It's been way too long.....

Wow, has it really been 6 months since my last update? I'm not sure where to even begin so I guess I will start by hitting some highlights. Maybe then I will get my bloggy grove back. As you can see by the snow picture, we have had a winter wonderland in our neck of the woods. To be more specific, our region received a mountains worth of snow ( 4+ feet!). Noah absolutely loved the snow. Icicles could have formed on his eye lids and that wouldn't have stopped him from frolicking in the snow. His tiny snow boots were pretty much worthless after the first 6" but that didn't stop him from dragging them out of the closet every 20 minutes to inform us ( saying "b" oots) it was time yet again to play outside.

We couldn't be more proud of all of Noah's accomplishments over the last year. He turned 3 in October and since then his vocabulary has started to emerge. He can say clearly about 8 -10 words and says another 10-15 words along with signs. My new favorites are Blue ( "b" oo) and bless you ( "b" ess ). Just the other day he said "daddy no" and I cried with joy to hear him say two words.

Starting in October, Noah started attending a preK classroom 4 (1/2 days)/week and a typical preschool in the afternoons. We absolutely adore his teacher and have met some wonderful families during this transition. For those curious about is very first IEP, Noah gets the following therapies:

Speech - 90 minutes/week 2 -individual / 1 -group
OT - 60 minutes/week - 1 -individual/1- group
PT - 30 minutes once a week (group)

He has become Mr. Independent. Which I have a love/hate relationship with. I so want him to try everything himself but there is only some much time in the day. I think we have worked out a good balance where I allow him to start by himself and I offer to help when appropriate. The above picture is of him helping me clean out the bathroom vanity. He insisted on climbing all the way in to clean. These are truly the moments that make me love his independence.

He is also Mr. Orderly, and always makes sure all draws & doors are closed. He also doesn't like anything left on the stairs and will let us know if something needs to be removed. Each morning he needs the window blind opened and his blanket folded and put at the end of the bed before even thinking about venturing out of his bedroom. Which leads me to his bed. It's finally time to transition him to a big boy bed, although he stays put in his crib it pains me to hear him knock into the crib rails throughout the night. So the bed has been ordered and due to arrive this week. Wish us luck on this transition!

I just love this picture of Noah rolling out playdoh. Just look at his determination. He is not one to stay focused on anyone project and prefers to bounce from one thing to the next. So watching him stay focus even if it's for 10 minutes is a nice moment for me. I still try to sneak in fine motor therapy whenever possible.

Noah started playing soccer this year. He truly was a super star. He learned quickly and enjoyed all the comradery of his team mates. It was fun to watch 8-10 , 3-4yrs olds scattering themselves all over the soccer field. It was actually quite a work out for the parents chasing after the kids especially when they strayed into the next field.

I know there is so much more I can update but I don't want to make this too long. I hope to get back into a blog groove and post more regularly.

Cheers,

Terry