Little Bird Little Duck

 

A Little Bird update as developments are happening fairly quickly at the moment - huge achievements in fact for my little boy. I'm so proud of him.

Firstly he has been getting more involved with life. It's like his eyes have opened wide to the world. He is no longer as closed off or appearing to be oblivious to things around him. Not all the time I should add as that appears to be the way autism works. Some days he is away again, perhaps thinking to himself more but we have great days, really great and overall life is better. A box was moved into the kitchen when I was having work done in the house and it has now become a Little Bird perch to help himself to a banana or see what I'm doing. Major! Rushing to pick up the phone and pass it to me when it rings. Major! Having a go at making cakes with me - still fleeting but he's having a go.

 The words are still coming and I've given up counting. He's copying words. Sitting leafing through a picture book, naming to himself what he sees. All the colours, all the shapes, lots of objects. I didn't know he knew all this stuff! I underestimated him. But the biggy for me has been that he will sit still! Look at him at the table. Not strapped in to a booster seat but sat of his own accord. Not a big deal to most but to me this is fantastic. He has slowed right down, much calmer and interested in absorbing information with me, his beloved books and his iPad. We sit side by side for ages, looking, naming. Me watching him, him looking at me. Eye contact and a keenness to take on board new vocabulary. I feel happier each night as I reflect on things he's done and said or laugh to myself at words mispronounced. He was sat saying beach, beach but it sounded a bit ruder than that :) The words are a bit garbled but I hear him practising all the time. He has even started to say sentences - 'I want ......' and today at my parents he was saying ' Pu Du back'. I quickly tried to fathom out what he was saying. He then pointed up a shelf where a white wooden duck was. I motioned towards it and his eyes lit up ' Pu du back'. I then realised, this duck was normally in the hallway where he would play with it and at his request 'Put duck back' Probably one of my happiest moments ever!

Joining in with Ethan's Escapades - Small Steps Amazing Achievements