Our Little Ethan

I haven't updated on Ethan in while and I have some impressive (to us at least) news to share. First, we declined to have him tested for Sensory Integration Disorder (SID). I talked to quite a few people and read a lot about it too. I began to have a BIG concern about "labeling" him at such a young age. Labels are labels and just that which I know from my teaching experience but sometimes it is hard for others to "get over" the labels. We don't feel Ethan has a major case of SID; if he has it at all, we think he is on the low end of the spectrum. So we just didn't see the need to diagnose him at this point. We are still learning about his personality and since he doesn't speak a lot it is even harder to know him. I think it is hard to distinguish where Ethan ends and a disorder begins so I want to wait longer before we open that big ole can of worms. Now for the impressive part: Last week at school he was playing a computer game. You touch the screen and pop balloons to reveal a picture. He was saying "POP, pop, POP" as he popped them which that in itself is great. The picture was a car that drove away and then he waved and said "BYE CAR". I thought I was going to cry! He has NEVER EVER said 2 words together! I think this is a HUGE step for him!

Our developmental therapist was here yesterday and was reading a book with her about being a big brother (does she have ESP or what since she didn't even know we are expecting) and the front door was open and twice when he heard loud cars go by, he stood up and said "BYE CAR". Not only is his vocabulary increasing but his attention span is too. He looked at that book with Krista for probably 15 minutes or more and pointed to things on the pages, pretended to play "peek-a-boo" with the baby, pretended to popped bubbles, he barked like a dog for a long time when he saw one, and I even heard him try to say "baby". He really can say a lot more than we
know. It's hards because first, he's talks quietly on the sly and it's hard to pay super close attention to his talking when I have the "non-stop talking girl" around. I think he gets over-shadowed by his siblings too much. He is repeating a lot too but I think he is going to be a lot like Caden and be much harder to understand his words. His temper tantrums have definitely gotten better too. He still has them but not as many and they don't last forever like they used to (although yesterday he had a major meltdown about a zebra bingo card for 10 minutes during therapy but that hadn't happened in a long time). His frustration level is definitely a lot higher than it was just a few months ago! We are really pleased with Ethan's progress! I think developmental therapy and All Aboard School have helped him so much!