Signing Independently!

Maria's View-

HOORAY!  This morning, Griffin started signing 'more' independently without the need of my hands being anywhere near him!  It is so nice to have my hands free!  Meal time went by so much faster, too.  He went from needing the support last night at dinner to not needing my support at all this morning.  YAY!  I love witnessing all of this progress!

So I decided to step it up a notch with his food issues since he has taken this step forward.  I think, more than anything, that the sound of a spoon scraping a bowl or plate is what sets him off.  Not the taste of the food, not the smells, not the sight...it's the sound.  I remember how it sounded at their meal time.  We never got to watch, but there were quite a few days where the nanny would come out to us, motion that he needed to eat and that it would be a few minutes before he would be brought out to us.  So Chris and I would stand there and wait in the next room.  They were fed soup in a coffee mug with a metal spoon.  There was a lot of clanging and scraping of that spoon.  If I remember it clearly, I know he can!  So I need to desensitize him to that sound.  I have been trying to be very quiet when I get his food into his spoon, being very careful to not make any scraping sounds.  Very hard to do.  So today, I made constant scraping sounds with his spoon on his plate while showing him throughout his whole meal that the food was there and plentiful, and I even added raisins to his plate once the scrambled eggs ran low.  When he would get upset, I reminded him to sign 'more' and then immediately give it to him once he signed it.  At the beginning, it was hard on him and he cried real tears.  I kept it up though, showing him the food, and once he signed 'more' again, he calmed down, realized that the food wasn't coming to an end, and then the scrapes didn't even phase him.  We ate for about 20 mins like this and he did extremely well.  I'm sure that the scrapes will be a huge trigger for him for a long time, but I hope that by hearing them and seeing that the scraping sound doesn't mean that the food is over, will help him.  He has proven to me that he is an incredibly strong boy and I know that we will overcome this!  He has a family who loves him and will provide for his every need plus some!  He will never go hungry again.

I have a climber on my hands.  If I turn my back for a split second, Little G takes advantage of that moment and will climb on top of the changing table.  So stressful!  Chris and I are going to have to figure out a solution tonight.  Griffin keeps messing with our tv/electronics so we are buying a play yard to put around all of that tomorrow.  My house is going to be baby-proofed and adult-proofed before long!  I feel like an Olympic hurdler with all of the baby gates that I have to navigate through!

Okay...so, non-adoption/kid related...why in the world am I stuck with getting acne at 30 something years old?!?  NO FAIR!!!  I managed to make it 28 years without acne and when I turned 29, it has become a constant battle.  Any pointers?  It's all fine and good when I'm on daily antibiotics but once they are gone, it starts back up.  I'm doing everything that I know to do along with advice from the dermatologist.  I'm fed up.  If you have anything to share, please do!  I wonder if diet has anything to do with it.  If Griffin has Celiac Disease, we will be changing our entire diet soon, probably.  Maybe that will help.

But anyway, looking forward to a play date today at the park!  It's actually warm outside today so we are going to enjoy it!  Acne and all. :-)

PM Update-  Griffin played so well at the park!  He loves the springy see-saws.  This little boy loves to be roughed up!  I was bouncing him pretty high on it and he turned into 'giggly bits'.  Love it!

He has signed 'more' for every single bite of food that he has had today without any prompting and has also signed 'more' for more play time a couple of times today. 

He has also started showing me how he wants me to play with him.  I do a few things that involve bouncing him around on the couch and he will turn his body into the position that I need him in for whichever game he wants to play.  I love his communication skills!  They are only going to get better and better.

On the Little G front- She is just as active as always.  Nothing slows her down, but I am assuming that she is much better than yesterday. 

Tomorrow is Griffin's 1 month follow up with his pediatrician!  I'll let you know how it goes!

Later!!!