Riley's Journey, Part 2

Riley has been in therapy for almost 3 months.  It is going so well.  We have two therapists, Cristina and Jessica, who are in our home almost every day.  Before we met them, we prayed that God would provide therapists who were competent, caring and who would be the best fit for Riley.  He has answered big time.  Not only are they very experienced and good at what they do, they also thoroughly enjoy it and genuinely care about our son.  And they are both a great resource for me when I have questions or just need to talk about my daily struggles.

Working on Mr. Potato Head with Miss Cristina to help
Riley learn the names of face and body parts.

Some of you may be wondering what it is that we do every day.  I sometimes explain it to people that it's like having preschool at home.  We do puzzles, color, play-doh, play in the sand, blow bubbles, and a lot of other fun things.  The whole time we're doing this, we talk about everything we're doing.  We are also working on learning colors, animals, face and body parts.  Riley has learned so many new words just through repetition and teaching him how to ask for what he wants.

Miss Jessica has been working on teaching
Riley to sort by color.

We've really been focusing on language this month, and many of our friends and family have been praying with us that Riley's vocabulary would increase.  Ever since Riley learned the phrase "I want" his vocabulary has significantly increased.  He constantly asks for things that he wants - ball, more, jump (trampoline), outside, sand, water, juice, down, up, cracker, bubbles, and several others.  Jace and I have both commented that we never realized that he wanted so many things throughout the day.  This has really helped to decrease his level of frustration, and we have far less meltdowns and whiney days as a result.

Riley does puzzles at least 10 times a day.
He loves them and they are a calming activity for him.

So, for now we are just staying the course and considering other options that might be beneficial.  Thank you everyone for continuing to pray for Riley.  We are so grateful to God for what He has done for Riley already and are looking forward to seeing what else is in store for him.

Riley's favorite activity is playing in the sandbox.
He asks to go outside ("I want side") at least once
every therapy session.