Progress is a wonderful thing

The last few weeks has shown a lot of progress in Lil’ B’s development in several areas. Developmental progress is the thing we live for in him and I couldn’t be happier. Some advancements are very small things, like being able to wait for something to be done before acting on impulse (Wait until dad has his head out of the fridge before you close the door, Buddy.) Knowing that if he has a bottle in his hand he’s supposed to be in his room and lying down. (he’s got the in the room part down, the lying down part we’re still working on, and as for the bottle, YOU may try to wean him from it if you wish. I personally enjoy sleep and I’d like to keep getting some, as he will not sleep without a bottle)

Other things are huge and would be noticeable to anyone. Lil’ B. is holding eye contact far more often, rather than just staring out into the space over your shoulder. He’s memorized the order of the toys his therapists want him to play with and what he’s supposed to do with them and he’s started to mimic sounds and fight to learn new words.

Yes. New Words.

For yesterday and today, at least, his word of choice is “Three”, though is just comes out as “Eeeee!” I’ll take it, though. It’s effort and he knows what it means, as is evidenced by the huge giggle he gives off when either mom or dad repeats it to him as “three”. I think learning to say YAY was what triggered the speech process. It dawned on Lil’ B. one day that just the word was enough. That the hand clapping, while immensely fun, wasn’t necessary. The WORD meant something all on its own. Now that he has the concept, he’s exploring it. I have little doubt that he’ll be talking up a storm within a few months… (OK, that’s optimistic, but I can see the intelligence in his eyes, so I’m very hopeful.)

Hopefully the next few months won’t knock him of stride. Starting tomorrow the very real business of getting the house ready for our impending move begins, so things will be changing around him. For the most part it will just look like we’re cleaning, since as I pack boxes they will be moved to the outside storage shed or into our closets, but the things around the house are going to be steadily dwindling as time goes by, and Lil’ b. does not like change…

I’m thinking that perhaps having him help to pack up some of the less important bits and come with me while I store them away will help him understand that these changes are good things, rather than disruptions in his life and routine. That way we can get the bulk of the loose items packed away safely (and without the movers knowing where most of the really expensive and important items are which can be a plus considering the amount of theft reported recently.)

Do you think it will help? Leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.