What Joshua's "Saying" Now

Hi, again! I can't believe I've been able to get to the computer so much today! The boys are behaving very well, and I'm able to catch up on a few things.

I thought I'd share a little about Josh's progress. When Matt was implanted, he had a little more hearing and speech history, he did very well with his CI right away. Well, Josh is doing very well, too, just taking a little longer to reach some milestones. I'm always amazed at how unique each child is, even in the same family! Josh is doing VERY well with his hearing/receptive skills. He is identifying words by pointing to pictures, and is picking up new words much more quickly now. He is following directions, "Put the apple on the table." "Sit down on the chair." "Come inside, close the door.", etc. much better now, too. Oral, without me signing at all. We play with doll house toys, good language builders, too. "Put the Mommy on the chair." "Put the dog in the boat." So while his receptive language is progressing, I've had to put some extra effort into his expressive language.

"The Boys" did some "therapy" with me this morning. I'm not going to lie, I use mini-M&M's to bribe them sometimes. I'll say, "Matt, the cow says, 'Moooooo'." Matt says, "Mooooo". Then I do that with Chris, then Josh. And he does it! He does much better, tries things he wouldn't otherwise, because he wants to be just like his brothers! That's good now, hope it doesn't get him in trouble later. :) After they each do it well, they get a mini-M&M sometimes. I might not win any Good Mommy awards, but candy is a very good motivator in this case. And someone pointed out that brushing teeth is a good oral motor "therapy", too, ha ha!

Back to Josh. He is vocalizing in his therapy so well now it surprises me! Maybe not as great as some kids may do, but he's made some very big personal strides lately. He's doing mostly vowel sounds right now, but it's the right vowel sound, right pattern, etc. I think it's harder for him to say some sounds, though, like "ooooo", because of his lower muscle tone. It takes some good oral motor skills and muscles for the mouth to make the right shape. But it's amazing to watch as he gets stronger in his arms and legs, even walking up and down stairs, I watch him get stronger in his oral motor skills, too! I would have never imagined how those would go hand in hand for Josh w/o all of his prior therapies.

Here's an example of some Josh's vocalizations: Daddy = "ah-ee", I love you. = "I-uh-ouh.", up up up = "ub ub ub", ow="ow", down = ooooww, apple="ab-oh", water="wa-uh", candy="ah-ee", please="eeeee", milk="muh", go="mbo", stop="mah" or "ahp", bye bye=half of the time "muh muh"& half of the time "buh bye".

He does a few of these spontaneous, w/o any prompting, but he does need prompting for some of it, too. I'm very excited to be writing about this, though, because sometimes I work so hard with him I forget how far he's actually come. I think these skills were just emerging when we were leaving WA for PA, I can't remember exactly. But they're very consistent now. Some days better than others. I get very frustrated sometimes, I want to see more with him, but when I remember how far he's come, that only by the grace of God and his CI (grin) he can hear, I am amazed. Matt's speech success seemed much quicker, I can't remember. Josh's had more vestibular problems/issues, but he is really doing well. Such a good trooper!

It's also kind of funny how hard I've worked to help them talk, and then I just want them to be quiet! Maybe that's just me, maybe it's a mommy thing. :) Seriously, Matt talks ALL the time. Never stops asking questions now. He's reading chapter books now, thank goodness! A little more quiet. Seriously, I didn't mind signing with him, but I'm also thrilled with how well he's done with his CI and speech. That's what motivates me to keep working with Josh most days, seeing Matt and how well he's doing.

Well, I'm on the second floor and can hear them fighting in the basement now. Over legos. The funniest thing right now is that Matt is VERY CLEARLY telling Chris how things are, and Chris, my very well spoken little boy is prone to just screaming back at Matt. I am constantly reminding Chris, "Use your words!" Ugh, never stops... :)