A little piece of heaven

We gave Nathan a cracker for the first time today. At first he tried sucking on it. Of course that didn’t work. Then he figured out he needed to bite it and chew. We were so excited to see how quickly he figured it out! He LOVED the cracker and was happy as can be eating his first cracker.

Here are some pictures:

We had a lovely time for Mom’s bday. Nathan got to taste chocolate for the first time (oops) for the sake of oral stimulation 😉

We had company, then had swim class, then crashed exhausted as the entire household is sick.

There are lots of photos here:

Bday photos

On Easter we went to visit the Gentle Barn. It is an absolutely beautiful place full of beautiful, loving animals and people. We loved it! Unfortunately we didn’t take pics, but here is a beautiful one from their website:

They were very kind and Ellie, the lady in the picture above, has agreed to work on a program for Nathan to improve his motor and sensory skills. We are not sure how the program will work yet, but basically the idea is to take Nathan there every week and they’ll have something stimulating for him to do. We are so happy about this, we believe this will do him a world of good.

This is from their site:

“The qualities that we believe animals have are unconditional love, kindness, and a non-judgmental attitude to all. After being rescued, the animals at The Gentle Barn have so much love to give back, and with these wonderful qualities we believe that they are perfect for people with special needs. Whether they are from broken homes, foster homes, or the inner city, whether they are blind, deaf, or physically or mentally challenged, the animals love them just the same.

The Gentle Barn environment is safe and quiet, giving your special needs group the freedom to be themselves, and the room to explore at their own pace. The animals teach forgiveness, love, trust, and a sense of responsibility, which means a lot to them. ”