Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Wait. I have a blog?
A friend recently signed up for a blog of her own, which reminded me that whooooops, I do have a blog! Sorry for the year+ delay in updating this blog. I will come back soon to post an update.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
It's me again...
As always life is busy. But life is good.
Thomas is flourishing in kindergarten. He has an awesome teacher. They have loaned him a communication device called a "Dynavox". It is fairly easy to operate once it is programmed and he is a rockstar when he uses it. It has made life around here a lot easier and less frustrating for all of us.
Jacob is growing fast and doing things ahead of schedule. It's a relief to have him reach milestones early, but bittersweet because I see in him all the things Thomas could have been. Everyone knows I love Thomas as he is, but Jacob is the spitting image of his big brother and to see him doing things already that Thomas still cannot do (sitting on his bottom on the floor) is bittersweet. It's like seeing the baby Thomas *should* have been. That seems so horrible to me to say that, but it's true. That is what I dreamed of for Thomas.
Meanwhile Thomas has taken well to being a big brother. He loves Jacob and is so sweet with him. Jacob adores Thomas and loves any bit of attention Thomas will bestow upon him. Those are the moments that make it worth getting out of bed in the morning.
Thomas is flourishing in kindergarten. He has an awesome teacher. They have loaned him a communication device called a "Dynavox". It is fairly easy to operate once it is programmed and he is a rockstar when he uses it. It has made life around here a lot easier and less frustrating for all of us.
Jacob is growing fast and doing things ahead of schedule. It's a relief to have him reach milestones early, but bittersweet because I see in him all the things Thomas could have been. Everyone knows I love Thomas as he is, but Jacob is the spitting image of his big brother and to see him doing things already that Thomas still cannot do (sitting on his bottom on the floor) is bittersweet. It's like seeing the baby Thomas *should* have been. That seems so horrible to me to say that, but it's true. That is what I dreamed of for Thomas.
Meanwhile Thomas has taken well to being a big brother. He loves Jacob and is so sweet with him. Jacob adores Thomas and loves any bit of attention Thomas will bestow upon him. Those are the moments that make it worth getting out of bed in the morning.
Friday, October 23, 2009
Bad Neglectful Blogger
Life with a newborn and a special needs child is a challenge. But now that the baby is almost 6 months can I still call him a newborn? Sorry to whoever still reads along for the lack in posting. Life just gets away from me (if you could see my house right now you'd understand what I'm saying and know that it's true!).
I, once again, will promise to try to get back to blogging as regularly as I can manage. I am now working part time but it feels like full time after all is said and done. Thomas is in school full days five days a week! Jacob is growing like a weed and I can tell already that I will be in for it with him in ways I never experienced with Thomas. I'm excited about that, and to be truthful I'm also a little scared!
For now here is a little peek at my gorgeous boys. These pictures were taken about two weeks ago (by me! I'm a wannabe photographer).
Friday, May 22, 2009
Pictures!
My Handsome First Son
What's in here?
T and his silly self trying on his safety glasses:
Jacob, the little sweetheart!
Sleeping, it's what he does all day.
Brothers
What's in here?
T and his silly self trying on his safety glasses:
Jacob, the little sweetheart!
Sleeping, it's what he does all day.
Brothers
The past 5 months in a nutshell...
Well what's been going on in the past five months? LOTS!
1. Thomas turned SIX and had a fabulous birthday party with a bunch of our family friends. He got way too many presents and our house is overrun with all of his toys. Books were (and are) still his favorite items to receive, but he also really liked the "power tools" he got from Grandma Sue.
2. On Thomas' birthday I went to the doctor and was put on bedrest. Turns out my cervix was "funneling" and so I was ordered off my feet as much as possible. I was allowed to continue working, which helped to make the days more bearable.
3. Thomas now knows the entire alphabet. He can identify every letter upon request in any order. He is using his PECS (picture cards) to let us know what he wants (such as orange juice or chocolate milk) and can use them to make complete sentences (such as "I want to go outside please").
