I've neglected this blog for too long...

It's true, I have neglected writing for awhile..I have just had no inspiration to write anything or energy for that matter. I suppose I should do a little update on Gage. That is always easy to do.

Gage is doing well. He is obsessed with puzzles lately. Well, puzzles and his Brown Bear book. I have been working with him on animal sounds, he currently will say "arf arf, heh heh heh"(the barking and panting of a dog, lol), guack, guack(while making his hand into a duck's bill), "ppppppp"(which is is horse..think of the sound after the horse whinny's) and the last one is a cat..but I have no idea how to write that sound. He doesn't meow, he makes a slurp sound for the cat drinking milk. I was pretty impressed with how well he has been doing with them and made his own versions of the sounds the animal actually makes.

He is also doing quite well (well..some days not so well..) on using more than one sign at a time. Right now he can do 4..for example he can sign "Want more drink please" or "Want eat again please". Please is his strongest sign for sure. He uses it all the time! We are working on teaching him Rocket(because he brings one everywhere) and help. His therapy is going well, but we are going to switch to ABA therapy for something new. On certain areas Gage has plateaued and is regressing on some things. It seems he will regress lets say, with using the sign for "more", but only for a little while and then it comes back again. Some times I think it is just him being a stubborn 2 year old. I say this because we will ask him if he wants more, he says "Yeah!" and I tell him "Show me" and Gage will look at me and just say "No". So the fact that he is saying no, he doesn't want to sign makes me think its not always that he can't do it.

I got Gage a swing set today, its not the one I wanted which was about $900, this one was more affordable at $200. I still want the other one, but I couldn't justify spending that much money on a swing set me might outgrow. So we went with one that has a trampoline attached and has the longest slide on it. That is the only thing he really likes anyway, so the rest of it isn't that important. I'm hoping for a nice day so we can get it put together for him. Hopefully before Gage's girlfriend comes to visit. I also got him a water table, he has already gone nuts for it and there is no water in it! I will admit, I put a little in it and let him play..in the dining room. He of course got water all over so I dumped it. He was less than happy with me. So outside should be fun for Gage this summer. He will have the swing set, water table, sand box, his bounce house and I am going to get him a wagon for walks soon.

I started reading a book recently, "Ten Things Every Child with Autism Wishes You Knew" it has really made me think about how I do things with Gage. I am only about half way through it, thanks to lack to quiet time to read, lol, but I would recommend it to parents, relatives and pretty much anyone with constant contact with a child on the spectrum. Its really made me think about why Gage does this, how I should/shouldn't react, my lack of truly understanding how it is for him with things..plus a lot more. It makes me think, ok when Gage is knocking down the blinds because he is standing on his head..he isn't trying to knock them down..he is seeking pressure on his head/trying to fulfill that sensory need. I don't know, its just an interesting book.

Well I am going to take it as a hint that I should finish this..since I am zoning out, staring at the screen. Until next time...hehe