Little fall update

He's still doing all the same great things in PT and OT. He's trying so hard to stand independently, loves to hand us toys, loves to climb into our bench seat at the bay window and watch out the window, still walks along the couch holding on, and is even starting to take a few independent steps, but understandably very nervous! His therapists feel like he's sort of plateaued in his physical development for a little bit because he is becoming more cognitively aware. He's starting to understand cause/effect in play and he focuses so much during therapy on those things while being in difficult physical situations to work many things as once.

We're continuing to work with his AAC in speech, and he really enjoys touching the screen, mostly for play, nothing for communicating his needs or wants. He does understand what we are saying though, and that's clear. Regan frequently asks for kisses and he will bump his head into Regan's each time he asks for one. He clearly knows when we are telling him no, and if we pull him away from something he wants, even after telling him no, he lets us know he's upset!

We've stopped using Cyproheptadine, since it did not benefit him in any way. He wasn't eating any more or less than usual, so after 4-5 weeks with no change it was clear it hadn't worked. With that said, he has become very interested in our food, especially when we are eating bread (a man after my own heart). He will take baby bites of toast, muffins, croissants, just about any type of soft breads. It's definitely not so much that he's eating full meals by any means, but hopefully this will be the start to him learning how to eat more solids.

We had an Ophthalmology check up so his Ophthalmologist could see if there has been any change to his eye since we saw her in the spring (which I knew there wouldn't be since its not a progressive condition, but rather something that happened from development in the womb), and come to find out there was no change. With Beckett becoming more mobile, we need to protect his left eye. His right side lacks depth perception due to his lack of vision, so putting glasses on his will protect his left eye from getting hurt. We got a prescription for glasses, ordered some, and are now waiting on them to come in!

My brother and his family came for another visit. We went apple picking, went to a couple farms, saw the new Paw Patrol movie, and had Lincoln's "Spooky Halloween Birthday". I cannot express how great it is that they make the trip up to see us. Lincoln absolutely adores his Uncle David and Declan, so needless to say, we are very excited to see them again in March! Then, we had the coldest Halloween to date...moving here from Texas and all...but Lincoln (who wanted to be Spider-Man for the second year in a row) still had a blast!

We sent in our application to the Napa Center for an opportunity for Beckett to attend an Intensive Therapy session next year. I filled out all the paperwork during the opening of the applications, and then we waited a few weeks to find out if he got in. We were so grateful to find out that he was selected for a spot in a three-week session in August next year in Austin. On one hand, I am really looking forward to all the Summer Moon coffee I'll be able to drink, but also, SO excited for Beckett. Initially, I was very nervous at his acceptance, because they only accept a select few insurance providers, Tricare not being one of those. That means we have to pay out of pocket for him to attend. If we said no because of the cost, we'd be putting off this huge opportunity for him to receive an incredible amount of intervention that will push his progress even farther. During the three weeks, he will have one hour of feeding therapy everyday, and two hours of DMI (dynamic movement intervention), which is a very intense PT. As we've seen in his first almost two years of life, early intervention is crucial for his development, so this is an amazing chance for him this next year. We are truly ecstatic for him.

Not only do we have the holidays coming up, we're going to have my sister and her boyfriend come see us for Thanksgiving, and my mom will be back right before Christmas as well! Beckett has an EEG and appointment with Neurology next month to check on all things brain, as well as another sedated hearing screen to see if there has been any more hearing loss, so fingers crossed for all good reports next month!