It's no secret that Gabe had a difficult time adjusting to life after coming home and who could blame him? Everything was new and different and he didn't ask for any of it. We were waiting for him and loving him from afar for a year but he wasn't waiting for us, he was happy right where he was. When you add blindness, not being able to communicate, and not being able to understand this new language.....well, its a lot for a little guy to handle. We were stuck in our house for almost a year because going anywhere was just too overwhelming for him. He would immediately cover his ears and cry in any place that wasn't home. So, we stayed home and waited for him to be comfortable and feel safe.
I'm happy to report we can now leave the house with him! I think a big turning point was starting preschool last January. School just started again this week and Gabe is doing amazing! He has been hesitant about walking in to his classroom, he pulls back so I'm basically dragging him and he whines. Once he's in he does just fine though so I'm taking it as a positive sign for our bonding and attachment.😃 In Gabe's classroom they have a special area just for him, it's a safe area for him to go in case he's feeling overwhelmed. Well, so far he has not used it at all in this first week of school, he's been participating in all the class activities!
A few things Gabe can do now that he didn't do when he came home:
-Feed himself finger foods- He is still hesitant to pick up some foods but we're making progress.
-Eat with utensils-we're still working on scooping.
- Play with toys- on his own terms. If he finds it himself he will explore it, if we give him something, he wants nothing to do with it.
-Use the potty. He will even sit on the big potty now, but we are far from him being potty trained.😕
-Shake his head 'yes and no' appropriately- sometimes....he's stubborn!
-Go up and down stairs independently.
-Starting to use his cane a little bit.
-Using a blanket and touching soft things. He absolutely hated blankets, stuffed animals, anything with a soft texture and would get upset if he came in contact with these things. Now he uses a weighted blanket to sleep and has been intentionally touching fleece blankets and stuffed animals, even petting the dogs on occasion.
We were a little concerned in those early months about how often Gabe would stim, but we hardly ever see any of those now. The same is true about covering his ears with his hands, he still does this for comfort but it's so much less than before. He seems to understand most of what we say to him now and that has made life a lot easier. I could go on and on I'm sure but i'll stop here for now and leave you guys with some pictures. Please pray with us that Gabe will be able to learn how to talk one of these days.
I went a tad bit crazy taking pics today.🙊
