I finished the oxygen therapy with a nice bout of bronchitis (again). So wonderful. And although we had an awesome time with family, I was really glad to be home in Kamloops again.

We had a very quiet month because for the first time in 4 years, we actually attempted to have a "vacation". We have a trailer on a lot on Face Lake and we spent most of the month enjoying some quality family time. Luke and Joel love it there. Luke's speech continues to astound me, and we are pulling conversation out of him slowly but surely. All good signs of things to come!

On August 15 we began the Respen-A patch (a small sticky circular disk that is bandagaed to his back — approximately .5" in diameter, and .125" thick). He did not mind it, but the bandage left a bit of a red marking so I'm thinking it's latex and he's having a little reaction to it... nothing serious. The changes since then are quite interesting. Luke has become fascinated with himself in the mirror and is talking away at himself. It's quite funny to watch and we don't interrupt as we think he's discovering more about himself... facially and expression-wise. He's been looking at us out of the corner of his eyes, and smiling slyly. It's quite cute. Right now he's looking at himself and saying "Look at my angry face"... he's not making an angry face, but perhaps some type of connection is being made?! Hmm... we are going to begin lessons on emotions so it seems the timing for that is right. Other changes are: he's a bit more physically adept and has been able to open the door to the garage, as well as jump from a sitting position off the counter (never did this before). He continues to have spontaneous talk... like "I'm hungry", "I'm thirsty", "I finished my cookie", "I have to go pee / poo", "I want to brush my teeth", "Where are you going?", "I don't want you to go", "Where's daddy?" "At work, at the university", "I want to watch cartoons", "Read the Safety book", "I want a freezie", "I am mad", "I am crying", "I need a kleenex", "I am finished my dinner", "Can I have some dip?", "I don't want you to work"... etc, etc.

The other awesome thing that we're witnessing is an increase in socialization. He's more interested in what Joel is doing and MUCH more willing to do as Joel asks. Usually Joel just gets frustrated because Luke doesn't cooperate, but Luke has been playing along with Joel amicably. This is quite amazing.

Luke also lost his first tooth. I had given him a chewy candy in the morning, and he came and complained about his tooth and I assumed there was something between his bottom middle two teeth, so I attempted to use the dental floss, but he freaked out a little and so I stopped. Later, Ms. S. noticed his bottom right tooth was missing and nowhere to be found. Luke didn't mention this and seemed quite casual about the whole ordeal. I laughed because for months I've been wiggling the top two teeth with no luck. Haha. Anyways, he got a loonie from the tooth fairy and the next we actually found the tooth on the living room carpet (despite asking him many times where it was, with no answer).