Good news, bad news, good news!

Ok, so the bad news is that Stephen has an ear infection. He was trying to tell me on Monday and Tuesday that he had an "owieeeee e-ooooh" (owie ear), but was only saying it at naptime. Given Stephen's general dislike of naps, I naturally assumed that he just didn't want to take one! But, when he started complaining on Wednesday morning, I knew he meant business. Then he fell asleep on me during our meeting with Sooner Start for his one-year evaluation (more on that below). So, I took him in, and for the first time EVER, Stephen was able to be weighed on the stand-up scale, instead of the sitting one! Of course he kept moving around, so it was hard to get a totally accurate weight, but we guesstimated him to be between 28lbs, 2oz, and 28lbs, 8oz. Whoo! No WONDER we get so tired when he wants to be held! The pediatrician took a look in one ear, and then when Stephen contorted himself so that his left ear was pressed against my chest so she couldn't look at it (yes, I did finally get him moved), I was glad I'd brought him in!

Now, for more on the Sooner Start stuff. Sooner Start is the Early Intervention Agency that provides Stephen's physical therapy. One year ago, Stephen was unable to get himself into a seated position without help, and was basically immobile. He had rolled at the appropriate times, but never put it together that rolling could be a useful way to get around. He scored more than a 50% deficiency in his gross motor skills at that time, and more than 25% deficiency in receptive language. NOW, however, he is just BARELY below normal in gross motor, and at age level or above in ALL other areas. Despite that, however, we are opting to get speech therapy started soon to help Stephen learn to communicate better. He learns words well, and always uses them appropriately, but he just isn't a big talker! Our therapist and resource coordinator agree that if Stephen continues to improve as he has been, we will most likely be "kicked out" of Sooner Start in about 6 months.

The other good news is that Stephen is a walking pro! He can walk by himself, controlled, across the entire length of our house! His physical therapist is going to continue coming weekly until we figure out how to help him learn to stand up from the middle of the floor (without pulling up on something), and then we'll go down to every other week. We still haven't quite determined what we are going to work on after that, since it seems as though his fine motor skills are appropriate for his age, but I'm sure we'll find ways to make sure he is on track to leave the program.

And now, I'll leave you with a picture!

Ahhhh...

Yesterday, Stephen decided to step up after a week of HORRIBLE napping, and sleep for almost 3 hours in the afternoon. Afterwards, he had his usual snack, and THEN put together his Tupperware shape sorter in about 2 minutes. Well, not completely on his own - he picked up the shape, I pointed to the correct hole (That's HARD for a 2 year old, especially as small as those pieces are...), and he popped it right in! We are very proud of that...

Now, of course, since he slept so long yesterday, he didn't take a nap today, and was just a BEAR by the time dinner rolled around. We were just sure he would wear himself out playing in the nursery at church, but no dice! Hopefully I'll get a nap out of him tomorrow!

Fun Video

Bossy little bugger!

I'm not sure exactly what Stephen has been doing in the crib when I put him down for his daily nap, but 3 out of the past 4 days, I have heard a scream, and then the dreaded, "MommyDaddyOwwwwwieeeeeee" cry. I suspect he is trying to stand without pulling up, and falling, but I'm not really sure. He has a history of trying things out in his crib when no one is watching (rolling and pulling to stand), so it is a definite possibility. However, I digress. Today when this occurred, I made my trek up the stairs for some mommy-comfort, and when I picked him up, he stopped crying for just a few seconds, touched my face, and called me "Mom." Not Mommy or Mama, but Mom. My big boy... I cuddled him for a bit, and while doing so, he looked at me, and quietly said, "YOU shsss!" Stephen still gets a small amount of comfort from shushing (you moms know that sound...), and I guess that is what he wanted me to do to help him get over his issue! So, I did, and he quickly calmed down, and then went to sleep.

This evening, Stephen created a new chair for himself:

No explaination necessary... Stephen's project du jour!

Another playdate!

So I guess Stephen just needed another small person to chase around to make him want to walk more! We had another playdate today with Stephen's buddy, Alexander, and Stephen took off chasing after him (walking) a few times with no prompting. Alexander was walking behind a push-toy, and Stephen just decided to "get him!" I had to stop him each time, though, because I was afraid that they would get hurt if they fell - Stephen is about 6 inches taller, and 10 lbs heavier than Alexander, and I didn't want him to get hurt!

Stephen enjoyed looking out their back door, watching the two dogs run around. It was a nice day, but really windy, so we weren't able to spend too much time outside today.

Tomorrow (Valentine's Day), we are planning on going to lunch at Steak N' Shake. All three of us like eating there, and we don't go too often, because it's a 30 minute drive. Other than that, we don't have much planned for the weekend. We ARE going to work on some babyproofing projects in Stephen's room, though, because I discovered that he is less than an inch from outgrowing his crib, so if Stephen is going to be in a toddler bed in a couple of months, we need to minimize the amount of mischief he can get into in his room!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!!

And a Number TWO from Number One!

