June 11, 2012

I started this blog with the original intent of documenting victories and milestones that Grant makes day to day, week to week, and month to month.  I also blogged about Kate, of course, and our family in general.  I have been thinking for awhile that I should start blogging again, but what has held me back is pictures.  It takes awhile to post specific pictures that correlate to each blog post, and I may be slightly crazy, but in my humble opinion, a decent blog post should have a few pics to go along with it.  But then time goes on and looking back, I do my best to remember, but I can't always remember all of the little things that Grant has said or started doing.  These little things are important.  They add up to great things over a long time, and what a long ways Grant has come in the past few years!

So, all this to say, I am going to try to start blogging again, but I'm starting out small with just posting about Grant's recent bits of progress he makes each week.  I may not have any cute pictures to go along with it, but at least I will be able to some day look back and see just how far we have come from.  It really is only by the Lord's mercy and grace that he has made the progress he has, and I want God to get the credit for the victories Grant makes whether small or big.

There is so much joy to be had in being a parent: seeing your kid do something new for the first time, gain maturity as they grow older, say cute little things that only a kid would come up with, experience their natural curiosity for life through their eyes...these things Joel and I experience with Kate, and being a parent is so sweet.  With Grant, we don't experience the same joy.  It's a different kind of joy that we experience with Grant.  Hearing him say a new word or phrase for the first time, seeing him do something he's never done before, watching him interact with others like never before, having strangers understand his speech - all of these things bring great joy to our hearts, as we don't take for granted how far he has come and how hard he has worked to get there.  I don't take for granted the 'sweat and tears' that I have poured into him through his home therapy program which has led to constant developmental progress and growth.  Often times, I am brought to tears when he does something new.  Like today, the kids started swimming lessons, and I watched in utter amazement as Grant was doing 'big arms' (arm stroke) while kicking.  He was really swimming! And only after moments of Miss Tina working with him.  With Grant, you just never know what he will 'get' or pick up.  Sometimes its right away, but often times it is days or weeks and sometimes even months later that he will 'get' it.  So, to see him coordinate kicking and arm stroke was a huge victory in my eyes and watching him got me all choked up!

Now onto documenting recent progress.......

New words and phrases Grant has started saying this past month:

"Uh huh"

"Yes" and "Yes!" <----huge!  If you know Grant, you know 'yes' has been "hup!" for YEARS, so him saying "Yes" is so sweet and makes my heart smile every time I hear him say it!

"Can I?"

"I will"

"I have a question."

"I have a next question."

"This is a big guy."  (said to a big guy at the grocery store a few weeks ago!)

"I do"

Other recent progress:

He will ask Kate or me or Joel "will you play with me?" This is huge, too!  For so long, he has been content to play by himself or be coerced into going along with what Kate and I are doing or what the rest of us are doing.  Sometimes willingly, sometimes not.  He hasn't ever sought out playing with any one of us, so this is really cool!  This morning I was going to start a few weeks of summer school, but Grant said so very sweetly, "Mommy, will you play legos with me?"  How could I say 'no' to that??  So we played.  And he sat next to me either building with me or building alongside me, and it was glorious.

Articulation is getting better: People that don't know Grant are understanding most of his speech.  They still give me funny looks, but its becoming more entertaining to me because they are understanding him and it is SO cool to watch the back and forth interaction between him and a 'new friend'.

Things we are working on:

aggression towards sister when not getting his way
spitting when mad
sleeping through the night
obeying the first time
appropriate behavior towards our dog, Roxy
eating meals independently

This post was rather longer than I originally intended, and for future posts I may keep it to just new speech, other recent progress, and things we are working on. I really want to use this blog as a way of keeping track of these three things, so that I can have a means of documenting Grant's new growth and progress.  And who knows, maybe I might just get a few pics in here and there! ;-)