Shaking and Waving

A few weeks ago, Elijah shook his head to tell me "no." He did it twice in the same day; I was ecstatic…and in typical Elijah fashion, he hasn't really done it since.

Then, this past weekend, Elijah waved for the first time ever. We attended a benefit for Elijah's friend, Brecken, and Elijah waved to some people when he was introduced. He did it three times and I was so excited by this new development that I actually cried...and in typical Elijah fashion, he hasn't really done it since.

What's so great about both of these things, though, is that they were so purposeful. He knew that he was telling me no and he knew that he was waving. I can tell by the sly look he gets in his eyes and the little smirk he has after we get so excited by his actions. I don't expect him to be doing either thing on command just yet, but it gives me great hope for his future communication skills. You see, imitation is a precursor to speech.

All the silly little things babies do naturally are so important for their development. They mimic, because that's how they learn and I'm happy to see that Elijah is starting to mimic. If you've seen Elijah recently, you've probably noticed that he tends to gallop around the room. That's because Andy taught Elijah to gallop; Andy galloped and Elijah followed – the very first time he saw Andy do it! We're encouraged by what the galloping says for Elijah's communication skills. While it's difficult for Elijah to mimic with his hands or his mouth, he is able to mimic with his gross motor skills – in the form of following his daddy around the house galloping. I continue to hope and pray for more communication with our little boy. I know he'll get there, but in the meantime, I do enjoy watching my two little "horsies" running around the house.

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