Happy Birthday, Little Guy!!

I can't believe it's already been a full year, but today is indeed Little Guy's first birthday. Every single day I find myself sitting back and thanking a loving Heavenly Father for sending him to us when we really didn't feel ready for another baby. He's the best gift we never knew we wanted.

Little Guy has been far and away our most challenging baby medically and financially. He has challenged us in ways we never could have imagined. As I've documented his progress on this blog over the past year, I've felt so blessed to realize just how resilient he really is. All I can think when it comes to him, is that God must have great plans for him to be having him build such big muscles at such an early age.

So, today will be Little Guy's day. We have a special present for him that will be wrapped in birthday paper, and not Christmas paper. We'll buy him a little cake and a container of banana pudding (his favorite treat) and we'll sing him a traditional birthday tune before letting him make a big mess. And before the day is done, we'll be sure to say a prayer of thanks for letting us have the honor of parenting such a choice spirit.

Happy birthday, Little Guy! We love you!!!!

Merry Christmas to ME!!

Little Guy is really bad about wearing his hearing aids. In fact, I don't think they've even graced his adorable little ears in nearly two weeks because he has slobbered them to death, and they are back in the shop. Having to wear the canula in his nose has really taken a much higher priority than the hearing aids, and just the canula is a constant battle.

Because we just assumed Little Guy would be like the Beast, we haven't been very good about signing with him like we should. (I know. I can just hear the tomatoes flying at me now.) It's not that we didn't want him to sign. It's just that we got a little too confident in our skills as parents to Deaf children, and got lazy. We neglected the first rule of parenting:" No two kids are alike. No two outcomes will be the same."

We've both been feeling lately that it's time really rev up the sign language skills with him. He will be one the day after Christmas (*sniff*. I'm so not ready for him to grow up yet). By one, we feel like it's time to give him some form of communication. Even if he can't tell us what he wants, he deserves to be able to know what we are saying to him. So, we've started teaching him.

Why do I share all of this? Well, because our efforts are finally being rewarded. I know he really didn't know what he was signing and that he is really just mimicking what he was watching me do. Still, it's so rewarding the first time MY BABY SIGNED MAMA!!!

Thank you, Little Guy!! That was a great Christmas gift.

Santa's ECI Visit

One of the perks to being part of ECI is that there are the occasional get-together's for ECI families. Truth be told, it only happens about once a year. This year, it was the Christmas party hosted by the local Children's Museum. The thing I love about going to an ECI party is that my kids don't look so "weird" there. They don't stick out like a sore thumb. Most other parents there don't tend to raise a brow at the adorable baby with the nasal canula who is constantly eating his hearing aids, or the very cute two year old with glasses who walks like he's been riding a horse for too long. They "get it" because they have children with similar special needs, too. It was so nice this morning to be able to take a deep breath, set my children free to play, and know they'd be safe and accepted.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't also mention a visit from the beloved man in red from the North Pole. Pretty sat and talked to him non-stop, which is ironic because she was in ECI services for speech delays. Apparently ECI worked...perhaps a little bit too well. Snort and Little Guy also enjoyed their visits with him, although I couldn't tell you what they asked him for. I guess that will forever be a secret between them and Santa. I am confident, though, that I will be pulling bits and pieces of Santa's beard out from Little Guy's fingers for the next week.