PROGRESS

So, this may not seem like much, but it FEELS like a tremendous step in the right direction.

The Little Guy went to the bathroom BY HIMSELF today. In other words, he did not announce it. He did not ask (he usually doesn't, we usually have to tell him or he'll have an accident), and he did not seek out praise afterwards. It was just like he knew he was supposed to do it, so he did. What's more, he was in the middle of eating when he got up to do this. He was eating an orange (so it wasn't like a GREAT food item, but then again, food is food to this champ). And he just got up from the table, went and did his thing, and returned. Betty and I sat in the piano room, observing, and didn't say a thing. I figured if we rewarded him for it, he would continue to seek out praise EVERY time he does it, and I really want this to be an independent thing that he can do on his own. I just didn't think we were this close to it!

In other news, earlier this weekend, I mentioned to Betty that one of these days I'm going to have to videotape when we wake him up to go to the bathroom. She offered to do it that night, so we did. Well, little did he know, but he put on QUITE a performance. He's always more than a little groggy, and we kind of steer him in the right direction. But this time...he got out of bed, and no sooner took one step before he fell flat on his face. It was hard not to laugh. He didn't cry or anything, and didn't seem to wake up any further. He went in circles when he got to the end of the hallway. He pulled the zipper on his jammies down -- then right back up. Finally, we couldn't help it. He had us in stitches, and we just BURST out laughing. Family members can request a video. I'd be happy to burn a CD for you. Or if you have a fast Internet connection, I can email you the snippets. They're big files, but they're classic.

That's all for now. We have the next review tomorrow morning. We expect to have two more visits scheduled for this month with the family member who has expressed interest in his custody. But there are some new developments which MAY help our case, and work out best for all involved. I'll keep you posted -- even if it's not very often. There's just not always much to say and I'd rather not say something than continue to blab about nothing. Speaking of which, I'll end this here!