Praise upon Praise

I feel my son has turned ANOTHER corner.... his learning is just growing by the day.

Blake is...

-talking to us about things that he has just done without our asking.

-talking with Kade as they interact together. Kade is finally getting to the age where they choose to be with each other when possible.

-using his imagination to make things other objects and see different things in other objects. 

-continually tying his experiences back to something he knows or a prior experience. "It's like..." and "Remember when..." are common phrases we hear all the time now!

-beginning to make inferences on why things are happening. He is not always correct, but this is new and a positive.

-wanting to make sure we are listening. "Stop that and hear me." 

-has mastered climbing in and out of Kade's crib on his own! Ha! 

-wanting to help with many more things on his own initiative. "Can I help you?!" Love those words!

-playing with Kade and taking turns instead of trying to take everything on his.

-playing with more imagination! He still imagines the same things, but he has a desire for make believe. As I write this he was grocery shopping and asked me for a bag for his carrots and his peas. 

-riding his bike around the house like a mad man! His coordination is fantastic.

-asking more and more questions.

-loving preschool from what we can tell, and from the glimpses I can see from the window and the report from the teacher.

My counselor teaches childhood psychology to Master students. I have found her very helpful. She has a lot of information and I believe God brought her into my life for a reason. Blake follows a borderline for a high-functioning autism diagnosis (at least in my eyes... maybe that is why I am in counseling? ha). Although not one therapist believes he truly has it, my counselor has been helping me see what is typical 3 year old behavior. She also said the type of interaction he already shows and expresses with others keeps him off the spectrum and that he couldn't be placed on it because of that. For a kid who has never struggled with eye contact one day in his life or being with others, that was encouraging to hear and something I know to be true of him. They say his lack of talking keeps him from socially interacting in a way that kids his age have the capability of doing.

" I have had more of a peace about his overall diagnosis which is pretty much one of they have no clue. But his official one of "Communication Disorder" and "Developmental Delay" seems to be more and more true as the last 6 months have played out. And the projected time frame of 5.5 years old for being fully caught up (2 years from now) seems almost reachable for the first time. Of course, that being said, only through the grace and work of Christ in Blake's life. Blake's successes are owed to God answering lots of prayers and displaying His power in Blake. 

Along with 4 days of speech therapy, 1 day of music therapy,  and 2 days of preschool, we also give Blake a highly antioxidant supplement, a high-quality probiotic, and use an essential oil blend every day. There have been lots of theories out there that connect the gut and the brain. I feel I have seen such a huge impact since introducing a probiotic, but i don't believe we will ever be able to pinpoint the exact thing helping those leaps other than GOD'S hand. We also have taken him gluten free for 90% of his diet. We don't control what is outside the house for now, but everything in our house is gluten free for him as well as for Matt. 

Thank you for your prayers friends. It has been a journey and a struggle at that. God is continually revealing my lack of trust, my fear, and my lack of patience on a daily basis. I pray God will use all these trials to help conform me more into Christ's image and to be an encouragement to others around me. I pray so deeply that we will get past this and I can use my experiences to encourage other moms going through this in the future. I try not to make it this "Well God, you heal my son and I will be used by you in the future" thing. Regardless of the outcome, I pray God uses me for His glory. 

Friends, what would we do without Christ? He is my hope. He is my Rock. His Word brings comfort.

"But Moses said to the LORD, ‘O my LORD, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.’ Then the LORD said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?’” - Exodus 4:10-11

I pray God uses Blake in such a huge way like He used Moses. God doesn't choose just those who are eloquent in speech. God made the mouth and He can make man use it. GOD PLEASE DO THAT IN BLAKE!