Rex - Thirty-Five Weeks Home

As of yesterday, Rex has been out of the orphanage for thirty-seven and home with us for thirty-five weeks. Sometimes the days get away from me and I don’t feel like I am taking proper note about my kids’ progress, so this could be a short entry.

Rex continues to be a good eater. He likes raw spinach leaves with a little feta and Italian dressing from our plates when we have a salad and he’s a big fan of daddy’s homemade fruit smoothies. However, he’s still staying away from other raw veggies and fruits. I am hoping local seasonal produce will win him over in a few months. I am keeping a running list of what he likes because it won’t be long before I will be packing him a lunch box.

Rex has been doing extremely well with all of his therapy. Some of his goals are already considered mastered: responding to his name, climbing ladders, sliding down the slide, hitting the tambourine when asked to do so, and responding properly to the command “give me.” I am so proud of this little guy. Rex only has four signs that he knows for sure right now (eat, swing, go, music), but boy, does he ever use them. He desires to communicate! We are working on introducing new signs like drink and light and continuing to practice finished, tickle, etc. We are working on waving hi and bye, too, and even though we still have to lift up his arm, he now moves his hand back and forth for it on his own.

Rex has very recently decided that ride on toys might be okay after all. He is experimenting with a rocking horse and also a little car that you sit on and then propel yourself forward by moving your feet along the ground, Fred Flintstone style. Rex is also trying very hard to feed himself and continues to be motivated to help with dressing and undressing.

It’s also been exciting for me to see Rex’s creative and problem-solving responses to everyday situations. One cold morning he stood by the deck door in nothing but a diaper and signed go. I told him he needed clothes and shoes first, so the next thing I knew, Rex brought me a nearby pair of Craig’s shoes, handed them to me and plopped down on my lap to have me put them on. While I was laughing at my funny, smart boy, I also realized that this response meant that he understood what I had said to him, that he knew what/where shoes are, and that he knew what needed to happen to put them on. Another day Rex found a big Rubbermaid tote we had just bought and decided it would make a fantastic step-stool (everything moonlights as a step-stool for him these days, including jars of baby food). The lid was not snapped on, but just put across the top, so when Rex tried to climb up, it slipped off. I thought this would be the end of the experiment, but Rex impressed me in that he retrieved the lid several times over, placed it back onto the top of the tub and tried to climb again. Unfortunately, he had the same results each time, so he eventually let it be which is also an intelligent reaction.

Overall, we are very happy with Rex’s progress. He works harder than most kids I know while maintaining a joyful, curious spirit with a zest for life.