlie so much. He definitely seems to be developing a better awareness of his legs. I haven't said ONE WORD to his regular physical therapist about the Feldenkrais because I already feel like a bit of a loon with the whole ABR thing. Well, on Wednesday she said, "these last few weeks he's really been doing a great job with his legs." He pulled one up to attempt to half-kneel and he also has begun moving them a little while he's commando crawling. These are small things, but they are changes.
I the most exciting thing has been a overall increase in babbling. Yesterday he said, "Aggie," which in my sleepy haze sounded like Daddy. This morning he said "amma," which he has said once before, but it's been quite a while.
So, we're chugging along. . . slowly but surely.
I'll leave you with a video I took. In this video, Charlie has found a glass of ice that I accidentaly left on the floor of his room. He's pushing it along and laughing at the sound it makes when it bumps into things. SO cute. Also, you'll se a little of those leg movements I was talking about.
