Well I am not completely surprised but my little Tripp has turned himself into a therapist :). I am amazed at how quick kids can learn! In the past week Tripp has been re-enforcing any requests that I give Ty - for example; when we are swinging in the living room and I ask Ty to tell me "ma ma more" and I will push him higher; Tripp looks at Ty and does the 'sign' for 'more' and then says "ma ma moore Ty Ty" and grins real big waiting for his reply?! Ty looked at Tripp and then said and signed "more" and then Tripp clapped and Ty clapped and we all laughed and gave him lots of tickles and praise!
the iPad
So I purchased an iPad for Ty. I'm sure you are thinking "riiiiight Mandy" but really the iPad's main goal is to assist Ty in his therapy and language development and secondly it is a tool to calm and relax Ty because there are so many apps that meet his sensory needs which in turn calms him and balances his little world. Thirdly it belongs to Tripp and boy has he learned alot in the last couple of days! There is an app where a baby shows you sign language and this is Tripp's favorite app - he walked in the kitchen the other day and said & signed "stop momma" then giggled and ran back in the other room ... so of course I laughed not because of what he said but because most of the apps and videos the boys watch have British accents(bc we watch lots of claymation and apparently thats a British specialty) which means that Tripp mimics the accent on certain things and that was one of them - So if you can just imagine my little Mississippi boy in his rubber boots with his mis-matched shorts and shirt that he put on himself, camouflaged baseball cap and sunglasses (he wasnt going anywhere he just likes to dress himself and to be fully dressed at home???) running in the kitchen and signing&saying "stop momma" with a British/country twang.... ahhhh it still cracks me up!? ok back on track...
Well I walked back into the room after he comes to tell me that and he was assisting Ty on the iPad. He would get right next to Ty and put his little hands right on top of Ty's and help him tap the picture or choose words... he would maneuver through the different apps that they both liked and then once the app started playing he would show Ty what to do and then he would help him do it?! I'm standing there thinking "ok first of all Tripp has used the iPad twice and knows how to get where he wants to go and second Wow ... I mean Wow, my two year old knows how to help his brother"
Now I dont want to mislead anyone, they are not always so willing to work and play together! And Tripp didnt sit with Ty for an hour and show him flash cards or work puzzles. The little bit of time that they both played and tapped on the screen could have been 5 or 10 minutes, but it felt like our little world just stopped and we marinated in that moment! Thats probably not an accurate description but its the best I can come up with :) There are lots of programs that I am still looking into for Ty with the iPad but I am so excited about where this will take him! And I couldnt have done it without the help of our parents - they are all so good to us!
new friends
I met a new family this week who also has a 3 year old son that is very similar to Ty. The mom is so sweet and the little boy reminds me so much of Ty and he is sooo handsome! It amazes me how God puts people in your life when you need them - I didnt know that I needed to talk to someone that is on this same road that we are on but it felt so good to talk to her and to know that she understood everything we were doing! She also has a trampoline in their house too (they are actually on their second one) and she said she was going home to tell her husband to find a stud to hang a swing from indoors lol! There was so much we talked about in such a short period of time and I could have gone on all night comparing stories. We are both curious about the same things and looking into new therapies to see if it is something that will benefit our kids.
I knew that other people were going through similar if not worse situations ...but to meet someone face to face and discuss things was just amazing...
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. - Galations 6:2
i think i've rambled on enough ...
thanks for reading
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