4. Thomas now can do the sign for YES. He does it in his own way, which is close to the correct way. He's been doing it for months but I only learned yesterday that he meant YES when he does it. Even so it has made life a lot easier in just the few hours I've known what it means. He picked out where we should go to lunch yesterday using yes and no, and when I asked if he loved me he said yes!
5. Toward the end of my pregnancy (the last three weeks) I was put on complete bed rest. That meant no more going to work, no lifting, no anything. It sucked! I spent a week in the hospital trying to stop labor, and it worked. I managed to keep the baby baking until 35 weeks and 6 days.
6. Jacob Gary was born on April 30, 2009 at 4:49 a.m. He was 6 lbs 0 oz and 19.5 inches. I had another quick labor. My water broke at 2:30 a.m. and contractions started immediately after (every 2 minutes). Jacob came out at the hospital, delivered by my own doctor, after just three pushes. He is now three weeks and 1 day old and doing great. He came home with a bit of jaundice one day after I was released. He had a billi-blanket for just one day and is doing great. Thomas loves him, and has pleasantly surprised us with how little jealousy he shows and how much he seems to like Jacob.
And that's all the major things. During my stint on bedrest Thomas and daddy did lots of bonding and now have a really close relationship. Thomas also became more social due to all the visitors we had here helping out, especially my sister and my mom who spent the most time here helping.
I'll attach some pictures in a seperate post.
1. Thomas turned SIX and had a fabulous birthday party with a bunch of our family friends. He got way too many presents and our house is overrun with all of his toys. Books were (and are) still his favorite items to receive, but he also really liked the "power tools" he got from Grandma Sue.
2. On Thomas' birthday I went to the doctor and was put on bedrest. Turns out my cervix was "funneling" and so I was ordered off my feet as much as possible. I was allowed to continue working, which helped to make the days more bearable.
3. Thomas now knows the entire alphabet. He can identify every letter upon request in any order. He is using his PECS (picture cards) to let us know what he wants (such as orange juice or chocolate milk) and can use them to make complete sentences (such as "I want to go outside please").
4. Thomas now can do the sign for YES. He does it in his own way, which is close to the correct way. He's been doing it for months but I only learned yesterday that he meant YES when he does it. Even so it has made life a lot easier in just the few hours I've known what it means. He picked out where we should go to lunch yesterday using yes and no, and when I asked if he loved me he said yes!
5. Toward the end of my pregnancy (the last three weeks) I was put on complete bed rest. That meant no more going to work, no lifting, no anything. It sucked! I spent a week in the hospital trying to stop labor, and it worked. I managed to keep the baby baking until 35 weeks and 6 days.
6. Jacob Gary was born on April 30, 2009 at 4:49 a.m. He was 6 lbs 0 oz and 19.5 inches. I had another quick labor. My water broke at 2:30 a.m. and contractions started immediately after (every 2 minutes). Jacob came out at the hospital, delivered by my own doctor, after just three pushes. He is now three weeks and 1 day old and doing great. He came home with a bit of jaundice one day after I was released. He had a billi-blanket for just one day and is doing great. Thomas loves him, and has pleasantly surprised us with how little jealousy he shows and how much he seems to like Jacob.
And that's all the major things. During my stint on bedrest Thomas and daddy did lots of bonding and now have a really close relationship. Thomas also became more social due to all the visitors we had here helping out, especially my sister and my mom who spent the most time here helping.
I'll attach some pictures in a seperate post.
Lost Password Recovered
Hi all! I have to apologize for the huge amount of time that has passed since my last blog entry! I had forgotten my password and in the craziness that is life just had no time to spend worrying about it. But I've got it now and plan to try to post regularly once again.
