8/14/08

Not only can Tyler identify his colors, shapes, animals and many letters, but we discovered last night he also knows his numbers, at least #1 - 9. He and I were looking at the clock and I'd say, Where's #5, and he'd point to 5! And then I'd say where's 9 and he'd point to 9. This morning I tested him. He had a book that had a number and the corresponding number of items on each page. When he was on the number 1, I asked him to find the #3 which meant he had to turn the pages until he found the #3 and he did it! Actually I asked him to do this 2 or 3 times and he was successful each time. His pointing opened up a whole new world of communication for us. And think, it was only a few months ago that he started pointing and in that time he's learned all of those things! Way to go Tyler.

We haven't started the yeast free diet yet, I wanted a few weeks of health in our house before we started and so far we still haven't gotten there. Poor Ben never fully recovered from the illness we all get after vacation. We ended up taking him to the doctor on Monday due to a really bad cough. They put him on antibiotics, steroids, and breathing treatments. I fear he'll develop asthsma since he seems to have recurring respiratory issues each time he gets sick.

Speech went well this morning, Tyler said "red" and a few other words, although he was very stubborn when it came to eating. He was doing great until I was making him hold his own spoon or touch his own food and he didnt' want any part of it after that. In fact, his resistance spilled over into daycare as well as she said he wouldn't eat his midmorning snack. What 2-year old isn't stubborn, right, I take this as a good sign. At least he knows what he wants and he doesn't want to touch anythign with texture. Sorry buddy... you gotta do it! Its so easy to give in as a parent, especially when it comes to eating and you want your kids to eat, right. Tyler is around 25 lbs and Ben is only 26 lbs so it's certainly can be tough to do whats best for the long haul vs. what you want to do as a parent to give your child nutrition. It's a lot easier just to feed him and then he'll eat and everyone's happy but that's not what's best for him at all. I figure tomorrow is a new day and we can try again. He's not always resistant to feeding himself, the otehr night he ate a hot dog all by himself, sometimes and some things he's just not wanting to touch. This is very common for childen with autism due to their sensory issues. That cookie I made him touch could have very easily felt like high grit sand paper to Tyler.

We went to a petting zoo this past weekend in hopes that it would be something both boys would enjoy. Tyler was really not interested in any of it and was feeling insecure but handled it all very well. Ben however had a fantastic time with the exception of the chicken that pecked his finger. He rode a pony, it was so cute. He also got to see baby piglets who were only a few days old and he really liked the caboose that was on the property, he loves his trains. After the visit to the zoo, we decided we'd stick to more of the gross motor outtings for a while as both boys really seem to enjoy those.