Happy Friday!

Hello, everyone! It's been a busy week over here... Stephen is just walking all over the place, and has been much happier now that his ear infection seems to be cleared up. He's been talking a little bit more, but still not a lot. We had a consultation with a Speech Therapist on Wednesday through Sooner Start. It is not uncommon for kids who are late walkers to also be delayed in their speech, and Stephen is no exception. However, he isn't very far behind, and probably could catch up on his own, but we've decided to go ahead and get speech services now, instead of waiting until he is even more behind, just in case. The therapist said that overall, Stephen is doing really well - he has well over 100 words in his vocabulary right now, and uses them all appropriately. The fact that he is quiet and doesn't babble all day long is actually a good sign, because it means that he UNDERSTANDS what language is for. Our goal for now is to try to get him to learn more verbs so that he can put together more sentences (he does that a little already, but not enough to effectively communicate), without putting too much pressure on him. Should be easy enough, right? (And since this is the Internet, you can't see that I am being TOTALLY sarcastic about how easy it will be. Stephen is a VERY stubborn boy.)

Today, we met Stephen's friend Alexander, and his mom Amy, at the zoo. I packed our lunches, and put the little stroller in a bag with a shoulder strap, as I was hoping Stephen might be willing to walk a bit more. Well, he walked from the car into the zoo, and then all the way to the Pachyderm exhibit (which if you are familiar with our zoo, you know is a long way). And then he staged a sit-in, because he was pooped. He also ended up doing a good amount of walking at the exhibits, and was especially excited about standing with about 5 other kiddos watching an otter swimming. He was enamored with the little girl standing next to him, and he wanted to touch her, but she said that he was "bothering" her. Her mom tried to explain that he didn't understand, but she was only 4 or 5, so I don't think she did either! Oh well. It was a lovely day, and we enjoyed our trip! Here are a few pictures (I didn't get to take too many...):

Stephen was being very goofy right then...

The boys were pretty pooped by the end of our adventure. I'm surprised Stephen didn't peace out in the car, but he's taking a super nap right now!

The down side...

The ONLY bad thing about Stephen being so much more active and walking so much more is that his sleep habits have not yet caught up with his increased activity. He is doing a lot more, but isn't sleeping any more (yet). So if everyone can just keep their fingers crossed that he starts to sleep a little more than he currently is, Erik and I would really appreciate it! I'm sure Stephen will appreciate it as well - he is SOOOOOO cranky in the afternoons because he is just exhausted! Poor kid...

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!