More July activities!

Cousin Jason came into town to visit!   We got to spend the day with him.  Above Jason is imitating Grayson sticking out his tongue.  Below is a cute shot of the two of them.  I love how Grayson's hand is over Jason's.

While we were sitting on the couch, Jason asked what that door was used for.   We said it was a doggie door that Layla was too scared to use.  I didn't believe he could fit through it.  He had to prove me wrong.   An action shot of Jason going through the door.

I am back to trying more sensory activities with Grayson.  I had read about boiling and dying spaghetti. I thought it looked interesting.

I don't know if you can see Grayson's face, but he was not very into this activity.  He picked up one red strand and......

went to hide behind the window shade.     He stayed there until the pasta was out of sight.

He doesn't like to get his hands dirty, so his OT told me to try paint in a bag.   That way he could run his hands over it, but not get anything on them.

"Oy vey, Mom!  Stop making me do these dumb things!"   (This is what he would say if he could talk.)

But after a bunch of pushing, I actually got him to run his pointer finger over the paint a few times. Hopefully we will be able to work up to more interaction with the paint in a bag.

We are trying to do more things that involve pretend play.  Here he is pushing his shopping cart.  Before, he insisted on it being turned on its side.  Now he sees it, pushes it, and "parks it" i.e. slams it into one of the dining room chairs.

G has had a bit of a runny nose which turned into a cough.  I took him to the doctor today because it started to sound really yucky.  Sure enough, when she listened to his chest, she said she couldn't hear anything due to the amount of gunk in there.   Enter Grayson's first nebulizer treatment.  I also earned my alligator wrestling degree while we were there.  Holy cow, that kid has some superhuman strength when he doesn't want to be doing something.  Long story short, he has bronchitis.  No school, errands, or play dates for us this week.   Overall, he has been in good spirits, just with a nasty cough.  We were cooped up inside all day, so I decided to bring out an old favorite, bubbles.   This little face just gets so overjoyed when we play with bubbles.   He has gotten really good at using his pointer to pop them and point to things. For right now, he points but he has to actually touch the item.  He hasn't yet picked up on the concept of pointing to something out of reach.  We will get there.  He kept poking me in the face when he wanted more bubbles.  Like I said, he may not talk yet, but he certainly gets his point across.

July

So something is funky with the layout of the blog and I was getting frustrated with trying to fix it. So this time, all of my text will be at the top and pictures will be at the bottom. Please forgive me! Grayson and I made our first trip down south alone. Just the two of us. Daddy got to stay home and relax for the first time in a long time. Grayson was a great passenger, for the most part, and was a perfect guest. We got to stay in an ocean front condo which he absolutely loved! Aside from a minor three hour stomach bug puke-fest one night, the visit was a success! It was great to see everyone. Grammie, Gramps, Aunt Jennie, Uncle Bill, James, Uncle Andy, Chelsea, Jason, and Kira. There is a picture of Grayson watching his new girlfriend Dora. He loves her. Grayson finally found the "Grayson bear" that Grammie bought for him before he was born. He walks around holding it. He kisses it and pets it. Super cute. I found these great PJs at the consignment shop. Our little super-hero. I couldnt resist. $4.50. Can't beat it! Being that G is a little "vertically challenged" he hasnt been able to get on any of our furniture. He has finally figured out that he can climb onto his little brown chair. Got a great picture of him with Teddy, just chilling. This week was a great week at school. He had his first real deal interaction with another kid. I know that sounds like a weird thing to say, but our special little boy has really had no extended interest in other kids his age. Gotta love the webcam at the school so we can see! He sought out this little boy, who I found out later is named Noah, and was basically petting him. They did this for a few minutes back and forth and then found each other later. They were sitting on the floor facing each other and one would do a movement and the other person would reciprocate. When I picked him up, I asked the teacher about it and she said it was awesome. She wished that the webcam had volume because she said that they were babbling back and forth to each other. Most of the kids in the class have an enormous vocabulary, but Noah, just like Grayson, doesnt really talk even though he does have a few words. We thought it was interesting that this was the child he decided to interact with. We also FINALLY had our appointment with the people at Developmental Pediatrics. We had some sessions with clinicians who played with Grayson. He did great with them and definitely showed them a great representation of how he is on a normal day. Pointing has been a skill we have been working on forever, and he hasnt picked it up. Well that is a lie. Miss Elise showed him how to point to request potato chips, of course it was food, maybe 3 times before he just sporadically did it on his own. She got so excited and he saw this, so he did it again and again, just to get the reaction out of her. As soon as she would show excitement, he would smile and shrug his shoulders. It was adorable! I am convinced that he knows how to do so much more than he is letting on. Later in the afternoon we met with the doctor. He asked us a billion questions and then had G do some tasks. We have our parent meeting on August 14th to discuss their findings and a diagnosis if they have come up with one.

