Like Father, Like Son

The alternate title was "It's a Jungle Out There."  Thankfully the front yard was not long.  Derek mowed for the first time on Friday and will likely mow again today after work.

We Might Be Bad Parents...

Esther is our first child to fall asleep in an upright position (with a toy in her mouth).  Oops.

(I'm joking about the bad parents.  We know lots of kids fall asleep in high chairs and such.  It just hadn't happened to us, and we felt badly.)

You Are Holy {Performed by Meghan}

Meghan knows this song from our church; she has also been practicing it at preschool, which is where she learned the motions.  It's a very short video.

(This mom thinks it's rather impressive.  The beginning of the song is a bit harder for her to sing by herself since it is an "echo" type of song.  That is why I had her start at the chorus.)

(I was feeding Esther while holding the camera.  Sorry.)

Food

This week Esther began eating rice baby food.  (She'll be five months soon!)

 These pictures are from her very first meal.

 All done...and not too messy.

Esther is doing fairly well eating baby food.  Possibly the best of our three children, but that is not saying much.  (It is also too soon to say much.)

Since these pictures are not cropped, you can see a bit of the couch in some of the pictures.  I am pretty sure we will need to move Esther further from the couch, but right now, I'm not sure where she would go.

A Family Affair

I love blogging.  With all of our family hours away, it's a good way for me to keep them updated on the little things happening in our lives while being a "creative" outlet for me while documenting the little bits of our lives.  It is also really neat to read other blogs, especially when it's family!

Derek happens to have two cousins who are now sponsoring my other blog, This Simple Home.  Thank you Kristina and Mindy!  (Kristina has a paper design company called Plum Paper.  Mindy has an Etsy shop called Finding Sunday.

Click here to check out the giveaway Mindy is offering.  It is $20 store credit for Finding Sunday!  And yes, family and personal friends may enter, but the winner is chosen randomly.  

She Gave It Up

Meghan had been occasionally resting or even sleeping at night without her blanket.  I had told her that when she was older we would put it away until she was grown up.

I mentioned to Derek that I thought she was getting ready to give up her special blanket.  Apparently, SHE had told him that she was almost ready!

 Her favorite thing was to smell it.  But it had to be the corner with the tag on it.  Even so, I asked her if she would like for us to put it away- after taking washing and photographing it.

 I'm so proud of my big girl!  We put the blanket in a Ziploc bag for safe keeping.

We've Come So Far

It was exactly three years ago that Meghan really began making progress in her speech (and a huge reason why I began this blog).  She was two years old.

I used the sidebar to look up what Meghan was saying in March of 2009.  It's rather amazing.  God is so big!

Word Approximations March 5, 2009

Yesterday she sneezed and then said "nee" repeatedly. That's her word for sneeze. 

Daddy More Eat!! March 24, 2009

Meghan has been doing incredibly well with words.
Tonight she handed me Lucy's canned food dish and said, "eat". I told her to tell Daddy. As she was walking toward the living room where Derek was sitting she said, "Day-ee mur eat."
A three word sentence (and four syllables) is amazing for an apraxic child! Keep in mind that it was about a month ago that she began saying daddy and eat! What I find amusing is that she wanted food for Lucy, not herself!
This week Meghan also has put the "s" on eyes and balls. :) More big progess.

Evan's EEG and Update

I had intended to share the timeline of keeping the sick-with-a-cold (and last night low-grade fever) Evan awake.    However, I am just too plain tired to do so.  I fear we are all getting sick.  Esther now has a runny nose.  Meghan has a cough.  And I want to go to bed.  (In fact I was in a bed for a bit before dinner...)  Though up at 5:25, we were gone from 7:30 until 3:15 today.  These appointments are not exactly fast!  We picked Meghan up from preschool in the nick of time (and she attended before care for the first time).

At 9 o'clock Evan had an EEG.

 They wrap the nodes so they don't fall off.  It scratched Evan, he said.

 He was not miserable in the photos, just tired and focused on the TV that was a foot from his face.  Evan fell asleep about 15 minutes after the initial test, as needed.  That is why it is a sleep-deprived EEG...so the patient goes to sleep.

At the conclusion of the EEG, we had less than an our before the appointment with Dr. B.  Evan remembered the trains on the first floor.  (He can't be talked out of his coat and hood, even when we did not go outside.)

 Dr. B. said his EEG was beautiful.  Not only was there no evidence of seizure activity, his brain activity was developing and maturing as it should.  Today we begin the slow weaning of his medication.  In 6 weeks Evan will be medicine-free!

During these next few months we will hope and pray that another seizure does not take place.

It was 1 o'clock by the time we left the hospital.  We stopped for pizza.  With Evan's EEG nap, he had perked up.

Thanks for keeping Evan in your prayers!
To see Evan's first out-patient EEG go here.  To read more about his health history see the label "seizure" in the sidebar.