Wesley

In the last few days Wesley has:

• Learned to give high 5's, even up high where he has to move his hand up over his head.  He even somewhat spreads his fingers out (unfists) to give them!
• Figured out he can open the drawers of the island/cart we have in the kitchen if we park his wheelchair next to it.
• Learned how to unroll the entire roll of paper towels when parked too close to it on the end of the island!
• Saw James get in trouble for playing with the window vertical blinds from his bed and the next trip in to keep the boys from playing with them it was Wes! (his bed only overlaps the window by about 3" and it is fairly high, so he had to really try to get to them!)
• Learned how to play GENTLY with the girls' hair and continuously explored Brianna's while they were both on my lap.  She surprisingly LET him, though she occasionally turned around with an exasperated look and said WES-ley...
• Decided that he won't chew or spit on his hands NEARLY as much as he was before!!  This was pretty annoying simply because he was always soaking wet from spit... but really not a big deal.  We were constantly saying "Hands down, Wes!" though, and I haven't found myself saying it even half as often as before.
• Now LAUGHS when I say "hands down, Wes!" and puts his hands back up just to see if I'm paying attention, but doesn't put them in his mouth (well, most of the time...)
• Is BABBLING with sounds like "da--da" and opening his mouth to make sounds that are NOT whines or cries!  His whines and cries were communicating, and we understood certain sounds were certain things (like, his specific sound when he wanted another bite to eat...), but it's great to hear his VOICE coming out where he may communicate verbally with us some!
• Is using a head nod and 'no' when he's asked a question or offered food.  Mostly with food... but it's a start!  
• Is spitting out food he doesn't like!  Though this could be looked at as a nasty habit, it's actually really nice to know I'm not force feeding him something he doesn't like and him not being able to tell me that! 
• Is turning down food and drink if he's full!! WOO HOO!!  HE DOES HAVE A LIMIT!  We have allowed him to eat for just about as long as he wants to (within reason) and he still generally only finishes the same amount of food as the other kids received, though it takes him a LOT longer to eat it all.  So now he is starting to turn food or drink down when he's finished, to me that means he's full and knows there's going to be more food when he wants it.

It's been great seeing Wesley come out of his shell this week and make so many gains!  I believe he is learning the language more and more and is desiring to join in with the other kids (and make trouble! LOL).  That and just plain getting comfortable with his people, surroundings, and routines are helpful in adapting!  We still have our moments where he fusses and whines for no reason (that we know of) or that he just won't listen or keeps doing something he's not supposed to... but more so than any of that, we are seeing these little windows into his personality, his understanding, and the fact that he is, indeed, a 6 yr old little boy inside that tiny body of his :).  I can't wait to continue to get to know him!

(Yep, an update on Aleksa in the next few days too, but I'm exhausted!)