Chores and school update

 So we decided to put this little one to work helping around here.  His first assignment: Wash Mom's SUV.   He likes to run his hands along it when we step into the garage and Mommy was getting pretty sick of having to wash Grayson's hand off immediately because it was BLACK with dirt.   The below picture was posed perfectly.  Don't get ahead of yourself though, it lasted about .2 seconds and then he decided to sit down, play with sponge, and watch the water run off the car. (See above photo.)

 Grayson's school experience has continued to be FANTASTIC.  His teacher is amazing.  She was texting me pictures the first and second week.  The second week went well also.  He cried a bit in the beginning when being dropped off, but was able to self soothe within 10-15 minutes. He has been taking part in circle time and continues to grow more comfortable in his environment.  Shoes and socks still come off several times throughout the morning. Teachers dont seem to mind since he is happy and more comfortable like that.  Can't blame him though.  The only time we have shoes on around here is when we are outside.
 Since then I have been picking him up between 11 and 11:15, before lunch.  We wanted to ease him in slowly.  But after talking to the teacher, she thought he was ready to stay for lunch, so today we tried.  It went flawlessly! I got there around 11:40, just in case, and I got to look in and see him sitting at the table with all of the other kids, enjoying his lunch. The way they do it at school is: each child gets a paper plate and one item at a time is taken out of their lunch box and put on the plate.  As they finish, it gets replaced with the next course.  There were about 18 kids today, so I guess G was getting impatient waiting for his food to be replenished.  We know he is just like his Mama, he likes his food!  I could see the other children were calling for the teachers to come over and help them.  Our little man with no verbal skills couldn't do that.  So he improvised.  He took his lunchbox, swung it around over his head, and then threw it on the floor.  That got the teacher over there lickety-split. :)  He got his next course of Goldfish.  Happy little boy sat there and finished his lunch and his water.   I am so excited that he did so well with this addition to his school schedule.   Now I will pick him up at noon, when lunch is over, right before nap time.
Below are the pictures I received from his teacher.    Day 1 of school eating snack at the table.

 Outside on the playground, with a basketball.

 Ice cream day last week.  The ice cream truck came and each child got to choose a treat.  At 9:30 AM, but whatever. :)   I chose for him before I dropped him off.  Chocolate bar.  Teacher said he kept holding it up to his mouth and trying to take a bite but it was too cold.  She ended up giving him a spoon and he ate it that way.  Again, whatever works!

We have been following up with the Developmental Pediatrics to get Grayson some sort of diagnosis.  We start our evaluation on July 18th.  We are hoping that we will continue to receive great tools and strategies to help our boy continue to progress as much as he has over the past eight months.

Last weekend we went over to Melanie and Jamie's house for swimming and BBQ.  Grayson did a great job and spent well over an hour in the pool. Sat on the steps and played with the water, stood on the side and jumped in to Mommy, and he even let Miss Melanie take him and have him swim over to me.  The smiles and giggles were great.

May/June 2013

 I know it has been a while and we haven't taken a whole lot of pictures over the last 6 weeks.  But here is the menagerie of pictures that I do have.  Being a goofball in the tub.

 He loves to sit at his picnic table and read books.  Here he is looking at a sticker book from Dinosaur Train.  He scans the whole page and even gives some of his favorites a kiss. :)

 Mother's Day this year.  We went out to brunch and then Mommy got the afternoon off. :)

 Depending on the day, Grayson has become attached to his blanket that he sleeps with.  Sometimes it needs to come downstairs with him from the beginning of the day, sometimes he could care less.  This was a day that he needed it all day long.  He decided to lay down on it on the kitchen floor.

 He loves to play the game "You better run."  He runs squealing away from whoever is chasing him.
Grayson is doing so well with all of his therapies.  He now sees his developmental specialist on Monday mornings and his OT on Wednesday mornings.  His tolerance level for what they want him to do his risen dramatically from when we started back in October.  He also performs better when I am not there, so I set up the monitor from his bedroom and I go into the kitchen to watch his session.   He is extremely comfortable with both therapists and they are amazed how much progress he has made.  He continues to do well in social settings; parties, restaurants, play dates, you name it.  No progress on the speech front yet, but he is experimenting with his voice all the time.  He "sings" a lot.  He is such a happy little boy with the best disposition.

