John Michael at 20 months old + IFSP meeting

John Michael is 20 months old today. Here's a 14 second clip of him crawling through a pop-up nylon tube at his Oma's house tonight. He's super fast and it was cute how he chuckled when he came out. Too bad he wasn't looking at the camera when he was laughing.

Earlier today we also had our 6 month review with his service coordinator and therapists. Our last visit was in January and John Michael has changed so much since then!

Six months ago, one of our goals was for John Michael to bear weight on his feet/legs to standing and possibly walking. He's cruising all over the place now and, while he's not letting go on his own yet, is getting faster and stronger all the time.

Another goal was for him to say or sign 25 words. He says or makes sounds for about 7 words and signs about 10 words. He also points to body parts and pictures in books. Pointing is certainly a form of signing. His receptive language is impressive to me. When I ask him where something is, he usually points to it, and when I ask a simple command, he will give me the object or do what I ask....... with the exception of the word, "no." He usually goes deaf when I tell him, "No, don't pull out the computer cord" and "No, don't play with the doggy's water bowl" or "No, don't feed the doggy your lunch" or "No, don't climb into the shower stall and play with the drain." I could go on and on, but I'm sure you get the point!

Another goal was for him to use a fork and spoon. I'm guilty of not giving him a spoon to practice this skill. I usually give him finger-foods or I spoon-feed him myself. I'm going to let him try "sticky" foods, like pudding and oatmeal, even if it means we'll be wearing it. He does use the fork and can skewer little chunks of hot dog or meat on occasion. I'm amazed at how patient he is and keeps trying. If I load up his fork and hand it to him, he puts it in his mouth each time, no problem.

One last goal to mention is playing with toys purposefully and using crayons or a pencil. He's doing a much better job with this. He stacks and nests toys. I'm teaching him how to stack Duplo legos on top of each other. We're also working on a simple wooden puzzle, shape sorter, and holding a pencil or paintbrush (loaded with water!) Last week he crawled up the small slide in our backyard, turned around and went down feet forward. That was awesome! But, right after that, he went up again, turned around and went down face first. Not so fun. He didn't get hurt, but we can't trust him to go down correctly on his own yet.

Our goals for the next 6 months will be for him to walk. I think that's a realistic goal. We will also work more on language and communication. I'm increasing speech from once per month to twice per month. If Music Therapy ends up on the chopping block, we'll increase time with his OT and special ed teacher to make up the difference.

I took this photo last week. It was the first time EVER that he has sat still for about 10 minutes to watch a television show. I guess Muno on Yo Gabba Gabba! was exciting to him. :-) He usually stands in front of the TV and tries to push the buttons. It drives Greta crazy, but she's pretty tolerant of him. All in all, things are going well. I'm enjoying this stage -- he's so fun to be with and his siblings love playing with him, too.