Smile, Bounce and Flap! :)

                                               David's speech therapy had started and I was so excited! The Lord gave him a wonderful therapist who just loves David and is always so excited to spend time with him. She just wants the best for David and has always been so encouraging to me as well. Her therapy sessions weren’t as dramatic as the other therapist. I think it was a bit easier with her because she was only working on his speech and not concentrating on the dreaded eating. :) We did have a lot of work to do though. But with her to me it was just fun! I loved therapy with her and I loved how David loved it as well. One thing that David has never been able to do so far is mimic, waive, clap his hands and participate in singing games using hand motions etc. When he was just a few months old I noticed he didn’t like me to do patty cake with his hands. I didn’t really think anything of it. I kept an eye on it but wasn’t really concerned. As time passed by he was still not wanting me to do it and he would just stare when I would try to get him to participate. It was like he knew he was supposed to do something but just couldn’t figure it out. He would laugh and think that it was great and flapped his arms up and down repeatedly but when I would try to get him to participate he would get frustrated. He didn’t want his hands to be messed with. He would just watch and flap his hands up and down and bounce. I thought it was cute. He did this from the time that he sat up and I just thought it was him being cute. The longer this lasted the clearer it came to me that this was more than just a child being cute. Of course, he was always cute so how was I supposed to know the difference?!! LOL
                    As I said, he has always had pretty good eye contact but we did notice that during these times of play he would look anywhere but at our eyes. He would look at our lips or hands or above us but would not look at us. When we would try to get his attention at times when he was spacy we had to get in his face to get him to look at us. I remember watching him one time with my sister when she visited and she was holding him up in front of her and she repeatedly said his name and he would look everywhere but her face. I think that was the first time that I noticed something different....but again I didn’t really think much of it. That was before he started therapy. We are still working on teaching him to waive, mimic, and clap his hands. Sometimes it is hard to watch. I cannot wait for the day to hear him ask for something or call me mom and be able to know with confidence that is what he is trying to say. I cannot wait to hear him say "Jesus loves me". I cannot wait for him to waive bye bye or say "hi". It something that I so long for! But, for now I will be content in knowing that every hug and every time he smooshes his little face into me that he is saying,"I love you Mommy"! That makes my heart melt. It gives me joy because it tells me that he knows that he is loved and taken care of and feels secure. When those other things come I will have a huge celebration and praise the Lord for each moment!
                               The best part of my day with David is anytime that we pray. Whether it is at mealtime, naptime or bedtime whenever we start to say, "Dear Jesus..." he just brightens up with a smile I cannot even describe and just starts to belly laugh with joy and as we continue to pray he starts flapping his arms and bouncing. I have never seen this kind of reaction in any other child. When we say, "In Jesus name we pray AMEN" he gets so excited and starts belly laughing again. This will happen whenever we stop and pray and he just watches Brian and I and just laughs. It NEVER fails.....EVERY TIME!!! I LOVE it!!!! I pray that he will always have a soft heart and love for the Lord. When we spend these moments with David he just brings me such joy and reminds me that the Lord has him in the palm of His hand and I look forward to watching His plan for David unfold.