Another big event! We started pre-school last week.  I went to talk to the teacher the week before to just give her the heads up about some of the challenges that he has, and we went to do a trial the next day.  He did really well and we ended up staying almost two hours.   I think that was a great idea, if I do say so myself, because he ran right in to the first day.  He had no problem saying goodbye, I got a great kiss and was on my way.  He is going to be going on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday AMs to prepare for next fall since that is my new work schedule.  We think that the social interaction with other children can only benefit him.  That is my biggest goal with him being there.  I am hoping he will pick up some good habits and maybe see how much of a benefit language is.  He has NEVER been somewhere that is not in his own home with somebody else watching him.  He lasted until 10:30 the first day.  Then he got upset when it was time to go outside, which is surprising since he LOVES the outside.   The teacher ended up calling me and asking me to come get him because he had been upset for about an hour.  The school is 2 minutes from our house and I already happened to be in the parking lot. :)  I spoke to both of his therapists while he was napping and they thought he had done a great job for his first day.  We thought maybe since he had never seen that playground before that it overwhelmed him.   Nevertheless we decided that pick up for the following day would be at 10:30.  I was nervous that drop off the following day would be horrendous since he left so upset the day before. Thankfully, that was not the case!  He ran right in as he did the day before.  They have a webcam so we get nothing done other than watching what he is doing.  We were hysterical because all of a sudden we see a barefoot Grayson walking across the room.  Later the teacher texted me a picture of him sitting at the table with the other kids eating snack.  Said "Barefoot but happy!" I will take it! The next day I pushed it until 11:00.  He did great!  I am going to pick him up between 11 and 11:30 for the first several weeks.  Going to give him some time before I expect him to eat lunch there.  Let's hope this week goes as well as last week went! Below was our mini-photo shoot before I took him to school that day.

 I couldn't resist snapping this shot.  There is this show called "The Backyardigans" that he likes to watch.  For some reason, he thinks the song at the beginning of the show is HILARIOUS!  He smiles and cackles every time!

 Here are some more great shots of the game "You better run."  Running to Daddy for safety.

 And then we see the camera and have to act the part of a ham.  If only I could harness this power, I would be a millionaire.

 Father's Day 2013.

The last six weeks have been rough around here.  My mom, Grayson's Grammie was diagnosed with lung cancer.  We appreciate all of the positive thoughts, keep them coming, we sure could use them!

2 year old stats

 Here is our official picture of our big 2 year old on his birthday!  See the below picture for a little bit of perspective on how much he changed in one year!! We went to the doctor last Friday and he weighed in at 28 lbs and 3 oz.  That puts him in the 67th percentile for weight.   He measured 34 inches tall.  That puts him in the 31st percentile for height.  Poor guy, short and stout.

He is starting to play with the good ole Mantell tea set.   He likes to put the tops back and forth between the different containers.

We have been working very hard during OT putting our shoes and socks on and off.  He is getting very good at doing it on his own. I just assist a little bit.  He should be doing it on his own in no time!

                                                   

He also is getting much better at putting his shirt on.  He doesn't so much care for taking it off though.  One step at a time I guess!

Just a few more random shots of our 2 year old!

Grayson's 2nd birthday party!

 Grayson's birthday invitation.  He LOVES the Dinosaur Train TV show, so I decided that would be a perfect theme.  For the last 10 days we have been watching the weather channel.  It has been forecasting cold weather and rain.   We were so worried about it "raining on our parade" but all the happy thoughts and prayers you all sent out for us came true and we had a dry party with even a little bit of sun!  It definitely was the coldest day in April in a long time, but it was dry so I can't complain.   Grayson was a rockstar.  He has been having some difficulty again with social anxiety so we were interested to see how it would all play out.  He had a good nap and a full belly and was superb!  He was happy and engaging with his guests.

 Dino tracks leading up to the front door.   (I know they kind of look like middle fingers, not my intention. :) )

 Train on the mantle.

 I started a tradition last year where all the guests sign a book related to the theme.  This is this year's picture.

 Dinosaur Train themed goodie bags with dino stamps, paddle balls, bubbles, and a train whistle.

I think I may have stepped up my game a little bit for this year's photo op.  More adults took pictures with it than kids.

 Digging for Dino station!

 Food set up and decorations.

 Pictures are from one year to 23 months.

 Pepperoni and cheese pizza.

 The birthday boy!

 Family pict.

 Cooper enjoyed Digging for Dinos!

 Shannon and Daphne.   Baby Grice is due any minute!   So glad she kept "it" in there for the duration of the party.

 Jen and sweet Sophie going down the slide.

 Johnna, Stewart, and Tripp playing in the backyard.

 Grammie, Bibby, and Uncle Jeremy.

 Gramps with Mel and Jamie.

 Great Grandma Jojo and Nonny swinging.

 "The boys."

 I've got a cookie!  I am doing great.

 Walking around the backyard with Uncle Andy.

 Going down the slide with my buddy Jamie.

 Kissing Bibby Sue through the glass door!

 Grayson's cool dino cake!  Gotta love Costco.

 Cooper and Tripp in line for cake.

 Pizza and cake.  What a good diet today.

 Mommy with her Mommy group friends!

 Cooper and Casey.

 Pin the horn on the triceratops.  Cooper was a bit confused.

We had a great day!  We appreciate everyone who came from near (two houses down) and far (long drives and plane rides away!)   We also appreciate people who sent cards and gifts but weren't able to make it.   Thank you so much for helping celebrate our special little boy!