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Making it Click

It’s a struggle to get Eli interested in learning. Every child is different so there isn’t a one size fits all for learning. You can read blogs, ask a doctor, get advice from friends and family; but at the end of the day what works for others may not work for yours. Eli started making progress over the past 7 months and I can say it’s from finding the one thing that just made it click for him. We would try countless things with no progress then we found the one that worked and BAM he was hooked. Let me give some examples. 
1. Talking. Eli obviously didn’t talk the first three years of life. When we started his therapy trifecta (speech, OT, and ABA) he started with some basics “hi, bye, mama, daddy, etc). But when speech introduced him to Kaufman cards- he took off. It changed how we were introducing these words to him and making it easier for him to say. These cards have different stages on how to have the child pronounce the word from baby speak to correct pronunciation. Since introducing these cards he went from maybe 15 words to over 200. 

2. Reading. Along with talking, I could not get Eli to sit down and read a book with me until just recently. He had no patience to listen to boring stories. He could get talked into doing a couple interactive books if they had flaps or windows to open. Then 1-2 months ago while trying to get him to sleep I asked if he wanted to read a book and he surprisingly said yes. I grabbed 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed. He was instantly hooked. We read it every night for a week. Soon he was saying the lines himself. After that he started getting into cloudy with a chance of meatballs because he had seen the movies. Now he HAS to have stories before bed and he’ll beg for more when I’m finished. 

3. Music. Eli never paid attention to music much before. I could count on one hand how many times I saw him dance until recently. He never sang and rarely danced. He never paid music in general much attention. Until November when we went to see the trolls movie. He fell IN LOVE. He loves everything trolls. But more than anything he loved the music. One day he asked to watch the movie but it obviously wasn’t out on DVD yet since it was still in theatre. So I asked if he just wanted to listen to music? I found the soundtrack on YouTube and then every day on the way to and from school we had to listen to “poppy song”. When we listen to it at home he dances nonstop and sings along to the words! This little boy who just started talking 6 months ago has memorized works to a song and sings them out loud. I am blown away​

For us it’s just a game of trial and error until we find something that just makes it click for Eli. He just needs one thing that makes it interesting or easier and he flourishes. Now I just need to find the thing that makes potty training click for him!

Posted in family, Uncategorized

Another long break

Another long break for me. We packed up our house and moved across the country to the blistering cold and snow. We spent Christmas with my family and Eli and I are saying goodbye to his dad in two days as he sets off for a military adventure. During his time away we will be staying in Michigan. It’s nice to be home with family but it is SO MUCH WORK to transfer all of Eli’s therapies over. He is going to have a long gap before he will start any type of therapy and preschool. I was worried that he would regress in this time but so far that is the complete opposite.

Since I last posted Eli has jumped up to at least 200 words. He spells his name in sign language and loves to spell it for anyone who asks him. He started writing letters independently (some, not all yet). After 3 years of trying to get him into books he finally loves them. He has to get at least three stories before bed time, once those three are read he will ask for “three more story?” and god forbid if you tell him no he will cry and tell you his “heart is broken.”

This was the first holiday that Eli actually understood. Until now he didn’t see holidays, birthdays, or parties as any different type of occasion. This year he understood that Christmas was coming up, what Christmas was, and he actually opened presents. Before he never had any interest in opening past birthday or Christmas presents. However, this year he tore through them all.

When we come back to Michigan Eli has a lot more friends. His best friend is his cousin McKenzie. When they saw each other for the first time they couldn’t be more excited. They hadn’t skipped a beat and played together like they were never apart. We have a lot of opportunity for playdates here so I’m not that worried about his social skills regressing.

One we jump through all the hoops and get his new therapies set up we will fall back into a full schedule. Until then, however, we will be enjoying our lazy life. I, for one, am enjoying the break. Its nice to not always be on the move. I don’t even have to get out of pajamas most days. For now, this is the life.