Thanks for your patience. :o)
Thanks for your patience. :o)
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Speech & Other Updates
Thomas had his last speech appointment yesterday. It was kind of sad but in a way I'm glad to have one less appointment each week. But I was able to show his therapist something cool he picked up over Christmas. His teacher sent home a bunch of sheets with pictures on them. The first row contains "I want" and two other things like that. Then there are three rows of activities and the bottom row says "please" "all done" and something else. I think it was on Christmas Eve that Thomas and I were hanging out waiting for others to wake up and I showed him "I want" "to read a book" "please" and he picked it up right away, all day he would pick up his sheet and point out "I want" "to read a book" "please". Between myself, Aunt Erin, and Grandma Mary we must've read at least 20 books a day. So anyway, yesterday at therapy I took that sheet and asked Thomas what he wanted to do, and of course he wouldn't do it. lol Well his therapist uses a laminated piece of posterboard with velcro on it and the same type of images cut out with velcro on the back for him to choose which activities he wants to do next. It so happened that there were three activities on the board that matched the sheet we brought with us. His first pick was "cards". Well she was supposed to be doing his end of therapy evaluation to show the insurance company how far he's come, so she wasn't really going to do the activities on the board (he got ticked when she didn't have it set up so she set it up just to appease him, Thomas apparently likes having a routine). Well he picked cards and she didn't do cards, so he grabbed his sheet and pointed out "I want" "cards" "please". LOL If he could've talked I can only imagine what he would've been saying "lady, I picked cards so lets do the darn cards!". LOL So she did work on some cards with him after he asked so nicely. After the evaluation he also chose book, which he then pointed out on his sheet ("I want" "to read a book" "please") and then a game ("I want" "game" "please").
It was pretty awesome. I need to decide what other card combinations I'd like made up and see if his teacher will do them up for him to use at home. I'd like to come up with a system using poster board or something to have all the words and commands with all the options and choices he could want permanently placed somewhere in the house. We could do food items using magnets placed on the fridge. I'll have to give it some more thought.
It may not be actual speech, but it's finally an effective way to communicate without the whining and frustration of not knowing exactly what he wants.
Since it has been a while since I've done a Thomas update I can also share that he has mastered the art of shaking his head "no". (Something I've been working with him for literally years) Now that he can do that and knows what it means he is constantly answering questions with an enthusiastic shake of his head. If only he'd get "yes" down too we'd be all set. Right now he is the king of NO. lol
For Christmas we got Thomas a "George" in the box (like a jack in the box, but with Curious George instead of Jack). It took him about ten minutes to master the art of turning the crank. That's a huge thing, at first he couldn't do it at all, now he's a pro, and it requires he use his right hand, which he rarely does, so it's a double bonus as far as fine motor therapy goes.
That's about it for Thomas updates this time around. He is doing so well and learning so much. It's still so exciting every time he learns something new and to see the excitement and pride on his face as he realizes just what he has learned.
If you made it this far thanks for reading and thanks for sharing in my excitement over Thomas' accomplishments.
It was pretty awesome. I need to decide what other card combinations I'd like made up and see if his teacher will do them up for him to use at home. I'd like to come up with a system using poster board or something to have all the words and commands with all the options and choices he could want permanently placed somewhere in the house. We could do food items using magnets placed on the fridge. I'll have to give it some more thought.
It may not be actual speech, but it's finally an effective way to communicate without the whining and frustration of not knowing exactly what he wants.
Since it has been a while since I've done a Thomas update I can also share that he has mastered the art of shaking his head "no". (Something I've been working with him for literally years) Now that he can do that and knows what it means he is constantly answering questions with an enthusiastic shake of his head. If only he'd get "yes" down too we'd be all set. Right now he is the king of NO. lol
For Christmas we got Thomas a "George" in the box (like a jack in the box, but with Curious George instead of Jack). It took him about ten minutes to master the art of turning the crank. That's a huge thing, at first he couldn't do it at all, now he's a pro, and it requires he use his right hand, which he rarely does, so it's a double bonus as far as fine motor therapy goes.
That's about it for Thomas updates this time around. He is doing so well and learning so much. It's still so exciting every time he learns something new and to see the excitement and pride on his face as he realizes just what he has learned.
If you made it this far thanks for reading and thanks for sharing in my excitement over Thomas' accomplishments.
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