Let me first say that it is SO hard to post without one of my cats wanting to come up and sit on my lap where my keyboard is. I have one persistant kitty that I've managed to make sit so he is not on top of the keyboard and so I can type. Now he rubs his chin on the top of my hand..... :-D
It has been a busy month for us! DH has finished his training to work from home about 2 weeks ago. He works for the "fruit" computer company and takes calls from across the US and Canada to help people trouble shoot the problems they have with their phones and ipads. We needed to do something, as we were always in the hole every month and eating into savings. DH searched the internet one weekend and applied and was one of the 2% of applicants who got hired. He then began a 6 week training course online, here at home, while my mom watched Luke throughout the day. (kitty is now headbutting me for petting... oh dear!) He is able to work nights and weekends when I am off work so that we don't have to find a babysitter or ask my mom to watch him. I love her to pieces, but I really don't know how we survived as children. Either that, or she's gotten worse as she's aged - I'm glad Luke is as self-sufficient as he is, or we would have gone another route.
While DH was in training, and Luke went to my moms during the day, this was also the time that he began speech therapy at Rite-Care (which is a division of the Masons, I think). It is something that he qualifies for, so he and Miss Emily have fun playing together for about 45 minutes once a week. He has been pretty good about it all, as she works with him through playing. He is looking up at us now more when he talks to see how our mouths form words than he did before. Luke still won't sign "more," "milk," "eat," and a few other common signs that we've been trying to use since he was 18 months old. He just won't do it. He'll let you help him do it, but doesn't have the desire to do it himself. He *once* said and signed "more" when I was at my parents house picking him up after work. We were dosing him with Motrin for a cold he had at the time, and as I was talking to mom & dad asking how things were, he reached into his bag and pulled out the Motrin bottle. He said AND signed "more, more." I about died! I was so happy and so proud of him!!! But he hasn't done it since. I guess I feel a little better that he can do it - we just need to work on the desire to do it. His biological brother, E, didn't want to talk / couldn't talk at his age, but now at 3-1/2, he is talking ok.
We are also working with a second group of people at the Early Intervention program with the Public Schools. He had 2 ladies come out to evaluate him and they agreed that he was developmentally delayed in the speech department and a little in the motor skills department (i.e. blowing bubbles, pointing to pictures in the book, pointing in general, shaking head yes or no, etc). He has had one session with them so far - I think there will be 2 per month. We are also trying to print out pictures of things he "knows" are his (like "blanket", "milk", "juice,") or things he does (like "walk", "bath", "swing.") to help him a little as well.
We will keep trying and keep signing and try and get through this hurdle. This is not the worst thing in the world, but it is frustrating to watch him be so frustrated! And it is hard seeing other little kids do things he can't (they are littler than him), say "hi", "bye", wave to people and converse with words and phrases. I think it would be so much easier for him to tell us what he needs rather than flop on the floor and throw things.
(Same cat is now lying on my left arm so I cannot move it. ... it makes typing anything with the letters "z, x, and c" very hard to do ... and also use the left "shift" key. But he's now all stretched out and about to fade off to sleep :-D)
I'm off to check on what all YOU have been doing these last few weeks!