46 Words and Counting.....

Although we did our best to make sure that Austin transitioned to a therapist in North Carolina without much delay, the holidays and McDowell County's lack of resources caused a two month delay.  His first official meet with Ms. Debra at Play Again Therapy, was January 7th and we fell in love with her immediately.   She is very outgoing and Austin cracks up with her a lot.

She asked one simple question of me that day though.  She said, "How many words is he doing now?".  I had been saying 15-20 for the last couple months because, that was basically what he was repeating on a daily basis.  However, while at our first appointment, he started popping out words and so I began writing them down on a back of scrap piece of paper in my purse.  It wasn't the first time he would say them, it was just that he didn't say a lot of them very often, so in this setting, he had an opportunity to start going through them as Ms. Debra was prompting him.  I quickly got to 20 words by the end of the session and knew there was more.  I continued to write those that I could think of when I got home and after he would just belt one out.  Consulted Matt and........ we got to 46 words!  They were:

Pets, help, please, Matt, Jae (for Jazzy), Sha (Scout), nah (milk), sit, juice, butter, water, shoes, hair, nose, mouth, ears, hands, toes, hush, push, pop, bubble, open, yes, no, more, eat, puppy, mama, daddy, bye-bye, truck, ball, nuts, hop, ju (jump), uh-oh, oh-no, oh man, sho (shoulders), knee, sa (salt), char (kombucha), eye, and two.

We were completely thrilled!  Once we entered the following week, we were easily over 50 words.  And at that appointment, I just cried my eyes out listening to my son jabber on like he had never before under the guise of Ms. Debra.  What a thrill to hear him use his words!

Update:  As of February 11th, Austin is working on 3 word combinations.  In the last two weeks we have seen him explode with his requests and comprehension of multitask direction.  Perhaps, just as I have experienced a clearer head after starting the GAPS diet, he is also experiencing a lift of fog.  Either way, we are just enthralled to hear what is on his mind! 

Moving/Holidays/Turning Two and Much Change

It has been a long while since I have posted and for good reason.  Since the last post regarding Austin's speech therapy, we had six months full of whirlwind, starting with a new job for Matt!

Yep, Matt left the beginning of September for two and half months to start a new job with a company called Baldor Electric Company in Marion, NC, while Austin and I stayed back to keep things as normal as possible and until some things were set up in North Carolina to make the transition as smooth as possible.  Matt would come back to home every couple weeks for the weekend to visit and we even made a trip up to attend a company picnic and see our new temporary home.  In the middle of all this, I was training for my FIRST marathon, so, needless to say it was hectic!

October 28, 2012

 

Austin and I followed, officially, the weekend before Thanksgiving and we are really enjoying it here.  It is a slower pace, which is welcomed, and the area is really beautiful as you get into the foothills and farm land.  We are not to far from some snow fun, only 4 hours away from Atlanta and Matt's family, and about 7.5 hours from Jacksonville and my family (yes, they moved from Colorado to the East Coast!).

View from Mt. Mitchell

Marion, NC is about 40 miles east of Asheville.  It is a small town, about 6500 people, with McDowell Hospital and Baxter Pharmaceuticals as the largest employers.  It used to be host to many textile plants however they have all closed down as the jobs were moved over seas.  

For the holidays, we went back to Atlanta for Thanksgiving and went to Jacksonville for Christmas.  While Matt and his family made an unexpected trip to California the week later for his Grandfather Black's funeral, Austin I zipped down to Jacksonville in between to spend even more time with my folks and THE BEACH!

"Have no idea what he is yammering about mama, no idea"

Meredith was thrilled to visit from Paris to see Austin's tummy just after Christmas

Shell picking

And of course, Austin turned TWO at the end of December.  Such a big boy.  We celebrated at my folks house the week of Christmas.  With my brother visiting from Colorado, he was able to officially meet Austin as well.

Appreciating the tree this year

We don't look alike do we?

With all that traveling, we hunkered down for the month of January and tried to develop a routine that is smooth as easy as possible, with a short business/family visit trip to Atlanta in between.