Buddy League!

I am so excited; I just want to jump up and down!

A week ago Friday I just happened to talk to a mom in Grant's class who's son is buddies with Grant at school. His name is Jacki and Grant talks about him all the time when I pick him up from school. What is funny is that Jacki's mom told me at Open House - when I met her for the first time - that Jacki always talks about Grant every day! Cracks me up!

So I was talking to her about getting our boys together to play sometime. I mentioned Saturdays about getting together and she said they are about to get busy with Buddy League. I asked her what that is and she told me all about it: It's baseball for kids with special needs and that her son loves it and that Grant would, too. Later she gave me the info about it, and I just got off the phone with the lady who is in charge. Grant is now all signed up and starts on October 3! His team is the Giants and he will have a team shirt with his name on it, too. How cool is that?

You can check out buddy league here!

Pretty Cool

This afternoon when I picked Grant up from school, his teacher told me that Grant is talking so much at school that she almost had to tell him to "zip it!" She said he's talking in 2 and 3 words sentences all of the time and that it is unbelievable. I said in response, "So you can tell a big difference, huh?" and she said, "Oh yeah!" This just makes me so happy and at times throughout the day I am in shock at some of the words that come out of his mouth.
On the way home from school, we helped a neighbor boy get home after being bit by a dog. We brought him to our house first to clean him up. (His grandma doesn't come home until later.) Grant and Kate were very interested in Chad's "boo boo" and later Grant called Joel on his pretend phone and said, "Dada? Cha bi by a do." He told him that Chad got bit by a dog, leaving the ending sound off of each word. I was like, wow, another 4 word sentence!
Pretty cool, huh? :-)

"Hi Mama! I wu You!"

I don't think I will ever forget these words from Grant last Thursday morning on Sept. 3! I was cleaning him up after breakfast and the words just flowed right out of his mouth. After he said it, he gave me a big hug and I just squeezed him so tight. (He has been getting really good at saying "Hi" and then someone's name. It's really cool. This afternoon he said, "Hi Nenni" to my sister Jen, who to Grant and Kate she is Aunt Jenni. He has always said just "Hi" so it was so cool to hear him say "Hi Nenni!") He has been able to say "I wu you" for awhile but this time was different. He said two sentences back to back that flowed naturally, no prompting, no pauses, no chunking...just came right out! I was a bit emotional the rest of the day just thinking about him saying that to me. I have waited so long for him to say those words. I am so thankful to the Lord for Grant's progress and much it blesses me. I love this guy so much and love hearing him talk to me!

And in other very exciting, record breaking news, yesterday and today Grant has gone potty in the toilet at school several times and he stayed dry all afternoon and evening by going potty in the toilet when he needed to!!! Can I say Praise the Lord??? Joel and I are sooooooo thrilled by this. I can not even tell you. I just hope and pray this continues and for now my prayer is that he will be potty trained before the kid turns 6 in December!

Family Fun!

On Saturday afternoon we rode the DART train just for fun and ate dinner out half way through. Grant and Kate love riding the train and it is pretty cheap for all four of us to go and makes for some great quality family time. We hardly ever eat out as a family so this was a special treat for all of us. Although Grant and Kate did okay during dinner, they quickly reminded us by their behavior why we only go to "kid" restaurants when we eat out together!
My camera is somewhat broken; the part that holds the batteries in came off and is now lost, so I am using my cell phone camera in the meantime. The pictures only come out good when everything is very still. Most objects of pictures I am taking are not very still at all. ;-)

Grant was almost mesmerized by the train when it started to go. He loves it so much!

Grant and Kate being so good!

This is at the restaurant where we ate. She really liked watching the water and the birds that would come and go.

At the very end as we were walking back to our car, Grant looked back at the train and said, "Bye, Choo-choo!" Joel and I looked at each other immediately after he said that and smiled very excitedly. He has been able to say "Hi" with someone's name when working with me on his language photos (an activity that we do during our at-home program) for several weeks but just recently he has gotten more comfortable in saying it in natural conversation. A few days ago he started saying "Hi Dog" to his dog and "Hi Mama" and "Hi Kate." Sometimes he says "bye" to Kate, his dog, and me. Sometimes to Joel. So for him to say it to the choo choo was a surprise and a first! Oh how we love "1st's" around here! Hearing him say that made a perfect ending to our day. And a gift. Thank you, Lord!

1st Days of School!

For Grant it was back to school on August 24. Although he has been going to preschool for the last 2 1/2 years, this year is a big change for us (and him) as he is going all day instead of 1/2 day. So far he has done great, although after school behavior has not been that great. He loves school and is always excited to go. I am so thankful for this. He is in the preschool program for children with disabilities (PPCD) and he has the same teachers as he has had for the past 2 1/2 years. We love his teachers and they are so great with him. (Ms. Mary, we miss you!!!)

Here he is with his dog, which was Grant's idea to grab his dog and hold him for the picture. I thought, sure, why not? Kind of cute, huh? :-) This is his dog that Nana gave him for his birthday and he loves him so much. Sometimes I wonder if he thinks he is real. ;-) What is really cool is that Grant just started saying, "Hi Dog!" instead of just "Dog!" and it makes Joel and I smiled so much. Thank you again, Nana, for Grant's dog! He still is very much in love with him as he was on the 1st day!

Here is Miss Kate ready for her first day of "school" at Sonshine Connection at our church's Mother's Day Out program. We have been talking about school for so long and she has been so excited. She had a great first day and shook her head "yes" when I asked if she wanted to go back!