All About Chance

A month ago Chance turned 2 years old. He seems so big, but in many ways he does not seem like a two year old. He has come so far in the last 6 months with the therapies we have had him in, but he is still considered severely delayed in communication and social interaction. This is very hard for me to admit because I think I have been in denial for some time. Some days I find myself thinking something might be wrong with him, and some days I just think he's a little behind. At his two year checkup we were referred to not only a speech therapist, but also a pediatric psychologist and a developmental pediatrician to have him evaluated for Autism. In the grand scheme of things, this is nothing, it is not life threatening, but I am scared out of my mind.

I have not talked to anyone about this, even family. I don't want anyone to view my baby differently or feel sorry for him. I will have to though. He is old enough that people notice when he acts differently and that he doesn't do all the "normal" two year old things.

What he does do is make me laugh every day. He loves to snuggle at bed time and he loves to help me with dishes and laundry. He also loves to aggravate his big brother. For a couple days he refused to eat until I figured out that he was claiming his independence and had to feed himself. He now sleeps in a big boy bed, even if it is a struggle to get him to stay in it.

He is a sweetheart and we love him no matter what.

Basketball Hoopie

I mailed this photo strip to our families a couple weeks ago to announce our very exciting news. We wanted to tell everyone at the same time, and since we couldn't tell them in person I thought this was a fun idea. It made for some interesting phone calls because a few of them did not quite get it.

Bentley is so excited that we are going to have a new baby. When we first told him, he declared the baby's name would be "Basketball Hoopie." We just laughed, but he has stuck with this name for several weeks. I think he may be disappointed when we don't actually use it.

Catching Up

So much has happened since I last posted, I have no idea where to begin. First of all, we moved. We went from the sunny beaches of San Diego to the desert of Arizona. It has been a difficult adjustment, and it is taking me forever to get our house in order. Bentley has said many times that he wants to go back to San Diego. We got here right when school got out so he won't go back to preschool until August, and the summer program they have is full. There are a lot of neighborhood kids for him to play with though, and we are looking for a church here.

I have many more posts I need to do, so I will just post pictures from the last couple months.

We moved in two phases, and phase one we sent all our furniture. We would find Bentley sleeping all over his room, usually anywhere but on the bed.

Best garage sale find! I knew the boys would love one of these, but could not justify how much they cost. I saw this on the way to get donuts one morning and made Paul stop and get it.

We are so happy to finally have a yard. Bentley has had this power wheels for two years and now finally has a place to ride it.

2016

Paul has officially re-enlisted for another 4 years in the Marine Corps. He is going to be changing jobs, so now we are waiting to find out when we will be moving to Arizona for his school. This decision followed a lot of prayers, late night talks, and tears (on my part), but we feel it is best for our family at this point. And besides, he looks pretty good in the uniform.

4

A few weeks ago my baby turned 4 years old! I can't believe it.

He is funny, sweet, ornery, sneaky, and affectionate all rolled into one. He loves dinosaurs and zombies (why?). His favorite toys are blocks and cars. Even though he earns time on the ipod for going to bed like a "big boy," he is constantly asking to play it or watch a movie on it. He loves to help with cooking, dishes, laundry, etc. He is so sweet with other children that are smaller than him, except for Chance. They fight. He is in preschool for 3 hours, 4 days a week, and he absolutely loves it. He takes a nap maybe once a week. He is tall (42 in) and skinny (31 lbs). His favorite foods are waffles, broccoli, salad, and any pasta. He is talking so much better and is about to graduate from speech therapy outside of school. He had to get 3 shots at his checkup. It was a very bad experience for both of us.

He had been asking to go to Chuck E Cheese for his birthday for months, so that's where we went. He LOVED it and now wants to go every day. Then we went to ToysRUs for a crown and balloon. He picked out some tools.

He took cupcakes to school on his birthday. Several presents came in the mail that week and we had cake at home. He's already been asking when it will be his birthday again.

Progress!

For the last 5 weeks Chance and I have been going to a communication therapy that emphasizes parent training. Basically, they are teaching me how to teach him. He is now doing three signs and giving me lots of opportunities to model language for him. Best of all, today he said his first word!!! He says mama and dada quite a bit, but we aren't really sure if he's just babbling or actually meaning to say mama or dada. This morning though, after he was finished with his breakfast he knew that his milk came next, and he actually asked for it. He knows the sign and usually just does that, but today he said milk. Paul was feeding him so I didn't hear it, but he was willing to repeat it again for me. Then he said it again after lunch, and again after dinner. We are so excited and hoping many more words follow.

Stress Relief

With all of the appointments and worry we've had over the last couple months I was needing a way to spend some time alone with my thoughts. I've always been a little crafty, but I have lots and lots of ideas and have trouble focusing my attention on one project. I like to paint and sew and when I see something I like, I just have to find a way to make it. 

I saw websites for custom painted letters for a nursery or child's room and I just had to have them. One problem, they are very expensive. I had never painted a canvas before, but I thought it couldn't be that hard. So I paint these for Chance's room. I had to disclose Chance's name to Kayla so she could help me design them, but overall it wasn't too hard.

I was so thrilled when Kayla found out she was having a girl because I had been wanting to try to make bows and a dress. Check and check. I have many more dresses on my list of things to try and I am now addicted to looking at girly fabric.

I have been looking for a purse ever since mine was stolen over a year ago. I had only had that one for a couple weeks and am still a little bitter over losing it like that. I am picky with my purses and do not like to spend very much on them. Now that Chance is old enough I don't have to carry a diaper bag everywhere, I was really needing a new one. So I decided to just make myself one. It is the perfect size and I was able to make pockets just the right size for my wallet, keys, and phone.

I have a new nephew coming in October and I wanted to make something for him. I asked my sister if I could try to make bedding for her and she agreed. She wanted a pooh theme and this is what I came up with.

There is a matching quilt too that I somehow didn't get a picture of. It is far from perfect, but I am pleased with it. I learned a lot and really want to do another one for more practice.

I am working on Bentley's room, which I will share in a later post. I have several projects in the works now, and a pretty long list of more for after that. I have enjoyed relieving stress in a more productive way than eating ice cream in front of the TV.