Suddenly

Nick's speech has improved so much in the past few months. He's really trying to make himself understood, to speak clearly and slowly. His favorite movie of the moment is Finding Nemo, and he's obsessed with the diver and mask. So, he's worked so hard to say diver, repeating it over and over. Today, I noticed he's starting to pick up the syllables that he often dropped in words and to pick up words in phrases he often left out. So, bu-els have become bubbles, pole has become ishing pole and the movie "Sages" has become "Ice Age."

I miss sages a bit tho.

Sweet Moment

The other night at bed time, Nick patted the rocking chair and said "sit." So I sat. Then he climbed into my lap and said "sing." So, I did. I know it was partly a tactic to delay bedtime, but, it was a sweet moment, one I miss as the kids get bigger and bigger.

The next day, I was singing in the car and he said "no, sing moma." So, I kept on singing.

Amazing

Since the beginning of the year, I've been working on decluttering. Today, I was going through my files of appliance and other manuals, rooting out the manuals for things long broken or that have been given away. One the items was the microwave K & I bought when we moved in together after getting engaged in 1992. On the front page was contact information, an address and a phone number. No email or web page address. Amazing, what we did before the web became such a part such a part of our everyday lives.

Spring Break Activities

For Spring Break, we did a "staycation" Monday, we went to a local pool and swam. Nick was very reluctant to get into the water at first but by the end he put his face in and blew bubbles, held onto my hands and kicked. The may be the summer he learns to swim. At least he should be able to stand in the shallow end.

Tuesday, we went to Chuck E Cheese. I took a book and let the kids run loose. Nick spent most of his time in the overhead tunnels. The older kids went for the games with the possibility of winning the most tickets.

Wednesday, we hung around in our p.j.s

Thursday, two families we know from an email list came over. We had lunch, played a bit of badminton, played Apples to Apples and the moms hung out & chatted.

Friday, we went to the Georgia Aquarium and the World of Coke. Nick loved the aquarium and practiced signing the words for all the sea animals he knows. His favorite was the beluga whales with the giant tank with the whale sharks, rays, etc. He wasn't too thrilled with the World of Coke until we came to the tasting room.

Friends

We had two families over yesterday, one local, one from out of town. The moms originally met on a pregnancy due date list in 1998. We now have 10 year old boys, plus six other kids ranging in age from 15 to 6. The kids played together while the moms talked.

We've gotten together annually for 10 years, and have probably not spent more than 40 hours together in real life. It's amazing how well you can get to know someone when you email almost daily for over 11 years. We're shared to birth of our children, the deaths of friends and other trials of life. It's good to have friends.

Another Milestone of Sorts

This morning, Nick had his p.j. top on inside out. My guess is that he took it off and then put it back on inside out! He's doing really well on dressing. Sometimes get things on backwards, but hey, sometimes I do that too! Now to work on socks.

Seafood Lasagne

Adapted from The Silver Palate Goodtimes Cookbook, by Julee Rosso & Sheila Lukins. I used to make this fairly often before kids, and had forgotten how good it is.

Sauce

1 pound medium-size shrimp, shelled, deveined, and poached briefly (I used precooked)

1 pound scallops, poached briefly

1 jar (24 oz or larger) Vodka sauce

1 box no cook lasagne noodles

Filling

1 pound container ricotta cheese

8 ounces cream cheese, room temp

2 eggs

1 package (10 ounce) chopped frozen spinach

1 pound cooked lump crabmeat

1 bunch scallions, sliced

1 tablespoon dried basil

Salt & pepper to taste

2 packages sliced mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350. Butter or grease 13" x 9" pan

1. Mix vodka sauce, scallops and shrimp.
2. Beat ricotta, cream cheese and eggs in a mixing bowl until smooth. Stir in spinach, crabmeat, scallions, basil and salt & pepper to taste.
3. Spread a thin layer of sauce without seafood in the bottom of pan. Top with a layer of noodles. Cover with half of the seafood sauce and then half of the crabmeat filling.
4. Then add a layer of mozzarella cheese followed by a layer of noodles. Top with the remainder of sauce followed by the filling. Cover with the remaining mozzarella.
5. Bake until the top is bubbling and browned, about 50 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

What a Difference a Year Makes

Yesterday, Nick had an appointment to be casted for a new pair of SMOs. He did really well, protesting a bit but not screaming the entire time. The orthotist remembered us from last year and commented on how much Nick had grown and how well he was walking. It's hard to believe it's only been a year that he's been walking. There was a time when I wondered if he would ever walk, now, I almost can't remember him not walking.

This time last year, Nick was starting to but 2 & 3 word phrases together. But, the words were one syllable or one syllable of a longer word and the phrases were often echos. Now, he's putting together real sentences with multiple syllable words. The other night in the bath he said "Go way, no wash my hair." He's also started to answer questions about things that happened. We're not quite to being able to ask him about his day but, occasionally, he'll tell us about something big that happened at school. And he actually answered a question in circle time at school.

Last year we were working on potty training but not seeing much success. Now, he mostly goes on demand and stays dry as long as we put him on the potty. Now, he can undress himself. The other day he pulled down his pants & pullup and peed on the potty all his own.

Self help skills are coming along, he has mastered a fork and spoon and eats cereal with a minimum of mess. He drinks from an open cup without spilling. Undresses himself, of course, I often find him naked in the bath tub! He knows to cover his mouth when he coughs and mostly to use tissues to wipe his nose.

When you have a child with delays, it's hard to see progress. Perhaps we need to take a longer view more often.