It's Paying Off

Paxton had a physical therapy appointment bright and early this morning. For once, he was wide awake for about thirty minutes before the therapist arrived. This worked out really well because he was able to wake up slowly, get his gagging episode out of the way, and clean his system out completely...and I mean COMPLETELY! This was so much so that he required a total outfit change in addition to a clean diaper.

Today, Paxton proved that he continued to get stronger and stronger. It was so rewarding to see that the increase in therapy services had really proven to pay off. Everything from his head control, core strength, ability to prop sit, rolling over, and resistance had improved. The new skill for today was having him stand up by providing support by having his back lie against the exercise ball while Susanne supported his upper body and the therapist supported his legs. It was so odd to see him in this position. It made him look like such a young man.

Paxton got a short cat nap in before his next therapy appointment. Susanne had to wake him up this time right before the session which he was not thrilled about. The occupational therapist decided she wanted to work on oral motor skills. Susanne started with facial and oral massage. Once his cheeks and mouth had woken up, she started with rubbing his gums with his nuk brush. Since he was teething, he invited this with no hesistation. Susanne then introduced an oral swab with water. He was out of control. He allowed Susanne to place the oral swab straight in his mouth and he was suckling with such strength. His ability to form suction around the swab was an impressive new skill. Susanne couldn't wait to show his therapist the improvements he had made with eating pureed food over this last week. It was merely finding a specific flavor that he was interested in. Paxton didn't eat the pears with cinnamon and oats as vigorously as he had on Monday, but he still did a fantastic job. He took about ten spoonfuls of the pureed food before becoming fatigued. He had really picked up on opening his mouth when cued. This helped Susanne to believe that he was understanding some of what she had been saying over and over for the last year. For the first time, he allowed the spoon to go past his teeth and closed his lips around it. He was still a little apprehensive about the food at first, but he still used his tongue to explore the food and eventually swallow it. He was becoming much faster at this skill and less guarded. They finished the session with brushing his teeth. He absolutely loved the finger brush pushing against his gums. It provided such relief for the teeth that were erupting through the gums. Susanne really thought he could have her sit there and do that all day.

Paxton was very talkative throughout the entire therapy session. Susanne noticed that he had added a new sound today. He was saying the "N" sound. She just hoped this didn't mean he was on his way to learning the word "no". She quickly reminded him to continue practicing his "M" sound so that "mama" could be his first word. She thought he at least owed her that. :)

Later that day, Susanne read Paxton a series of books. She had started to focus on the touch and feel books so that he could explore the pages with his hands. He seemed to take a liking to them really quickly. This was another area where Susanne had a word to prompt a certain response from him and he would do it. She would simply say, "Can you touch it? Touch, touch, touch" and he would reach out with his little hand and rake his fingers across the pages.