Today was the day that the people that Parker works with through his Early Intervention Services came and evaluated Parker’s progress. I almost cancelled the meeting because Parker woke up so grouchy and then by the time of the meeting he was running a fever. But I am glad I decided to stick it out. 

First we went over his previous goals. And I was so happy to see that Parker has met or exceeded most of these, even with a 10 day PICU stint, and several illnesses since his last IFSP.

The second part of the meeting is setting new goals. I am really excited about these new goals. They make me feel like there has been progress with even more to come!

Some of Parker’s new goals include:

• Working on 5 new signs. Parker has his own sign for ‘eat’ that he uses consistantly. So we are going to add ‘more’ such as ‘more’ play, ‘more’ eat, ‘more’ bounce etc. We are also going to add ‘no’ and ‘yes’. Parker understands ‘no’. He will say ‘na, na, na, na’ when he sees his medicine coming towards him. Poor kid.

• We are going to choose some familiar words that we want Parker to recognize. I am going to take pictures of some of his toys, his bottle, his bed, things that are a part of his everyday world and make him a book. I will use this book to help him start recognizing and vocalizing these things. I am also going to take pictures of a cat, a dog, etc. and work with him on learning what these animals ‘say.’ I think it will be better for him to see pictures of the things he sees in real life everyday instead of pictures out of a book. I am hoping it will have more meaning for him.

• Parker is going to master the ‘tuh’ sounds along with some others. He does well with, ‘ma’, ‘da’, ‘na’ ‘pa’ and says ‘hi’. Well, he gets the long i sound out great, the h leaves a little to be desired, but you can tell with his actions what he is trying to do.

• Parker is an expert at cause and effect. So we are going to bump that concept up a few notches and make him work a little harder.

• Parker’s fine motor skills are good. His gross motor skills are not. We are going to need to work on those. My mom came up with the idea of creating some very lightweight ‘baby weights’ to vlecro around his arms in hopes that when he plays and reaches up and out for toys, this will help increase his upper arm strength. We’ll keep you updated on the results. And much to Parker’s dismay we still expect him to work his way in and out of a sit. He hates doing this. Actually, it isn’t all that fun for me either come to think of it.

• About now is the time my other kids starting walking. I was feeling badly that Parker is not ready to walk until I got to thinking…….I have yet to see many 14 pound kids walking around my neighborhood. Parker is still very tiny. He can roll and comando crawl and he will do things in his own time and when he gets healthy enough and strong enough to do it. And we will be there cheering him on!

Finally on a very awesome note. We have noticed since Parker was put on his new medication that his oxygen saturation levels have been great…….even when he is sick. This is wonderful! And we are very thankful!

We believe your prayers make a very big difference in Parker’s life and humbly ask for you to continue to remember Parker when you pray.