If Eleanor took the lion's share of spirit, our little Adam grabbed sincerity with both hands. I guess I shouldn't really say "little" since Adam is about an inch and a half taller than Eleanor...only thing is he weighs about two pounds less at 32 pounds. He has the skinniest rear end that I love to pinch--to which he responds, "cute little bubby". I guess that comes from me telling him he's got a cute little bottom for so long! Adam has recently taken to patting my belly and saying, "baby brother," at the table--usually because I'm trying to convince him to eat something or other and he can't help but have my tummy right in his face. 
Adam spent the last year at a special education preschool to get extra help with his speech. I was veeeerrrry apprehensive about sending my little guy to school so young, but I can't say enough about the school and his wonderful teacher. Adam started school saying very little--animal sounds, mom, dad, a few other things. Now he says almost anything (though whether you can understand him often depends on how much time you spend with him), is constantly interacting with the family, and has become much more independent. His voice is quiet because of his paralyzed vocal cord, but if you listen, you'll hear that he can say his ABC's, count to 100, count by 10's, count by 1000's, and can even do some basic adding and subtracting. He also can look at a clock and tell you what time it is. If there are numbers involved, Adam is all over it. He also loves to spell--mom, dad, Adam, Alex, Eleanor, hat, dog, cat, bus, yes, no, nose, up, down...the list goes on. He also surprised the daylights out of me the other day and counted to 10 in Spanish. I'm blaming Handy Manny. :) I wish I could get Adam to enjoy coloring and drawing more, but his attention span needs some work. Needless to say, I'm very glad we can send Adam back to the same school this year and even the following year before starting kindergarten.
Adam spent the last year at a special education preschool to get extra help with his speech. I was veeeerrrry apprehensive about sending my little guy to school so young, but I can't say enough about the school and his wonderful teacher. Adam started school saying very little--animal sounds, mom, dad, a few other things. Now he says almost anything (though whether you can understand him often depends on how much time you spend with him), is constantly interacting with the family, and has become much more independent. His voice is quiet because of his paralyzed vocal cord, but if you listen, you'll hear that he can say his ABC's, count to 100, count by 10's, count by 1000's, and can even do some basic adding and subtracting. He also can look at a clock and tell you what time it is. If there are numbers involved, Adam is all over it. He also loves to spell--mom, dad, Adam, Alex, Eleanor, hat, dog, cat, bus, yes, no, nose, up, down...the list goes on. He also surprised the daylights out of me the other day and counted to 10 in Spanish. I'm blaming Handy Manny. :) I wish I could get Adam to enjoy coloring and drawing more, but his attention span needs some work. Needless to say, I'm very glad we can send Adam back to the same school this year and even the following year before starting kindergarten.
When something strikes Adam's funny bone he laughs with the sweetest, most contagious little laugh that shakes his whole body. He loves to be tickled and will even grab you hand and say, "more tickles!" just to be able to laugh and laugh. He just adores his big brother and is not always fond of having to take turns doing things with him. For example, Alex will pick up the kids and spin them in circles while they look to the ceiling and squeal. When it's Eleanor's turn his gets quite impatient and can throw a temper tantrum with the best of them. Even though it's not supposed to be a good thing, I like that he's not just letting Eleanor get away with whatever she can anymore--he's starting to stand up for himself. Only problem is that her speech skills far surpass his, so she can be quite eloquent at explaining why it was all Adam's fault. 
Now that summer is here, Adam just loves to go outside. He will grab his Disney hat and wear it all day if he thinks that it will get you to take him out on the trampoline or climb the rock wall on the playscape. His dad takes the little slide and puts it into the little pool so they slide down into it--as you can see from the photos, he loves it. I'm hoping that by the end of summer he'll be riding his tricycle--but he's a little afraid of the whole bike riding concept.
One of the best parts of the day, though, is when I go upstairs to put Adam to bed and he yells out, "Mommy!!!". Not much can beat the sound of that with the huge grin on his face.
3 comments:
I found your blog quite by accident, but I'm glad I did. I was reading your story from the beginning, and what struck me almost immediately is the incredibly positive way you have of looking at things.
Sure there were problems, but your appreciation of the joys of life and ability to look at the whole picture is just awesome.
Two things that will always remain in my mind is how you shrugged at the possibility of ROP saying that if that was all you had to deal with, it was a good deal (in your own words of course). The other is when you spoke of the social interaction assessment (?) and of the children's response to angry voices where you wondered in brackets when they would have heard them to guage a response.
The lasting image in my mind is that of a loving, appreciative family who celebrate their joys and sprinkle laughs through their challenges. A family where the elder brother is so much a part of loving the young ones....
I'm due in September too, with my first one. Everything is fine, but I have no clue how to be a mom. If I can have half the positivity you have, I'm sure I'll do wonderfully.
He looks so much like his sister in that one photo... He's way above S in math - S can't count to 100 yet and he'll be 5 in September.
Thanks for updating. I don't feel so far away when I get these little glimpses. It was so good to see you when you were here. I love how we can just jump in and be together - even if it's been a month (or a year) since we last spoke. :)
So glad to get a clearer picture of how the kids are doing. And they are obviously doing GREAT! Thanks for keeping up with your blog, even if it is only once in a while now :-)
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