Wyatt = Amazing, Sweet, Smart, Strong, Handsome, Incredible Little Boy

When I see how long it has been since my last post, I almost end up in tears.  My lifelong goal of keeping a journal was finally realized, and now I feel like it has gone down the toilet.  However, I refuse to give up.  I am hoping that when things calm down (ha ha) that I can get back on track.  I have, however, been keeping notes of journal worthy things so that I don't forget them and will be blogging about them all in good time.

As you may have noticed, I have always worn too many hats, but lately it is insane.  I am trying to be a mother, a wife, a project manager on a construction site, an interior designer, a business owner, an employer, a chef, etc. etc.  I absolutely love to be busy and wouldn't have it any other way.  However, when I put this much on myself, I spend my time thinking about how I am failing at all of the above listed jobs.  I know I am not actually "failing" and things are actually going really well.  But I feel like I am falling... always falling behind.  I still accomplish so many things and am so excited about the direction my life is going.   But I am so hard on myself because I set such high expectations and when I don't reach them (since they are unattainable!) then I beat myself up.  Why do I do this?  If anyone has an answer please let me know.

So since I couldn't stand to listen to me beat myself up anymore, I am here writing a blog when I have a list with 2000 things on it - literally.  So here we go.

Wyatt = amazing, sweet, smart, strong, handsome, incredible little boy.

Brain Balance= The amazing program that continues to help said little boy grow, change, learn, mature, improve and become what I know he was meant to become.

Let me just share a few stories from the last couple of months.  Some of these things may seem small to some of you and may seem huge to others.  For me, each time these things happen, I am in complete awe and shock, yet at the same time I am not surprised at all.  I make a lot of sense don't I? :)

I just went over the notes that I have and realized how many I have!  I would be up for days blogging if I wrote about them all.  So for tonight I am just going to touch on a few and then hopefully I will be back soon.

Overall Wyatt has just been communicating more.  Before Brain Balance, every word and every phrase he said was memorized.  Now, he comes up with things on his own and communicates spontaneously.  He came in the other day and said "Thomas snow movie".  I had never taught him that phrase before, nor had I ever said it.  It is so amazing to see him now be able to take that information that is in his head and use it and express himself effectively.  He would have just said "movie" before and I would have had no idea what movie he wanted.  He also says "James and the red balloon" which is another movie title and a long one at that!

Wyatt can tell me he is hungry - he says "eat food" or just says "I want cookie" or "hamburgurgur". (Yes, he says it like that and it is so darn cute!)  He also tells me "car".  He used to say that and we would drive around trying to figure out where he wanted to go.  Now if I asked him where he wants to go he will reply with "park" or "wal mart" or "library", etc.  

There are many, MANY more examples I could give you, but we must move on.  Let me just say that
I LOVE that he is able to actually tell me things and express his wants and needs.  I have been guessing for so many years.  Then I think of Wyatt.  How AMAZING AND WONDERFUL it must be for HIM to be able to FINALLY tell his mama that he is hungry, thirsty or that he wants to go to the park.  Such simply little things that children as young as 18 months can express, but they mean the world to our family.

Now lets talk about something even more amazing - receptive language and auditory processing.  What is that you may ask?  The ability for Wyatt to actually process and understand what is said to him.  He has improved at this somewhat over the years, but the improvements were so small.  We could ask him to "touch cat" and he could touch a picture of a cat.  He could do this with letters, numbers, objects, etc.  However, if the phrase was more like "Wyatt can you show me where the cat is?" then he was completely lost.  Not only because he couldn't process that many words and that much information, but also because it was not the EXACT phrase he had been taught and had memorized. 

So what is going on now?  I have a child that I can talk to and he UNDERSTANDS me and actually FOLLOWS directions.  Don't get me wrong, he could do a few before like "get shoes", etc.  But it is so different now.  Example:  Wyatt came to me and said "cereal".  (That alone is great!) So I said to him "go get me a bowl".  He quickly went to the drawer and got me a bowl.  Then I asked him to get me the cereal (which was sitting on the counter).  He went and got the cereal and brought it to me!  Then I said "go put this back on the counter" and he ran it back to the counter!  What was so amazing about that is that I was talking to him like he was a "typical child"... If that makes sense.  I wasn't using one word phrases or phrases I had taught over and over so that he would understand the meaning.  I just spoke to him like I would my other children and he listened, understood and followed.  Amazing. 

He has done this in many other instances now, but one is my absolute favorite because it combined the above mentioned skill plus some great self help skills....

A few weeks ago Wyatt came to me and asked to watch a movie.  I responded like I was responding to any typical child again and said "You can have a movie if you go potty and get in your pajamas first."  When I say these things to Wyatt they just come out.  I find myself not really expecting him to do any of the things I say at all.  However, when he does them I am SO amazed and surprised, but then I have also come to expect it as "normal" now which is truly a miracle.  So I went on cleaning the kitchen and next thing I know Wyatt is taking his clothes off and running to the bathroom!  Shortly after that, he runs into the pantry (where we keep all of our clothes and not our food - strange I know) and so I follow him of course.  I peak in the door to see him putting on his own underpants, and getting his own pajamas out of the drawer and putting them on!  I couldn't believe my eyes!  Now he has gotten pretty good at dressing himself, but usually we get his clothes and set them out for him and then keep redirecting him to stop jumping on the couch and to get dressed.  But this time was different.  He had heard those instructions that I gave him and he IMMEDIATELY followed them.  On top of that, he didn't put on normal clothes but he put on PAJAMAS like I had asked him to and he did it all by himself.  He came out of the pantry all dressed and asked me for the movie I had promised him.   Really was one of the happiest moments I have ever had. :)

There are so many more things I could write about.  So many more amazing changes that I have seen in the kids since we ended our Brain Balance sessions.  This is just more living proof that the program works and works like they say it will.  Functions are first, development follows.  Since the Brain Balance program improved the actual functions of Wyatt's brain, he is now able to develop and grow like he needs to.  So although he has been behind in some areas of his brain, he is catching up and will continue to do so.  He will continue in the Brain Balance program until all of his functions are where they need to be and then he will continue to develop even more over time.

Seeing all of this first hand has given me so much hope for my own children and the future that they now have, as well as so much hope for all of the other children out there who are struggling.  They too can and will grow, change, learn, mature, improve and become what they were meant to become.  And their mothers will cry tears of happiness just like I do.

Goodnight!

A recent picture from the park.  Wyatt was cold (he never used to even notice) so a friend gave him her coat.  Doesn't he look so cute!?