Who Said Catching Up Was Hard to Do?

I got great news from my therapists a couple of weeks ago! They said they were going to encourage mommy and daddy to put me into Kindergarten this fall instead of next fall. I am soo totally excited!! I went to Kindergarten Roundup so I could see where my class is going to be. I still don't know who my teacher is going to be because the current one is retiring. It was a little scary when they took me away from my brothers and mommy to see the new class, so I walked back to the cafeteria and asked mommy if Parker could come sit with me. (My brother Parker is my ultimate bodyguard. He stands up for me all the time and loves 'showing me the ropes' at his school). After I had Parker by my side, all was good. I colored and ate a snack and Parker taught me how to raise my hand to talk.

I have recently given my speech therapist, Jo, a hard time. I talk all the time at home, but I think it's funny to just say "I don't know" when she asks me questions. Mommy had a talk with me and told me I was being rude and that if I didn't talk with Jo; I wouldn't receive the help I needed to go to kindergarten on time. That straightened me right up! I really really want to go to Kindergarten.

Daddy has taken me to my last two occupational therapy appointments with Amida. Daddy really likes Amida and this is really the first time he's got to see me in action at 'gym school'. I got to show him all my exercises and activities and then when I spend some energy, we sit down and work on some of my 'fine' motor skills. I'm getting better at holding a pencil and starting to write my whole alphabet. My next goal is to try to 'contain' my letters. Like fit them all on a line, or at least get them around the same size.




I have been having a hard time 'making pieces into wholes'. Such as drawing a face and body. I know what it takes to make a body; such as a head, body, arms, legs and stuff. But I used to draw all the items separate all over the page.




This week I surprised Amida and finally puts eyes and mouth on the head AND drew arms and legs from a body!





Summer is here and I am really excited about that! Daddy has been taking me on bike rides almost every day and I love it. He says it's time for me to get a bigger bike, because my legs are working twice as hard as everyone elses. We tried to take the training wheels off earlier, but I wasn't so sure about that and Dad didn't want to push the envelope. I love riding my bike along Daddy and showing him how to stop at intersections and look for cars. We always ride down to see the horses and then ride through Parker's school (soon to be my school too!). But my favorite part is when we ride to Dairy Queen for a dilly bar! I love Butterscotch!! Mmmm!!

We are going on vacation in a couple of weeks to a waterpark and I can't wait! I love to swim. I helped Travis pick out a life jacket just like mine. Mommy says I am a water slide FREAK! I love water slides soo much.

That's about it for now. We'll see if I have time this summer to keep you posted on all the happenings.

Growin' in Every Direction

I could say that a lot has changed over the last year and a half since I last wrote in this blog.  But I would prefer to say that twice that has changed in the last six months.

I have now been seeing Jo, my speech therapist for over a year.  I had to take a vacation for the last 4 months of the year last year (due to insurance reasons).  I LOOOOVE Jo.  She has all the different games and toys to play with and she just loves talking to me.  She first taught me how to verbally express my needs and fears.  Then she taught me how to put whole sentences together.  Now I am working on entire thoughts.  She gave mommy some good tools when I left last August and with the constant conversation between me and my family and Alie, well.....I have no problem telling you my thoughts.  The words still get turned around, and occasionally stuck when I'm excited or frustrated, but I get them out somehow.  Now Im working on descriptive words so I can be more colorful in my language.  

When I saw Jo last week for the first time since August, she said she wanted to cry.  She told my mommy that I was a whole new boy.  That there was a new life in my eyes, more emotion in my conversation and more joy in my soul.  I don't have a picture of Jo yet, but mommy promised we'd take one the next time we visited her.

I now have a new occupational therapist.  Her name is Ameda.  I miss my old gym teacher (Lynette) and ask about her gym every week, but mommy said that Lynette was just too far away to drive on the days she had to work.  I was sad at first and continue to miss Lynette but I really like Ameda's gym and mommy loves the new information Ameda gives her.  Since starting O.T. a year ago, I now do pretty much anything any other boy would do on the playground.  Even if I don't have the muscles to complete the task, I'll start it anyway.  And I love swinging!!  (used to be terrified of it).  Alie brings her dog over to our house all the time and now my therapist has a 'therapy dog' named Lucy.  I got to play with her today and loved it. I've been telling mommy I want my own puppy.  Mom and Daddy both agree we should have one too, but they want to wait a little while longer until Travis gets bigger.

