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...someone is excited 'bout her play date!
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 23, 2012
Update: Little (A) Still Here!
For those reading from a distance who might be wondering -- yes, little (A) is still with us. Based on a court decision earlier this week, it is projected he might be with our family until the end of May. Of course, there are a gazillion variables which could impact this, but we are so glad for the opportunity to watch him continue to grow & learn new things.
He and Xander have become quite the buddies and like typical brothers, there is lots of screaming, wrestling, giggling and tackling going on around here. Although he has not gained weight very quickly, he is stretching out. 12-month clothes are becoming too short but almost impossible to keep up. The poor little guy often grunts at me, pointing to his pants which have meandered down around his ankles.
Speaking of clothes, he loves to get undressed. The other morning, I opened the door to retreive him from the crib, and spied a naked baby. At first I thought Blake forgot to put PJs on the night before, until I rummaged in the blankets and found his sleeper. He was quite tickled at himself :)
After some early intervention evaluations, he scored as severely delayed with expressive/receptive language (equivalent to 9-12 months) and mildly delayed in the social/emotional category (14-15 months). That means, we will be working with some therapists in the coming weeks in an attempt to give him a chance to catch up. He is in good hands, though, with a personal in-home speech therapist; Xander is convinced he is going to teach (A) to talk.
Little (A) has certainly captured our hearts. Last week was especially tough. As I cried and expressed my fears regarding (A)'s future, Blake reminded me about Moses. If you or I saw a child floating in a basket of reeds, we would not imagine he would someday lead God's chosen people away from slavery & thru a vast wilderness. I was reminded that God has a plan for each of His children. And that includes (A) -- praise God! I am learning to trust Him for (A)'s future and it has challenged me to continually surrender Alexander (and our future child) to Him, too. I imagine I will need some practice with this & lots of patience from my heavenly Father, too.
He and Xander have become quite the buddies and like typical brothers, there is lots of screaming, wrestling, giggling and tackling going on around here. Although he has not gained weight very quickly, he is stretching out. 12-month clothes are becoming too short but almost impossible to keep up. The poor little guy often grunts at me, pointing to his pants which have meandered down around his ankles.
Speaking of clothes, he loves to get undressed. The other morning, I opened the door to retreive him from the crib, and spied a naked baby. At first I thought Blake forgot to put PJs on the night before, until I rummaged in the blankets and found his sleeper. He was quite tickled at himself :)
After some early intervention evaluations, he scored as severely delayed with expressive/receptive language (equivalent to 9-12 months) and mildly delayed in the social/emotional category (14-15 months). That means, we will be working with some therapists in the coming weeks in an attempt to give him a chance to catch up. He is in good hands, though, with a personal in-home speech therapist; Xander is convinced he is going to teach (A) to talk.
Little (A) has certainly captured our hearts. Last week was especially tough. As I cried and expressed my fears regarding (A)'s future, Blake reminded me about Moses. If you or I saw a child floating in a basket of reeds, we would not imagine he would someday lead God's chosen people away from slavery & thru a vast wilderness. I was reminded that God has a plan for each of His children. And that includes (A) -- praise God! I am learning to trust Him for (A)'s future and it has challenged me to continually surrender Alexander (and our future child) to Him, too. I imagine I will need some practice with this & lots of patience from my heavenly Father, too.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Frisbee Fun!
Along with his basketball training sessions, Blake has been attempting to teach Alexander to throw & to catch a frisbee. Seems to be a hard concept but they have been having lots of fun, too. Well, except for when the frisbee slips thru a little boys hands & slams into his face/eye, creating a egg-sized bump and lots of tears.
Here are some pics of the little guy who is simply LOVING this warm/sunny weather we've been having lately (and predicted to continue). Hooray for the coming of Spring and hours spent outside!
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Shooting Hoops!
If you've talked to the X-man lately, he has probably informed you that he is a really good basketball player (or football player, or big brother...). Seems we're not lacking self-esteem lately :)
I 'scored' a deal at the local Goodwill store on a barely used basketball hoop several months ago which has lately gotten lots of use. The other day, Xander asked me to be TheCoach and so I started with some line drills -- sprinting from this crack in the driveway, to the garage, down to the next driveway crack, etc. Alexander quickly informed me he did not appreciate my coaching style. He preferred more of an we-only-dribble-and-shoot-the-ball approach!
While his form could use some refining, who knows, perhaps these are some shots of a future participate in March Madness :)
I 'scored' a deal at the local Goodwill store on a barely used basketball hoop several months ago which has lately gotten lots of use. The other day, Xander asked me to be TheCoach and so I started with some line drills -- sprinting from this crack in the driveway, to the garage, down to the next driveway crack, etc. Alexander quickly informed me he did not appreciate my coaching style. He preferred more of an we-only-dribble-and-shoot-the-ball approach!
While his form could use some refining, who knows, perhaps these are some shots of a future participate in March Madness :)
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Our Family's Second Bookworm...
Alexander is a word-guy, a story-man, a book-boy. He has been since the very beginning. Last year, he recv'd a LeapFrog Tag Reader and this year for his birthday, he recv'd several new books. I recently discovered, thanks to the instructions from my 4Yr old (!), there is a headphone port on the LeapFrog pen which means he can read books without the rest of us having to 'listen along' again & again & again & again...aahhhh!
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Even More Birthday!
We had an on-the-day birthday party for the X-man with g&gS last night. Here are some shots of the fun/the candle/the gifts.
The X-man has been reading his new LeapFrog Tag Reader books all day today -- quite a pleasant change after reading his previous CARS 'Tractor Tipping' book a total of 3,476 times in the past 12-months :)
Our soft-hearted little guy also played with his new dark-skinned doll, whom he named Seth. We have had several visitors to the house today -- a house appraisal guy (although I am certain that is not his official title) and an early intervention service coordinator, who is helping us get some services for Avante. Xander explained (or exclaimed), both are applicable, "Look! Look at Seth. He is just like me. Look, he has hair just like me!"
The X-man has been reading his new LeapFrog Tag Reader books all day today -- quite a pleasant change after reading his previous CARS 'Tractor Tipping' book a total of 3,476 times in the past 12-months :)
Our soft-hearted little guy also played with his new dark-skinned doll, whom he named Seth. We have had several visitors to the house today -- a house appraisal guy (although I am certain that is not his official title) and an early intervention service coordinator, who is helping us get some services for Avante. Xander explained (or exclaimed), both are applicable, "Look! Look at Seth. He is just like me. Look, he has hair just like me!"
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