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Tomorrow Samuel will have his 4th session of speech therapy with Ms. Kristin, a sweet, loving, bright woman who comes to our home every Wednesday.  He loves when she comes (despite the lack of a smile in the picture – it was at the end and he was tired and hungry).  She has taught us some great tools to help him "find his voice".  When we started he was ONLY saying "uh-oh", signing "eat", and barking like a dog (which he does VERY well).  He is now able to do the sign language for "more", "please", "help", and is learning "airplane" and "open" (which he's done twice this week) and "drink".  He now calls me "ma-ma" (emphasis on second -ma), but only when he wants something urgently.  He uses it constantly when he's trying to get my attention in the car.  He can also "moo" like a cow and occasionally make a monkey sound. 

These are very small steps, but it indicates progress, which is more than what we had a month ago.  I'm super pleased with progress, and so is Samuel!  I can tell that he is happier now that he can communicate more of his needs.  Now if we could just get a "da-da" – that would be great!

Sidenote: Our friend/neighbor, Donna, was in nursery at church with him this past Sunday.  She had a sheet of stickers and was giving each child one.  When she came to Samuel he took the sticker and then made the sign for "more".  She, having been in our home all the time, knew that he had been working on it and gave him another.  "More", he signed again.  She just kept giving him stickers… The kids looked like he had measles when he came out – stickers all over his face and shirt!  And he fell asleep that way on the way home.  I thought it was so sweet that she felt so strongly about reinforcing his hard-earned communication skill!