I've put some pictures below of my therapy session with Ameda this week.  And something happened that was really really big news.  Mommy cried and even Ameda said she wanted to cry.  You see, my big muscles have been growing really well, but my little muscles and the messages my brain sends to those muscles are still having a hard time.  It's been hard for me to hold a pencil or write a simple line.  I know all my ABC's, but I've never been able to draw them.  Same with shapes.  I just can't get my hands and fingers to listen to my brain.  But after two weeks of drawing exercises at home....today I drew a circle, triangle and a rectangle!!  And mommy got it on video.  I'll post that as well.

Hmm, what else is new?  I love love love my big brother Parker.  And I just want him to play with me all the time.  And Travis?  Well, he picks on me a lot, because I think he loves me a super duper lot and I'd have to say the feeling is mutual.  We bicker, cause that's what brothers do.  But I have the bestest brothers ever.  We all watch out for each other very closely.

I love playing in the water and that is new for me as well.  In fact, I love it soo much, I would prefer to have my life vest on so I can be out in the deep end with no help.  I love being independent.  Speaking of independence, I can now dress myself all the way to the shoes (except for tying, but Parker said he would teach me).  And just last week, I zipped my jacket for the first time.  Finally, my fingers listened to my brain!

I have a lot of special people in my life including my family and Alie.  And with them by my side, I would try or do just about anything (especially if Parker did it first).  Oh, and I love Thomas the Tank Engine (but I'm good about spreading myself between Thomas and all his friends).  That's it for now.

Fears, Frustrations, Tears and Triumphs

Last week mommy took me to a park. I had a ton of fun. But right in the middle of all the fun, I looked over and saw mommy crying. I came off the jungle gym and asked mommy, "Why crying Mommy?". Unfortunately that made mommy smile and then cry more! She just said that she was proud of me and that I was 'making progress' ... whatever that meant. Well, here's what it means...

Many of you are unaware of the battles I was fighting inside of me. Not even mommy and daddy really knew. They knew that I was having a hard time learning how to talk. So mommy took me to a speech therapist, named Jo. I love Jo. We have a lot of fun playing with her toys. She teaches me how to say certain statements like, "I want...", "I need...", Open the..", "Close the...", "I'm hungry" and "Can I have...". She says these are basic operational statements that I needed to learn to express my needs. Before I was able to say any of these things, I was a very frustrated child. I didn't know how to get the words in my head to come out of my mouth. I threw alot of temper tantrums, which really made mommy and daddy angry. I don't get as frustrated anymore and mommy and daddy are a lot more understanding. That doesn't mean I don't have to to go timeout anymore, but I can now say, "I don't want to go to timeout". Mommy just replies, "That's a great sentenance Lance, but you still have to go and we'll talk about it when you get out".

When I was learning to talk more, I was able to say, "I'm scared" and mommy learned about a lot of my fears. Some of these fears may seem silly to other people, but they are enough to make me freeze in space or yell and cry really loud. I am afraid of strangers, young toddling children (not just my cousin), loud noises, my feet being off the ground, bodily functions, loud hectic environments, all animals big and small and the general fear of the unknown. With that learned, mommy started me in Occupational therapy. It was a little harder for me to warm up to Jesse, but I finally did and we play well together as long as mommy stays in the room. Jesse is teaching me about my body and what it can do for me. She told mommy that I have some very weak muscles, especially in my belly. She explained that some of my muscle 'messages' aren't getting to my brain, so I don't know where my body is in regard to certain 'spatial relationships' (obviously I can't say that yet. Mommy types well for me). So mommy and I do fun exercises at home to help with that. During the day mommy makes me push and pull a lot of things, especially the laundry basket and wagon. And at the end of a fun filled day, I get a deep muscle massage with lotion!!! I love that part.

Okay, well about that progress mommy was talking about. Let me tell you what I have done in the last two weeks to make mommy so proud:

I am definitely talking more, and am aware of others emotions. I am also learning about consequences and able to rethink my actions.

I let mommy and daddy push me on a swing, and I SMILED!!

I walked across a wobbly bridge - I was pretty scared the whole time, but I did it and without mommy holding my hand! And I even went back and did it again.

We had a dog for a week and it took me 48 hours to not be afraid of him. But by the end of the week, he was my buddy and I even called for him to come play. This was a huge event for me. This dog was enormous, taller than my head.

Mommy took me to a gymnastics class that is crazy with toddling children all smaller than me. I didn't freakout or cry. I stayed by mommy for a few minutes, then realized that I could have fun if I didn't pay any attention to the other kids. I played on a lot of equipment that will strengthen my muscles and at the end I even gave a little boy named Sam, his shoe. On the way home I told mommy, "Have fun at gymnastics". That's the first time I've ever actually told mommy I had fun. I can't believe I had that much fun with all those scary kids running around.

