It's all about language right now...

Right now, we are working HARD on developing more language in Jack. A year ago, Jack was producing 1-2 word phrases...now, he consistently uses 3 word phrases/sentences to communicate. We're moving slowly into the 3+ word sentence zone, and there are a few ways we do this. One powerful way that we have instantly gotten results with is the visual cue. One of Jack's behavior goals is about eloping (basically, he likes to leave, or more specifically, escape!). We are trying to extinguish this behavior...it's my BIGGEST safety concern for him right now, and we are making progress. Just six months ago, I couldn't take him anywhere (grocery store, softball game, etc...) without him running off. We literally had to strap him in the stroller during Bella's softball games while Grant was able to be free because we couldn't trust him...he WOULD eventually run away. It broke my heart. If only he would stay put, he could play too. :( Now, we are in a much different place. I know that the strategies we have put in place will keep Jack close by most of the time...so much more fun for him and so much less stressful for us.

So one of the places we fear Jack will leave is our house (and PS~if he escapes, he keeps going...he doesn't *realize* he needs to go back). We have a chain on the top of our front door and deadbolts on our backyard gates...so he can't get out. One of the ways we are trying to solve the problem is by building language into the goal and teaching Jack that he CANNOT open a door without asking someone. We came up with a question that he needs to ask anytime he opens a door (the front door, back door, refrigerator door, his sisters' bedroom door, etc)...MAY I OPEN PLEASE? To remind Jack that he needs to ask the question, we put the question at his eye level on the doors in our house...when we did this, we had INSTANT results...it was amazing to me...First of all, he is asking before he goes outside. Second, he is using a four word question to ask. Third, he is beginning to learn 1:1 correspondence and early reading skills...so cool. I got a little video of Jack this morning letting our dog outside. It's a 3 minute video and at the end he uses the visual cue to open the back door. I really am SO proud of my little man!