The Easter Thing...

Easter is coming, and I must say it is turning out to be my favorite holiday. This is the one holiday that has a tradition Thomas really enjoys participating in. Of course he likes the present aspect of Christmas, but he won't help decorate the tree or bake cookies. Halloween I can put him in a costume and roll him around town, but he doesn't really care for the candy that much and doesn't understand what is going on. With Easter I have discovered for the second year in a row that Thomas loves to color eggs. Finally a traditional holiday activity that he actively participates in and thoroughly enjoys!

Last Easter I vividly remember Thomas putting the eggs into the coloring cups, using his hands to add them to the cups and take them out. I remember the single egg, left uncolored, because Thomas wouldn't let anyone dip it into the coloring. I remember the green hands that lasted for days and days. But mostly I remember the giggles, the laughter, the look of pure joy on his face as he dropped those eggs into the cups and gleefully pulled them back out.

This year I anticipated major disapointment on my part. Dare I hope that Thomas would want to participate in the egg coloring two years in a row? It was a slow start. Thomas was unhappy that I cleared away his mealtime items, his sippy cup and books. He wasn't sure what to do with the newspaper I placed in front of him. When I placed an egg in his hand he tried to give it back. I began to feel that bitter edge of disapointment I had hoped wouldn't come. And then, suddenly he decided to participate. He stuck those little hands in the cups, placing one egg after another into the same cup, stacking them until he couldn't stack them any higher. It was so cute, and such a wonderful surprise!

Sometimes Thomas just seems to know when mommy needs a reminder of what a miracle he is. I admit I need a gentle nudge now and again to look at the bright side of life and stop feeling sorry for myself, and to think about what all this boy of mine CAN do, instead of feeling sad about what he can't.

I helped take down the cupboards...

With the return of our income taxes my hubby and I decided to replace our old worn down cabinets. We ordered them and ended up getting one back that was not quite right. We decided to get the project underway with the cabinets we did have.

I emptied the two cabinets we would need to take down. Hubby removed one cabinet and then went out to the garage to get a 2X4. While he was gone I thought "why don't I take down the other cabinet for him and it'll be a nice surprise?" So I get two screws out and then the head breaks off the third one. No problem, that happened to hubby too and he just yanked on it a bit to get it off.

I start to yank. The cupboard next to the one I was working on began moving too. As I continued, a little more cautiously, I decided to just wiggle it back and forth instead of yanking on it. Well, I forgot that two years ago when we were putting up a new ceiling hubby just tacked the cabinets up onto a single 2X4, because when he did that it was a "temporary-fix". So, unbeknownst to me, as I am jiggling and wiggling and pulling on this single cabinet, all the rest are getting it too.

Did I mention I hadn't cleared out the cabinets that were supposed to stay up?

Anyway, next thing I know ALL the cabinets are crashing down. I'm on a step stool trying to hold up the end I have been working on, the middle is caught on a little shelf on the wall, the others are just pouring out their contents. All I hear is shattering glass. Hubby is still out in the garage. So I stand there, because if I move the cabinets will definately fall completely down, and the door that is being held shut by my body will also lose it's contents. I stand there waiting for hubby to come back, and yet I'm hoping he never does. LOL

He comes back and I start yelling for him to come into the kitchen. tick tock tick tock tick tock... "Ummmm honey, could you hurry?"

"I am"

"Yeah, I need you to hurry a little faster!"

The look on his face when he walked into the kitchen was priceless. But to his credit he didn't yell or give me a hard time. I think he was in too much shock. He came over and helped me get the cabinets down (losing more glasses and other stuff in the process). Then he sat down and just stared at the floor. Meanwhile I am stuck on this stool in my stocking feet unable to move for the shards of shattered glass all around me. So after a gentle prompting, he got me some slippers. He even helped with clean up.

The floor, which was also replaced just over three years ago with a wood laminate, is scarred and gauged beyond repair. I'm thinking a nice area rug for the kitchen has now become a necessity.

So yeah, lesson learned here: ME + power tools + construction projects = DISASTER!

**note: Thomas was in his chair at the Kitchen table out of harms way when this happened!**

Amazing Thomas

I talked to Thomas' teacher today and she told me something that happened during his OT session this morning:

During OT (occupational therapy) his therapist had him in the swing. When it was time for him to stop swinging, she tried to take him off the swing. Well, he wasn't ready to get off the swing, and pushed her hands away and SAID "NO!"

Of course, he hasn't repeated it since then, and I'm sure he probably won't until he's good and ready, but WAHOO!!! Progress is Progress! So now his vocabulary (when he chooses to use it) consists of "Mama" & "No".

I have such an amazing little boy!

Happy Birthday to my Baby Boy!

Five years old. I can't believe it. It has been five years since I was blessed with my amazing and sweet little boy. He is not so little anymore, growing faster than I care to admit. This last year has been such a big year for him. He's come so far in social, physical, and even mental development.