And today, to top it all off, I went pee-pee on my potty chair!! We've been trying this for a very long time. And I just get scared to see my peepee coming out of me. I can hold it for hours and hours. But mommy talked with me for a long time this morning and said we were going to try it again. She made me drink sooo much. Finally I went a little on the floor, got scared and ran to the potty. She told me it was okay and that she was so happy to see me on the potty chair. I sat for 15 minutes and didn't go. So we got up to play more and get my mind off of it. Then this time I made it to the chair before any came out. I started to go in the chair and got scared, so turned it off. Then I saw mommy doing the happy peepee dance. But then she stopped. So I peed more and she danced more. It was so funny to see her dance. Then we celebrated by doing lots of hollering and clapping (even though daddy was sleeping).

So this summer is starting out to be pretty good. I wonder what I'll be doing by the time I turn three!!

Spring Break '07

Something to Talk About

I can't believe it's been almost a year since I've updated this thing called a blog. So much has happened since June...where do I start?

I am now 2 1/2. Since last June I have seen a lot of changes and experienced a lot of changes. We moved into this new house that I absolutely love. My favorite part is the backyard. Especially right now. See, there's is this corner that mommy calls her garden...but it's not a garden yet. Right now, it's my special mud hole! I love it!! There is so much dirt and mud out there to keep me busy all day long. Of course, the down side is that I eventually get wet and cold, but it takes me a long while to get that way. Our new house is also laid out in a way that allows me to run from run end to another. And I love running! I think I run almost as fast as Parker. We love chasing eachother. Did I mention that Parker is absolutely my best bud ever?! He plays with me all the time, but sometimes I get a little too rough with him and he complains. Mom tells him to 'buck up' because he started it..but also tells me to be nicer to him. She tries to keep it fair. (Fair or not, I try to sneak in as many swings and jump-ons as I can...because it's just plain fun).

I'm definitely getting taller. I haven't gained any weight for a really long time, so I've thinned out since most of you last saw me. Eating isn't my issue....I love to eat (well the things I like anyway). Mommy says that I just keep getting taller and my feet keep growing. I bet I'll be taller than Daddy someday.



Of course the biggest news since my last entry, is the addition of my new baby brother, Travis. I call him Fi-ya. Nobody knows but that's just my special name for him. Just like I call Parker, "Go-go". That makes more sense to everyone since he is always on the go-go, LOL. I have said his name right a couple of times, but I have to work really hard to do so. And sometimes I just don't want to work that hard.

Travis can be cool at times. I really love him a lot. And I absolutely love to give him kisses. What I really like the most is when he shares his pacifier with me (well, he's not supposed to, but I sneak it away now and then. He doesn't seem to mind). Mommy and Daddy usually catch me and make me give it back. I wish they could understand that I'm just making sure that it works well for Travis. There's nothing more frustrating than a pacifier that doesn't soothe.

These days I have really been into playing with my cars. Especially my die-cast cars from the movie, "Cars". Lightening McQueen and Sally and my two favorite, but I play with all of them pretty much all day. Mommy and Daddy even let me bring them places, but we're careful not to lose them. I really like to play with them and watch the movie at the same time. In fact, I would watch that movie all day over and over if my parents would let me. I know Parker would let me because he likes it too.

Outside of playing at home, I go see a special friend every Monday to play and learn how to speak more clearly. Her name is Jo and she is teaching me how to get my point across verbally. It has been very frustrating for me not to be able to have my family understand what I want or need. But Jo is really helping me. At first we thought it was a 'clarity' issue (as in I was pronouncing words correctly), but they are starting to understand that I can't seem to get certain words from my brain to my mouth in the right order. In addition, forming the words in my mouth can be challening. But we are working hard on it. Mommy says I have made great progress. In fact this morning I said a new 3-word phrase at breakfast. I said, "Thank you Mommy". All on my own, without any coaching. Mommy was so proud of me. It actually sounded like "Shank-Shoo, Mommy"...but we were so happy that I said 3 words in the correct order all on my own. We have a lot of little celebrations each day when I suprise Mommy and Daddy like that.

In case you're wondering, I hate sitting on the potty. Absolutely despise it. I don't mind using the potty chair as a regular chair, and I even sit on it naked sometimes. But the idea of 'going potty' in it....I HATE!! Mommy says we're not going to push the issue. I think that someday I'll go in it, but I am just too busy to take time, sit and 'do my business' .... especially when I can do it on the fly! :)

Well, that's a quick update from me. Hopefully I'll write a little more often now that my family is on a pretty regular schedule.

Oh, and in case you are wondering....that thing I'm pointing to is called a belly button and I love finding mine and everyone elses. Maybe one day when I see you next, I'll try to find yours too!

Mmm ... WATERMELON!!

Need I Say More?!