October was a good month for Luke. We have watched him blossom into quite the little boy. We still have our moments of meltdowns and spontaneous outbursts but they are no where near as frequent as they use to be. He is proving to us everyday that he has so much more to offer and we are in awe watching him tackle and overcome every obstacle.
One sweet thing Luke does now is "read" a book. Now this may not seem like such a huge thing to most, but it is for us. Before Luke wouldn't even look at a book. He would just launch it across the room or destroy the book and rip out the pages. With the help of lots of modeling at school, he has learned that books are for reading and now enjoys to sit down and "read" and point to the letters and pictures by himself. We are still working with him to let us read to him, but it's a huge step in the right direction.
Preschool has been a huge success. He has a fantastic teacher, Ms. Angela, that is going above and beyond for him. She is very patient, understanding, and strong. All qualities that are required when dealing with Luke. She is constantly bettering her education in Autism to benefit Luke. She is a Godsend and we are so blessed that Luke is lucky enough to have her as a teacher.
In Luke's class there are also two aides, Ms. Rosalinda and Ms. Andrea. Both these ladies are fantastic with Luke as well. Everyday I drop Luke off to school and he runs to any of his teachers, gives them a big hug, turns and says, "Bye Mom!" I am moved almost to tears. I can see he is in capable hands and he is comfortable, happy, and excited to be there.
He also has been going to therapy once a week at Explorabilities in Albuquerque. He has three fantastic therapist that see him over the course of three hours. He has Kendra for OT, Lynn for SLP (speech), and Mary Beth for PT. He could not have gotten better therapists. They are wonderful with him and he is more than willing to go in with them and work on all they have set out for him.
Lynn has had the most success with him. He is starting to speak in sentences. He now can request things by saying "I want...." It is a short sentence but it is working wonders. In the last two weeks he has started using it more consistently. His favorite request, "I want pumpkin." Which means the pumpkin that holds all of the Halloween candy. The first day he requested it I was confused and had him lead me to it. When I realized what it was I had to say no, and he wasn't happy, but it was 8:30 in the evening and it was bedtime. It has been hard to explain that just because you request doesn't mean you're gonna get it, but it's a work in progress.
We still have our off days but Luke is getting better at self regulation. One day I was cleaning around the house and "lost" him. I looked every where I could think of with no luck. Then I went into the kids bathroom, opened the bath door and found him in there with his blankets, towels, an old pillow, his letters and his Ipod. I guess he needed some alone time and didn't know how to get into his crib so he made do with what he had. I was so proud that he problem solved on his own. I wasn't ecstatic that he also got the dirty towels that were on the bathroom floor for his fort, or that he wanted to remain in there after I offered his crib, but the fact that he solved his own dilemma, outweighed everything else.
Dear Luke,
We are in awe of your progress. Every week you share with us something more and we are in amazement with your accomplishments. We're standing with you, and are excited to watch you grow some more. Keep up the good work Buddy!!
Hugs, Kisses, and Cheers,
Mommy & Daddy
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