Can this little boy, now five years old and becoming so independant, be the tiny baby who came rushing into this world 8 weeks too early? He was eager to come out and greet the world, and has been doing things at his own pace ever since. Some things take him longer, and some things seem to come much too fast.

Saturday we had a nice party with many of our friends and family helping to celebrate. He received so many nice gifts and still, two days later, has yet to explore them all. Last year he was still a bit anxious in a crowd and cried when we sang "happy birthday." This year he was a little social butterfly and was all smiles during the singing. He even ate some of his cake!

This has been one of the best years I have had the pleasure of sharing with Thomas. I can only hope the coming year has as many accomplishments and joys as the past one did.

Whoohooo! He did it again... ;o)

This morning Thomas woke up at the crazy hour of 2 a.m. Around 2:45 he wanted up at the table for some food, so I put him up in his chair and laid myself back down on the couch. A short while later he was whining to get down, so I asked "Thomas, do you want down?" And he reached over and pushed "yes" on his GoTalk. So I got up and let him down.

At around 4:15 he wanted back up at the table to eat breakfast. So I put him up and got him some more food, then I went and laid back down on the couch again. I snoozed, and a few minutes later woke to a lot of whining. So I asked "do you want to get down?" Nothing but more whining. So again I asked "Thomas, do you want to get down, press the button and tell me." So he looks at the GoTalk board, reaches over and presses "potty".

Okay, I was a little skeptical about this, but since he actually did check out the GoTalk board first and pushed that button after some deep thought, I got up and took him into the bathroom. I sat him on the potty, read his book a few times, and he actually went poop on the potty again!!

So it wasn't just a fluke!! How exciting is this? I envision no more poopy diapers, and after almost five years of them, that is a wonderful vision!!

Go Talk Communication Device

Recently Thomas received an early birthday present. It is a communication device called a "Go Talk". Basically there are pictures placed in front of buttons. I can record a word so that when he pushes the corresponding picture, the word will play. I have programmed it with the words "Yes" "No" "More" and "Potty". The idea is to teach him to use the buttons to communicate, which will cut back on the frustration of figuring out what he wants, or doesn't want, and it will actually help with his speech in the long run.

Anyway, Thomas was sitting up at the table eating a snack this morning. I was working on my laptop sitting next to him. The "Go Talk" was near him and he pushed the "potty" button. So I said, "Do you have to go potty? if you push that button that means I have to take you to the potty." He pushed it again. So I took him into the bathroom. He sat on the potty and we read his book 3 or 4 times. I asked him twice if he was ready to get down and he pushed the "no" button. I left the bathroom to get a different book and when I came back I smelled something not-so-rosey. So I asked him if he made a stinky. I scootched him forward so I could see and sure enough, he'd made a poop on the potty!!!

This child amazes me every single day. I almost can't wait to wake up to see what else he is going to do!

He said it...

He said it...

The word I've been waiting for was finally, FINALLY, uttered from the sweet lips of my baby boy.

"Mama"

One word. One sweet word from my amazing guy.

A day I prayed for. A day I hoped for. A day I wished for with all my heart but was never sure it would really come.

But it did, and I realize that I need to keep on praying. Keep on hoping. Keep on wishing with all my heart and believing that the days will come when he will do the things I long for him to do.

It happened Thursday afternoon. I was working on a website for a new client but Thomas wanted to look at the Nissan website on my laptop. So I pulled it up for him and we looked through all the available models. While we were looking I received an email so I quickly clicked over to see what it was. This did not sit well with Thomas, who was not quite finished looking at the cars. So he began to get an attitude, as most soon-to-be five-year-olds will do. I turned to him and said, say "mama" and we can look at the cars again. Some more whining ensued, but a moment later he looked straight into my eyes and said "Mama."

Of course then I was too excited to switch screens, hugging and kissing him, cheering and applauding his accomplishment. All the while encouraging him to say it again. No such luck. Each request for the word mama was returned by Thomas with a kiss. Kisses are nice too, but I was on a "mama" high and wanted to hear it again. However I do know when to stop pressing my luck, so I returned to the Nissan website and we continued browsing for Thomas' dream car.

A few hours later he was at the dinner table, and he ran out of juice. Next thing you know I hear "mamamamamamama." So this time I was low-key about it and just refilled his juice. Okay, I did ask him to say "mama" before I refilled it. And he did answer me with "umma." Close enough kiddo, close enough.

After that requests for "mama" to be said were met with "babababa" or just plain old fashioned gobbledegook. Although I did get one more mama at random from across the room.

The next morning Thomas woke up way too early for any civilized human being to wake up. As I groggily got him some breakfast and strapped him into his booster seat, I kept asking him to say mama. Hey, it was 4 a.m. If he could wake me at that ungodly hour I had the right to make my request! Nothing doing though, so I came back to my couch and laid down where I could still watch him, and promptly dozed off. A short while later I awoke to "Mamamamamamama!" So I hopped up, did a happy dance, and went and got my big, sweet, wonderful, amazing boy down from his chair and smothered him with kisses and hugs before I let him down to play.

What an amazing little boy I have, don't you agree?