Update #7

Oh this cutie! The past 2 weeks he has started loving to wear our shoes! It is neat to see him start doing things that most kids do, even if it is a year behind or so! :) Kade also is in this stage right now so they both will walk around with my shoes on. Blake has also voluntarily worn his hat more which is fun to see too. 

Blake is commenting and talking very well. His therapist is continually impressed with his progress and is amazed at how much progress he has made in 2 short months. He is starting to figure out emotions and comments when he watches TV or when he sees my facial expressions with, "Oh, he is mad!" or "You are happy mom!" Ms. Katie says that this fact is VERY promising for him and she has full confidence in his potential. We know that being able to read emotions is HUGE, so we are thankful to be seeing this skill emerge with him. 

He has started shaking his head "yes" and "no" and using more gestures - something he hadn't been doing before. Again, this is just showing further growth on his part! He is also using words like, "HEY!" to get our attention. 

His echolalia is getting better. He still continually sings and loves music. The songs bug me, especially when he sings in the most random places like during dinner. I know this is partly due to the fact that he feels like words need to be spoken to fill that void, and singing is easiest (according to his therapist). 

 He walks around with sticks and likes to play drums. He also has a little piano that his Opa and Omi got him a while back that he enjoys playing, as well as my big piano. He will sit there and play and sing made up songs or a version of a bunch of songs put together. Yesterday when I told him to go play with Kade in his room he started walking and looked back and said, "Come on back Kade! I will teach you how to play the piano!" while gesturing with his hand to follow him. To think this is the same child as 2 months ago is mind-blowing. He attempts to include his brother in most things.

He has started talking "gibberish" sentences to me this week. He will try to tell me something and just can't get to the words quick enough so he is just making sounds. It is hard to see, but also encouraging to see. It shows his brain is thinking quicker than he can access the words. Hopefully that gets better with time. We still have to give a lot of "wait time" when we are talking with him. I am finding if you give him some time, he usually has something to say. A lot of times I know what will be said, but other times I don't. And sometimes it is still something random, but part of me wonders if that is because he can't get to the words he wants, so he chooses to say something common and easily spoken.

He is a VERY visual learner. Very hands on. We find that his experiences provide most of his talking points. And this is okay. Hopefully talking will become easier for him like it already has.

I am very thankful for the progress that we have seen. God has answered prayers. I feel I still find myself discouraged some days when I start focusing on the things that have NOT changed much. Like his playing. He still can not play imaginatively well at all. He doesn't take his trucks and play with them or do anything without me leading the play. He follows me around and is content to do NOTHING which is just so ironic to me. I still feel he wonders around not playing with much. He will line some things up like blocks, and when I tell him that is not how we play with toys, he gets frustrated at me. I am trying to find that balance for him or just letting him being a kid but coming along side and helping him since that is how he will improve. He still chooses to play with cause and effect toys and is best independently with legos or building. But even that doesn't keep his attention much anymore. 

As I write this, he came up to me and said, "What do you want to play with?" I told him I was going to work on my computer and told him he should go play cars with Kade. He told me, "No. I want to play with Mommy." This is often his response. But again, its more me telling him how to play rather than him playing WITH me. He doesn't offer much. 

Prayers: continued talking for him, improvements in his playing, and a patience and trust in God for myself. I still find myself apprehensive. 

Thanks friends and family!