20 months old

Today was a good day and you were so happy!!!! You love taking a "tubby" with your brother at night and laying in bed with him while he watches cartoons...Seeing this photo of you makes me realize how big you are now, and how you have lost that baby-look, despite how tiny you still remain...our challenge this week is to figure out how to increase your calories, since for the first time ever you lost weight this month...you have been so HEALTHY this winter and haven't had much respiratory distress, compared to last winter...so we are stumped! But you have also grown so tall...you are now 29 inches long and weigh 17 lbs. 10 oz...believe it or not on the Cornelia de Lange charts you are OFF the charts for you height and are showing up in the "normal" baby charts in the 10th percentile...you are in the 95%ile for your weight...so, should we even be worried about your weight loss??? And you have become so ACTIVE! You are now in your walker daily, you are standing in the standing frame for Physical Therapy (and also just whenever you'll get in it) for 32 minutes at a time! Your jolly-jumper is also your favorite, but we limit your time in it since you love to wind the thing up, then pick up your feet so you will SPIN! And if we put you down you will roll all over the house from the living room to the kitchen, looking to see where everyone is...

I am having a very difficult time keeping up with this blog, so I will continue to post when I get a free moment...I am very busy these days---still working at BOCES and also doing one or two evals per week for the Center(for three to five year old children)...and of course, trying to keep up with doctor's appointments, therapies, wrestling practice for your brother, and the daily stuff...you are my inspiration to keep going...despite how tired I may be...when my "work" day is done, my fun begins at home with you and your brother! Each weekend I am reminded of how much I miss you when I am not at home, and wish that I could be here with you more during the week...I love being able to get up in the morning and see your smiling face (since you are sleeping when I leave most mornings), feed you all day long, play with you, give you a bath, and not be so rushed for appointments, work, or therapies...and you love to go "bye-bye" to visit family and friends. You get so excited to get in your carseat with your hat on! You LOVE hats, but love them more when they cover your eyes...you laugh so hard! On weekends, when I am home with you, I am reminded of how simple life can be and how we all need to learn to slow down and appreciate all of the little things in life...I am relaxed and a sense of peace fills our home when the door does not open and close a dozen times and the phone does not ring (or if it does I can chose not to answer it!).

Tonight your brother, Tre'von, asked me if he would ever have a "real" brother---I almost cried. When I told him he has a "real" brother, he said, "no, mom, a brother that will play with me and wrestle me." I know that he loves you---he brushes your hair every single day, lays on the floor with you, and pushes you around in your walker...but I also know that he too is affected by not having a "normal" sibling...I am hoping that as he grows he will understand more about you...and will understand what a gift it is to have you in our lives...I believe he will be a better person because of it, as we all are.