Update

I wrote this yesterday and then never posted it oh well, here it is.

Thought it was time for another update, the last week has been good. First we stared trying to get him to use a straw. I bought a cup where you squeeze the cup to get the liquid to go up the straw. So he learned that he gets liquid through the straw. After doing that a few times he actually sucked juice up the straw! So I tried a regular straw cup and he got it! He can now suck through a straw! This is a huge milestone. Straws are very good for oral motor development, help strengthen his facial muscles and get him to use muscles he hadn't used before.

Another thing we decided to try working on again was getting him to feed himself with a spoon. In the past whenever I had done this he had gotten upset and sometimes didn't even want to finish whatever he had been eating. So we tried it at OT, she handed him the spoon and he grabbed it with his left hand and fed himself! He knew just what to do, to dip the spoon in the yogurt cup and put it to his mouth. Like he had always been doing this. I LOVE it when he surprises me like this! He doesn't always want to do it but he CAN do it so we just have to keep encouraging him.

Earlier this week we went to the AAC (Augmentative & Alternative Communication) Resource center. The reason we got the iPad for Joshua was so that one day he would be able to use it to communicate. So I wanted some guidance with choosing an app or something else to get him started learning to communicate with something. She gave us lots of great information and she was very positive about Joshua's ability to learn to communicate! I love hearing positive things about him especially from a professional (she is an SLP - speech language pathologist who specializes in AAC). She was not very positive about the iPad though, she thinks our best bet is to go with something low-tech. I did mention an app I've been looking at and she e-mailed me later on about it and said that looked like a good possibility. She also gave us a photo book that we could fill with photos and picture cards. The app is Verbal Victor, if you know anything about it or have any other suggestions I would love to hear them!

Last night was the Christmas Party at Joshua's preschool. They had one last year too but we didn't go because it's so late, it was late this year too but we went anyway. It's from 6:30 to 8:30, we left around 8 and Joshua didn't fall asleep until after 9 but he had a great time! It was a rough start. We got there right at 6:30 but very few people were there, his teachers were there but not many guests had arrived yet. Joshua got a pouty face and then started crying. So we took him outside to calm him down. When we came back in lots more people had arrived with their kids so Joshua was happier. He loved watching them all run around and trying to chase them. He ate and ate and ate! He even sat on Santa's lap for a few seconds! Long enough for one of his teachers to get a photo and she got a good one! Of course he was smiling at his favorite teacher, she got him to sit still and smile for a minute, he has good taste as she is young and pretty she's even a ballet dancer! He flirted with her all night!