Joe's latest

Its been busy around here as we have been falling into our new school year routine. Every week Joe goes to developmental preschool four days a week where he gets PT, OT and speech therapy. Then he also has physical therapy and vision therapy outside of school weekly. Joe was switched from the morning to the afternoon preschool and that included a change in teachers - and the adjustment of learning to go without naps. We just had Joe's parent-teacher conference last week and they say he is doing well.
His teacher and therapists report:
- he is expressing more of an opinion about things - he is seeming more aware of his surroundings and what is going on around him, and better eye contact - he is doing a better job of purposefully releasing objects and toys - enjoys the sensory room, especially the slide and ball pit - doing better separating his legs when working on walking and returning to sitting when standing
Some things that are being worked on are:
- encouraging Joe with pushing buttons to activate toys, hit a drum, etc - continuing to work on getting Joe to return his drink to the table instead of allowing him to toss it
Joe has been receiving vision therapy and we have been seeing positive results from that. Again, we have noticed an increase in his eye contact. And while we are still working on getting him to keep his glasses on, he seems to see better with them on and is tolerating them a little better every day.
My sister-in-law has started doing cranio sacral therapy with Joe. Its still early so we cannot say for sure what kind of results we are having but we are cautiously hopeful that this therapy will help Joe.
Joe can be pretty moody lately. Sometimes it is because he doesn't like what we are having for dinner, others it is out of the blue. (The pix to the left is of Joe throwing a fit at Nate's football game. I think he was mad because his snack was gone.) Also, it seems like he has had a delay in his reaction to Christine. I expected him to get jealous when she was first born and I had to nurse her constantly, etc. But he was fine until recently. Christine does still nurse a few times a day and Joe gets very unhappy when I sit down with her. He will scream and pull on her and me. If at all possible I try to nurse at times when Joe is either gone or occupied elsewhere and won't notice. Its been very tiring.
He also is getting more and more curious about all that is around him at home. He loves getting into cabinets and doors. There is not a safe surface in the house anymore, he can reach the desk top and the table, the edge of the counters in the kitchen... I wish I could say that this has motivated me to keep the house cleaner but alas, I cannot. I just move piles around as he gets into them. Is that sad?
New skill: high 5's! Joe just learned to give high 5's over the weekend. Its so fun! Anything we can get him to do to genuinely interact is always good!
Anyway, that is about all for now I guess. Continued prayers are appreciated.