Just what I'm sure everyone wanted to read about, right? Poop! Tonight Stephen pooped in his potty for the first time. I'm not convinced that it was more than an accident, because he didn't give any of his normal indications that he was going to do it, but all of a sudden, there it was! Stephen was very proud of himself, and enjoyed watching it go down the toilet. I know that it doesn't mean it will be easy when the time comes to potty train in earnest, but at least we know he isn't afraid of his potty chair!

And for those of you wondering, we are going to wait a few months before we really start to "train." I'm waiting until it gets warmer so we can do some nekkid days to make it easier to get to the potty without accident. He is already learning how to pull his pants down, so that's another step in the right direction as well!

Oh, and I forgot to mention...

Stephen can now recognize 3 letters on sight, and say what they are. The letters that he says are "R," "L," and "O." He won't always do it if asked, but often will do it without prompting while playing with his alphabet magnets. Correctly.



Not like this:

Holding down the fort while Daddy is away.

Erik left for Houston on Thursday for a conference, so Stephen and I had to keep ourselves entertained on our own for a few days. Not a big deal - we've done it before, but I totally have respect for all of the single parents in the world! I definitely have a new appreciation for "Me" time!

Anyways, Erik left Thursday afternoon, but that morning, Stephen decided it was time to start working on his singing skills. So far, however, he is somewhat lacking in the "skill" department. He makes up for it in exuberance, though! One of Stephen's favorite songs is "Mary had a Little Lamb." He also likes the Sesame Street version: "MURRAY had a Little Lamb," but the original is definitely his favorite. After a few minutes of hearing, "Mayweeee... Lam.... Lam! LAM!!! Maaaaaayweeeeee..." I realized that he was singing his song along with the version on his toy piano. Of course, there was no tune to it, and those were the only words he sang, but he sure was excited to do it! We later took Erik to the airport, Stephen took his nap, and then he sang more and more.

On Friday, our friends Amy and Alexander came over to play. Amy is the piano professor at Erik's school, and Alexander is her 1 year old. We had a great time! Stephen tried multiple times to engage Alexander in different activities with him: cars, ball, piano, but Alexander, being one, doesn't quite understand the idea of playing WITH someone. Frankly, I was kind of surprised that Stephen did, as it has been my understanding that at his age, kids still like to play by themselves together (side by side play), but I guess I shouldn't be that shocked. Stephen has always been good about playing WITH me and Erik, especially activities that require taking turns. The other little boy in this picture is obviously Alexander. Stephen was a little rough, but was definitely intrigued with the other small person who was playing with his toys. He never tried to take anything from him, but he really wanted to love on him, and didn't understand that Alexander is much smaller than he is. We will be working on that, though, since Stephen will have a new cousin soon, and we can't have him being rough with his cousin, whenever we get to see him!

Today, we headed over to the bookstore. We had planned on going for storytime this morning, but Stephen opted to sleep in instead (THANK YOU, son!). Since I had already told him we would go look at books, though, I had to make good. Stephen picked out a new book for himself, and I got a new cookbook. Nothing too exciting on tap for today, but we pick up Erik tonight, so that makes us all happy!

Number 1 from Number 1

Well, after months of having Stephen sit on his potty before bath (mostly in an effort to keep him from peeing in the tub), he FINALLY went in the potty! YAY! We are pretty sure he knew that he had to pee, because he normally gets up after about 30 seconds of sitting there, and tonight he just sat and sat and sat, and then - ta DA! We don't know when it will happen again, and we aren't actively potty training yet, but at least now we know that HE knows what the potty chair is for... YAY!

Naptime post

Stephen has always had difficulties when it comes to sleeping. My mom swears I was the same way, so I guess what goes around, comes around! Anyways, as of late, he has been falling asleep more quickly, and staying asleep all night long for the most part. He used to sleep through the night - he started that when he was around 4 or 5 months old, and it continues blissfully until this past summer. I don't know what the cause was, but we had about 6 months of just awful sleep around here, all three of us! But, since he has been sleeping better at night, the naps have been harder. So, we decided to stop fighting him on the naps, and if he decides not to take one, then that's just it.

Today, he was tired. Really tired. He fell asleep relatively quickly, and when I heard the snoring, I went to his room to make sure he was covered with a blanket. This is how I found him:

Yep, 100% totally asleep. Cute, huh? I just tipped him over onto his side, covered him up, and he just woke up from his hour-long nap. Silly boy!

Super Bowl, baby!

No photos, because we were just having too much fun, but Stephen really enjoyed what he watched of the super bowl! But what he loved the most, though, was the Audi commercial shown during the first time out. You know, the one where a guy was riding a motorcycle and crashed, flying head over feet quite a ways into the air? Yeah. He loved that one.

Ok, he also enjoyed the picnic dinner that we let him have so he could WATCH the game. I brought his picnic table into the family room, and we set him up there with his PBJ, orange slices, yogurt, and milk. He had better table manners at his little table than at the dining room table - he was quite the little gentleman! Hmmmmm... maybe there's something to think about there?

And he had an awesome day with his walking. Lots of stopping and starting mid-trip, and going for pretty long distances as well. It must have worn him out pretty well, because he fell asleep fairly quickly tonight, unlike the previous few weeks when it would take him upwards of 90 minutes to finally give it up at night. Woo Hoo!