I just spoke with Nicholas’s preschool teacher… here’s her update:

She said that Nicholas is doing great!  They are having so much fun with him.

He chooses what chair he wants to sit in for their circle time.  He no longer has to be seated in a chair with a seatbelt!   (Circle time happens at the beginning of class after the kids enter the classroom.  They sing the hello song and each child gets to bounce on the big bouncy ball as they sing to him/her.)  Now, Nicholas will get up to go to the ball to bounce whereas before the teacher had to go pick him up and bring him over.  She says he laughs and smiles the whole time.

They sing 3 songs throughout the day and Nicholas claps to all the songs.

He’s imitating other kids.

He’s choosing his own activities and loves blocks and playdoh.

Doing really well with parallel play with the other kids.  He used to get upset if a child took a toy from him, now he looks for the teacher/aide to intervene and help him get his toy back.

She said she is really pleased with him.

Transitions are still difficult with him.

They are using pictures with him which is working well.

She said his language is just exploding.  he’s attaching words to everything.  She says blue chair, he says blue chair.

She said he’s turned a fishing game into an entirely different game.  He loves to grab the fish that the kids have caught and put them back into the water.   He loves playing this game.  I told her about the day he came home and told us that he went fishing with mikey when we asked him what he did at school that day.

He says he’s doing amazing… that he’s really getting it.

She’s very positive about him.  He laughs and giggles all the time.  He is making constant progress forward.

They are working on getting him to not say, “help!” or “help me” – as are we.

When I asked specifically how the last three weeks or so have been, she said, “The last three weeks have shocked us!”  They can see a major difference in him.  She said he’s very funny and they’re just seeing this delightful child emerge.  She said that when he first started school, they saw 5% Nicholas and now they’re seeing 80% Nicholas.   (From mid-October to the end of May, that’s fantastic!)

We’ve continued to dive twice a day for 1 1/2 hour each dive – and continue to see gains.

Did I mention that Nicholas has stopped throwing up?  He seems to be tolerating food much better – he hasn’t thrown up since we started hbot. 

He’s acknowledging us more and more everyday.  We can no longer sneak passed his bedroom door.

He is responding to us when we speak as though he actually understands what we are saying.  He nods yes and then when we ask him to say yes, we’re getting YES!  He just answered a question daddy asked him with a big “ok daddy” – sometimes he says Otay too, which is very cute!

Tonight he was asking for more pizza, “more pizza please mommy” over and over again – yes, he ate about 5 slices, no kidding – he has quite the appetite.

So, we just spent a couple of hours outside with Nicholas.  Just hanging around the house, in the backyard, in the front yard, etc.  Boy, is he a different kid!  Usually, we’re outside, running down the street to either walk with him or bring him home.  Or if we’re in the backyard, he’s doing his thing (either in the sandbox or with his toys) and we’re cleaning up the yard while keeping our eyes on him.  Today, however, that child seems to be only a memory.  Today’s Nicholas played in his sandbox for a little while, but quickly joined mommy to help her with her gardening.  I was using the big clippers to trim some shrubs and Nicholas came running over, “scissors, mommy scissors” and I had to let him use the “scissors” to trim the shrubs.  First of all, the Nicholas we knew wouldn’t care what we were doing as long as he was content with what he was doing.  The fact that he was even paying attention to what I was doing was HUGE.  The fact that he now wants to be with US and not off doing his own thing is also HUGE.  The fact that he left playing the sandbox, which he loves, to help me with anything is HUGE.

We spent some time just sitting on the swing, just Mommy and Nicholas having some iced tea.  He wasn’t in a hurry to run off and play, he just hung out with me, enjoying the swing.  He saw Daddy’s iced tea from across the yard, jumped off the swing and went and got his iced tea for him.  I was amazed he even saw it from that distance.  Impressive to say the least. 

So, we left the backyard and around the front of the house and Nicholas came too.  There was no tantruming because he wanted to stay in his sandbox and play, which in and of itself is progress… major progress…  Us leaving our backyard before HE is ready usually equates to Mommy or Daddy carrying a tantruming, screaming Nicholas around the house, through the front door and upstairs to his room so he can calm down. 

He just hung around us and was with US.  We weren’t on HIS schedule, doing HIS stuff, following HIM around.  Amazing.. just amazing.

Just had to post a few things Nicholas is now doing…. all of them are blowing us away….

 While playing with his trains on his train table in his bedroom, Nicholas has been very vocal making the sounds of the trains and cars.  Tonight, he added, “Watch OUT!” to his playtime.   Each time, setting up little lincoln logs on the track and when he brings the train around, he’s yelling watch out as he barrels through them.  So cute – and unbelievable.  He’s also saying “Oh No” when the train falls off the track.

Nicholas is saying hi when you walk into his room or passed him.  Before he never said a word, especially if he was engrossed in something.

He is continuing to answer yes/no questions.  Sometimes he answers yes with a nod.  He’s using the sign for more along with saying “more” – we haven’t seen him do this in a long time.

Tonight, I was telling the grandparents how this morning, we tried and tried to wake Nicholas up, but he just kept sleeping – until finally I said, ‘Nicholas, the school bus is coming to pick you up” – then he immediately got out of bed and came running down the stairs to catch the bus in his pajamas.  (luckily we still had some time to get him ready)  As I am telling the grandparents this, Nicholas comes running out of his bedroom and down the hall to get the school bus (it was 9pm.)  Not only did he understand what I meant, but he HEARD me a good 20 feet away – I was downstairs in the livingroom and he was upstairs in his bedroom!

He went outside a bit early to wait for the bus and said to me through the window, “mommy, school bus coming to take me to school?”  Daddy and I both heard it – and he said it twice.

He took Grandma and Grandpa downstairs to see his spaceship – he is very proud of it.  So nice to see!!!!!!!

He knows what money is and knows his quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies.

I dont want to jinx him, but Nicholas was throwing up quite a bit before we started hbot.  Not sure if it was being caused by a mucousy cough which is now gone, but he seems to be keeping down foods much much better than he was.

I have not had to give Nicholas his oxypowder since we were a few days into hbot.  He’s pooping once or twice a day with no problems – we’ve never seen this so good.