Language explosion!

It's been quite a week for Jacob. He has had some wonderful days at school, and he's been talking a ton. For example:

We're riding in the car. He says, "Uh-oh, my poo-poo!" (He has this thing about poop jokes.) I say, "Jake, do you really have to go poop or are you being silly?" In the most adorable, non-echolalic, nine-year-old boy voice, he says, "Bein' silly."

He hates Thursdays because Matt works late. I warned him early this time, as soon as he got home from school. "Jake, Daddy's teaching tonight so he won't be home until bedtime." Around 5, when Matt usually gets home, he looked around and said, "Daddy home?" This kind of spontaneous sentence doesn't happen often at all! Then we we were having a little cuddle in the covers with Katie too, and we were talking about how I can cook chicken too, even when Daddy's not home (because Daddy is Cooker of the Chicken, and I think he gets stuck and cranky when he realizes he isn't there). I said, "Can Mommy cook chicken just like Daddy, or is Daddy's better?" He looks me dead in the eye and says "Daddy cooks it better." Oh. Okay. Language is good.

Yesterday he picked out "Bad Dog, Marley!" from the library, and wanted me to read it to him! He paid attention the whole way through and echoed, "Bad dog, Marley!" and when I said, "Do we have to say 'Bad dog, Burke' sometimes?" he got very into it and repeated that too.

His relationship with our labradoodle puppy, Burke, who I got as a potential service dog (and have talked about his training on my homesteading blog a bit, but will probably be moving that topic here), has been developing so much. Wednesday we had a few minutes between our doctor's visit (more on that to come) and Open House at his school, and we took Burke and Jacob to the lake to run around for a few minutes. Burke is incredibly keyed in to Jake's every move, and follows him intently. Jake enjoys it, running away from the puppy and looking back to see if he's following him. I wished I'd had a video camera because their play by the lake was just so tender and sweet.

Now I'm emailing Jake's case manager/program director because I need to find positive, constructive ways to engage him in the afternoons and evenings. He needs way more stimulation than he used to - which is great. But I have to find ways to channel it positively, otherwise he'll end up watching a video over and over, or like last night, finding some exposed fiberglass insulation and pulling it out to shred! (You know that eerie quiet they get when they're into something bad? Yeah. I had that creepy feeling, then found a cotton-candy-sized wad of insulation pulled apart and on the floor of the bedroom.) A long shower and some soap later and he seems to be okay, no coughing or anything - I don't think he inhaled much.

So, lots of good things going on at our house, and in school, for Jake. I am just crossing my fingers, holding my breath, and whatever other cliche you can think of, hoping that the development continues and his health remains good into the winter.