Progress Report

The last week or so we've seen some progress that I want to report.  I hope to write a progress report every month or two just to keep everyone up to date and also so I can go back and marvel at how much progress he has made. So, without any further ado, here's the latest updates:

Speech:

He is imitating so much more!  He was watching a TV show the other day that had a lot of animal sounds. Normally, he sits quietly and watches TV, or dances during the songs and the credits.  But this time, he was imitating EVERY animal sound he heard.  He was already able to imitate the sounds of a cat, sheep, dog, monkey and cow.  But he attempted the sounds of the horse, goat, crow, chicken, and pig.  I was so proud as I sat next to him on the couch, cheering him on.  The little successes seem like such victories. :)

He's also saying a few new words!  They may not come out correctly every time, but he has been able to say the following new words:

• Ball
• Pop
• Bubble
• Yeah!
• I/eye
• Want
• Whoo whoo (for trains)
• Bob (for both the Builder and the Tomato)
• No! (my least favorite word so far, but hey, it's progress and I'm proud of him)

We also are so happy to report we are no longer on the wait list for speech at the private clinic!  Wahoo!  This is perfect timing, as we only have two more sessions with our amazing speech therapist through Early Intervention.  Our new speech therapist has a lot of experience working with kids with apraxia which is such a blessing.

Gross Motor:

At physical therapy, home and at the playground, we've been working on pedaling a bicycle, walking up and down stairs without putting hands on the stairs, and jumping.  Although progress hasn't been made on the first or last of our goals, a lot has been made on the second.  I've been able to take him to playgrounds a lot more because of the nice weather, and I smile with pride as I watch him step up and down the stairs, clinging tightly to the railing, rather than crawling up and down them.  He's able to keep up a lot better with other kiddos this way and I think it has been a big boost to his confidence and he has been attempting new things physically that he never would have before. 

For example, this picture was taken at our children's art museum.  This particular thing has two little steps so that the little ones can step up and push the buttons to make the cars race around the picture.  Before, he would never even attempt to go up the steps, but would sign that he wanted up and I would either help him climb up, or would put him on the top step.  But, I was proud to watch him step right on up and push the button, grinning with delight when the cars started zooming around the track.

He also has been attempting climbing ladders and rock walls at the playground, and though he needs a lot of assistance, he never would have even tried them before.

Nutrition:

He has always been the pickiest of eaters and we are really working on helping him overcome that.  This kid has been living on peanut butter&jelly sandwiches, chicken, crackers, fruit, yogurt, and junk food.  We have been trying to put one new food on his plate and make him eat at least one bite.  Last night, he had a bite of egg, which made him gag, but we were proud of him for trying.  Today with lunch he had some peanuts. He cried and cried about us making him eat them, but once he tried one, he decided it wasn't so bad and gobbled up the rest.

I have been reading that a lot of kids with apraxia have deficiencies in vitamin E, zinc, omega 3's and choline.  We have decided to try to give him foods that contain more of these in them (cue the peanuts and eggs) in hopes he will get more naturally.  Right now he takes gummy vitamins and a calcium supplement, as well as fish oil. I have ordered the book Cure Your Child With Food: The Hidden Connection Between Food and Childhood Ailments by Kelly Dorfman and can't wait to start reading it.  I truly believe that improving his diet and giving him the proper supplements he needs will only continue to boost his speech and gross motor progress, as we've seen a lot of progress just with the fish oil supplementation.  I definitely plan on talking to his pediatrician about this at his 3 year well visit next week.

I hope to write another post about the supplements/nutrition once I learn more.  And stay tuned, I plan on posting a more recent video of his speech so you can see how much progress he's made in the last few months since we've started the fish oil. :)