Sunday, January 11, 2015

January 11

Our year has started off with a  lot of fun!  Following the holidays, it was nice to have Little Buddy home for a few days before school started again.  I've missed hanging out with him (and so has sister)!

     

Wake up, brother, it's time to play!!!




Best friends.


     

It's play time all the time!



Got my favorite lunch date back again!


We also got to have some fun with friends over break.  Little Buddy and his friend, J, got in some Run Club mileage together (with the daddies pushing the sisters right behind them).  We're so glad we joined Run Club this year; Little Buddy has really liked it and it makes me happy to see him enjoying one of my hobbies and learning the joys of being active!


Super fast four-year-olds!


We've also been so lucky to spend a lot of time with Aunt S and Uncle M.  Aunt S's maternity leave has really spoiled us and we're going to miss seeing her and Baby L when she returns to work at the end of this month.  Little Buddy loved it when they were here when he got off the school bus!  We got to have an impromptu dinner the other night and it was a lot of fun.


The three amigos!



Height and Weight
So much for the weight drop!  The holidays must have helped him gain, he's up to 59 lbs. now!  And another quarter of an inch, making him 45 and 3/4 inches.  

Personality
He seems to be adjusting well with the school schedule, so that is a positive.  Still very tired and needs to nap each day, but tends to be overly excitable as a result as opposed to overly grumpy.  Also, as his speech develops, he is becoming more and more outgoing.  He's always been outgoing, but often people couldn't understand him well.  Now that he becoming more clear, people are able to respond to him better, which makes him excited to hold longer and more meaningful conversations.

Developmental Milestones
Still progressing on speech and writing.  He's been doing great with his therapists and has been able to sit and focus on a task for longer amounts of time.  Unfortunately, due to insurance issues, we will have to change therapists.  This breaks my heart as we love the ones we currently have.  Thankfully, we can continue with them for a few months while we research our other options, so Little Buddy won't experience a delay in service.

He has also made a new friend!  He talks about E from school often as being his friend.  Last month, he wouldn't refer to the children individually, just as "the kids," and would only refer to his standard group of friends by name and significance.  So this is his first friend that hasn't been a result of Momma and Daddy introducing him!  We haven't met E yet, but look forward to it, as well as towards meeting many more new friends that Little Buddy will make on his own.

And the big news...Little Buddy has told us TWICE that he needs to "go to the pot" (which must be the phrase they use at school) and has successfully pottied!  We're hoping this is not a fluke and just a first step towards the body awareness that he needs in order to (finally) be potty independent!  Baby steps, I know, but this is a development we've been waiting on for a long time.  


Fun Tidbits
As most people know, we're big Ohio State fans at this house, so we were quite excited to cheer the Buckeyes on to victory in the National Championship.  Unfortunately, Daddy was out of town, but Ms. L, Mr. R, J, E, and Baby J invited us to have dinner and watch the game at their house.  The kids had a blast and we even gave a giant group bath that went way better than I expected.  Little Buddy doesn't get to see his group of friends very often, so this was a very special treat for him.  We're looking forward to returning the favor soon!

Good night, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma

Monday, January 5, 2015

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Every three years, we stay home and celebrate the holidays in Texas.  It lets us take some of the stress out of the season by not having to travel with the kiddos and it's so nice every so often to see the kids faces light up as they open the gifts under our own tree.  We are also extremely fortunate that our family has been willing to come to us during these stay at home years, so that we can still enjoy being with our loved ones over the holidays.  This year, Mimi and Pop-Pop came down for Christmas and Mamaw and Papaw came to ring in the New Year!

As part of our gifts to the family this year, we got new family pictures taken (so that Little Sister could be included!).  Unfortunately, Little Sister was not the most cooperative with her pictures (or with Santa for that matter), but we did get some good shots, especially once the play piano was brought out.  


     

     



These pictures demonstrate what kind of mood Little Sister was in to start the session...thank God for the magic piano of smiles!






First, Big Brother did his best Schroeder impression from Charlie Brown...



...which got Sister interested...




...which then upset Brother because he was not keen on sharing...



     

     

     

...but we convinced him to give Sister a turn and ended up getting some good shots...



     


...so then we all snuck around her!  Bam, family picture accomplished!


The rest of Mimi and Pop-Pop's visit went well.  We had a Santa playdate at a friend's house, did some projects with Pop-Pop, enjoyed a Christmas Eve Santa visited, opened presents, and got to visit with Uncle C and A on Christmas Day.  

     

Santa stopped by Ms. J and Mr. C's house.  Sister, again, was not a fan.  Her angry tears kept distracting brother too!


      

      

Putting together and testing some of the toys their Great-Grand Pap had made a long time ago.



     

     

Santa made his annual Christmas Eve stop...Brother was excited, but Sister was content to watch from Pop-Pop's arms at a safe distance.



Sister was ok with leaving out the cookies, milk, and carrots...



     

...and she was certainly ok with opening presents with Brother the next morning!  Merry Christmas!


After Mimi and Pop-Pop left, we got to have second Christmas with Mamaw and Papaw, along with more family pictures!
     


Second Christmas!  The kids (and Papaw) were enjoying the presents (and tormenting the dog with the new remote control car).


Family pictures went a bit better this time around.  Sister smiled, but Brother burned out early.  Still made some great memories, though!




     



     



 This last shot is a perfect "Brother, stop, you're embarrassing me!" moment.


Unfortunately, our visit was marred by Mamaw and Papaw coming down with the flu.  They had to be put in quarantine for a few days, but finally were on the road to recovery when they had to leave.  Little Buddy and Little Sweetie were very worried about them, but we convinced them that "rest is best" and that they could best help by picking out Gatorade flavors to help Mamaw and Papaw's tummies.  Because they were sick over New Year's, we toasted together a few days late.




      

 Cheers!  Happy New Year!



Another important event closed out our year; Little Buddy and Little Sweetie are getting a god-cousin!  Aunt S and Uncle M asked Daddy and I to be godparents to Baby L.  We are so blessed to have this adorable little man as our godson! 

     

Our sweet godson!


So we leave 2014 one godson richer, one ASD diagnosis wiser, and all our bonds of family strengthened.  We came into our own as a family of four and adapted to the challenge that our family might be a bit different than we imagined, but that being different is ok.  We still have plenty of room to grow and mature and look forward to the lessons that 2015 will bring to us!

Wishing you a wonderful new year, 

LBM

Little Buddy's Momma