French Fries!!!

This week has been an EPIC speech week, but behavior wise, we've had our good and bad days.

Matthew has started to imitate words.  To us, that is one of the greatest victories we could have.  At one point, our developmental pediatrician told us that, if we could get Matthew to start imitating language, we'd be in great shape.  We have arrived....it has begun.  I'm doing a not-so-pretty dance of joy over that.

Example--this week, we were driving in the car and I had just been a bad Mom and snagged a little Burgerville (with their gluten free bun--gotta love it when fast food accommodates our special diet).  The kids were in the backseat starving because I had waited too long to feed them.  Matthew starts yelling at me for "french fry! french fry!"  I loved it!  I was giddy the whole way home and gave him one at a time so I could hear him yell it at me a zillion times.

We are potty training Adi and talking about "pee" and "poop" a lot, so Matthew also talks about that a lot....but he TALKS!  He echos those terms frequently and even follows us to the potty more often than before to do his own business.  Nice how some of the first phrases my kids echo deal with our favorite topics, eh?  "Toot" is also among his favorite terms.  And he uses those spontaneously.  Gross, but they are words!!!  We'll take 'em!  As part of this process, we bribe Adi with her favorite treat--gum.  Matthew busted out with an "I want gum" the other day as well.  Count them people...THREE WORDS.  Rock on, my little man!

Now, behavior wise, we haven't had the most epic week--good and bad days.  The good ones have been really good though....which is wonderful!  However, the bad ones have been pretty nasty.  Lots of flailing, wrestling, running in circles around me, not wanting to walk with me (translate: bolting), etc.  He is doing something new that really has Todd and I concerned...and makes him look a bit more "different."  He plays with his ears a lot. He zones out a bit and grabs his ears.  I almost feel like we are looking at this behavior and inclined to label it stimming (sp??) because of his diagnosis.  I'm not sure that's what it is, but I also don't want to be naive and ignore it.  So I've talked to his therapists about it and asked what the appropriate response it, especially if it is a stimming habit, and we are responding as they instructed (not drawing attention to the behavior and talking about it, but rather interfering with it and redirecting, if that makes sense).

Another challenge is that Matthew seems to want whatever Adi has.  And he is not gentle about it.  You can imagine just how well this goes over in church.  We are the people no one wants to sit by.  Actually, let me take that back.  We are the people that those who want to be entertained seek out to sit by, but those who actually want to pay attention avoid.  We were in another ward this week and Adi and Matthew were going at it like cats and dogs--grabbing stuff from each other and SCREAMING when things were taken from them. Adi got so mad at Matthew that she yanked the hair of the person in front of us. Not quite sure why her anger was redirected that way, but you can imagine how well that went over.  Ah, the joys.

Matthew gives kisses now....that's another victory.  Onward and upward.  I'm tired after this week, I admit.  Todd and I have been so insanely busy (and I've had no phone to speak of because Matthew bit through my already-cracked screen which he had chucked onto the cement floor of the dr's office), so I feel like I need a little recharge so that we are able to get through the next week, but I'm certainly celebrating because we have had lot of little victories!!!