my little tiger

It has almost been a year since we began our journey with our therapy program with Reed Institute. It has almost been a year since I was at my total breaking point. I felt as if no prayers were being heard. I was alone in a foreign land with no one, who understood what was going on with my boy (except for Chris). Everyone was telling me “Don’t worry. This is a phase.” Praise the Lord, I was driven to the point where I was not ashamed to say “THERE IS A PROBLEM HERE!” and started the process of looking for help.

I believe you can pray for something until you are blue in the face asking for a miracle (and sure sometimes it might happen) but without being proactive nothing will change. God gave us a brain and resources at our disposal (heck he created Google, well the guy who made Google…) and it’s our job to use them wisely.

Killi has had some big changes in his life over the last month. Since therapy is going so well, Dr. Ali said it was time to shake things up! First let’s start with potty training. This scared me to death; all I could think was “How am I supposed to get this wiggle worm to sit on the potty to do his business?” Ali gave me a plan and assured me they would continue the same plan at school to make sure it would stick with Killi. We started over the Songkran holiday and for the first week my kid basically ate cookies and M&Ms and peed all over the house… We are about three weeks into potty training and I am happy to report we are now three days accident free and my house does not smell like a port-a-potty! It’s the little wins like this that makes parenting all worthwhile. The best part about potty training is that Killi loves to flush the potty; he will turn back to the flushing water say “Bye Bye!” and blow a kiss. Weird but hilarious!

Second, Killi is going to start school! We did a trial run this week to see how he would handle the new environment. My son is a trooper and there were no tears, when the bell rang he went with the teacher and started his first day. Dr. Ali was there to observe him and the teachers to see how to make the learning experience more beneficial and in line with the therapy program he is continuing at Reed. During Killi’s first day, he did not speak or make a sound; I am guessing he was very shy because as soon as I walked in the door to pick him up he broke out every word he knew and showed me around the room.

The first day was very stressful for me; I was wound so tight I felt like I would snap at any moment. I was sure Killi would be fine because we have friends who attend the school, so I wasn’t worried about the facilities or teachers. I was scared to death I would get the call “Becky, your son is out of control and not ready for this environment. Come get him immediately.” This is a silly thing to worry about I realize now but I was so anxious. When the end of the day came and I did not receive a phone call, I felt as if I could breathe easy. He did have a great report; he was well behaved and followed directions.

After our trail day I met with Dr. Ali. Killi’s new plan will be to attend school until around noon and then head to therapy every day until around 3pm. He will have a very full day so we are going to see how it goes the first few days and make adjustments as needed. The good news is the term is over on June 27^th and on June 28^th we leave for our visit to the States. I am so happy about these full days because I know with how much he is speaking now at home with the addition of the new school environment and continued therapy every day we will continue to see huge improvements.

Just last night, we were sitting at the dinner table together and Killi points to the sky and says “airplane!” I encourage this and tell him good job and he points again and says “Sky! Airplane!” “Yes! Killi that’s right airplane is in the sky. What else is in the sky?” “Bird! Sky! Star! Sky!” Chris and I look at each other with a look that says “Did he just put that together into words!? What is going on here!? Shhhh don’t draw attention he might stop!” Killi then began to tell me what sounds a police car, chicken, dog, and several other farm animals make. I just beam with pride when he says “Dog! Woof Woof!”

What an awesome adventure my little man is on.

All the glory and honor of my sons progress is given to God. He gave us the courage to say there was a problem, the grace to ask for help, and the strength to not give up! Through all the hard times we will honor Him!

Thanks to all of our friends and family for the continued support and prayers! Keep them coming and when we visit in June you will see the miracle God has performed in our son!