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