Rex - Forty-Three Weeks Home

Yesterday marked forty-three weeks home and forty-five weeks out of the orphanage for Rex.

I don't have much to report except continued progress.  Once again, Rex has mastered a number of therapy tasks, such as touching his head, pushing buttons, and stacking blocks in imitation as well as rolling balls or cars back and forth with another person, shaking a rattle or maraca when asked, and putting items into containers when asked.

 Getting ready for bed... so handsome

Rex is doing great eating unassisted with a fork.  I guess practice does make perfect.  Depending on the food he may still need some help, but when he's really motivated (say for potato cakes), he's able to feed himself on his own.  Once again, Rex managed to surprise me by accepting some foods I wouldn't have expected.  One of those was rice.  Thus far anything with a small grain texture had been spit back out whenever offered, but one night he tried steamed rice and then proceeded to eat meatballs, marinara sauce and rice for dinner.  I know that's a weird combination, but since he won't do Chinese food, it's what he got instead.  I also made some dark chocolate fudge with sour cherries one day and Rex liked it.  And he's eating eggs again. Not scrambled eggs on their own, but I can fry an egg over some hashbrowns or make a quiche and he enjoys it.

 He likes taking breaks 

by doing a little sunbathing on the deck

Rex's behavior has been really good.  I think we had just one tantrum in the last week.  He's been very loving, seeking out cuddles and tickles, wanting to sit with us or just asking us to sit near him while he plays.  I think he can somehow sense that it's summer and that he should be having a break because he's not been too interested to work some of his therapy programs.  He just wants to play and has a lot of bouncy energy which is okay with me, but not so much with his therapists.

 Checking out what sister's up to

Hmm, what else?  Rex is able to wear his sandals without socks now.  I really wasn't sure if this would be an option this summer due to sensory issues, but he had no problems with it on first try.  Oh and in the too much information category, Rex has been going #2 in his room upstairs for almost a week now.  I am pretty pleased about this because not only does it indicate that he can sense when he has to go, but it also shows an emerging need for privacy which is an important developmental step.  I am going to keep an eye on it.  Potty-training may be possible sooner than we thought.

This boy and his daddy are two peas in a pod

Sometimes I think about what would have happened if we had said no to Rex. And it's not always just a consideration of what would have happened to him, but to us if we had missed out on everything beautiful, challenging, inspiring, broadening this child has been bringing to our life.  I know Craig and I are both so very glad we said yes.