MASON HOLDS (AND PLAYS WITH) A TOY!!

Oh my word, I can hardly believe I am writing this blog!! It is a day we have waited for and wondered if it would ever even occur!! It was one of the best "happy tears" days we've ever had at our house!! As you know, Mason has never been able to hold anything purposefully - he always almost instantly drops his toys that we try to get him to hold onto. So he's never had much of a functional grasp and therefore hasn't played with toys other than switch type where he can use a closed fist or even his elbow. He also hasn't explored much of anything. Not wanting to touch or hold things makes having combined vision and hearing losses even more complicated. But, once again, God has poured out more grace and blessings in response to countless prayers, --- and

TODAY HE DID IT!! 

 

TODAY as I was playing a game with Mason where I sing a song and passively move his hands with a toy in it Mason started to PARTICIPATE in the game voluntarily!! I held both hands to get him started and then I let go of the "toy" hand and he kept actively holding on by himself -- and not just holding it, but clapping/shaking the rattle (courtesy of Aunt Christy!!) along with the game on cue!! I let him continue holding my other hand so he wasn't squeezing his own empty hand on that side  (see my last post about how we just realized that Mason has bimanual synkinesis (congenital mirror movements, which causes his hands to only act in unison (whatever he does with one hand, the other one does too).

This is such a HUGE breakthrough for Mason - he has NEVER been able to hold anything intentionally long enough to play with a toy, much less to laugh and smile the whole time too! So many of you have been praying for EXACTLY this milestone and I cannot thank you enough for those prayers! God is so good to allow us to see this happen...we are so eager to see what it leads to next! Just this week he has "discovered" his ears and hair and it's so exciting to see him "checking out" his own head with his hands!!

For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you. Isa. 41:13