Just a quick update!

Oh how time flies! Before I know it two weeks have gone by and I haven't updated. Once again I can blame it on Summer. 

It is so very hard to sit and blog when all we want to do is play :) And now I have to finish packing for vacation! Matt comes home tomorrow after being gone for 3 weeks and we leave for Texas on Monday! So excited! 

Hearing test

Michael had a sedated hearing test on Friday. The audiologist said he can hear fine. Yay. He did have a lot of wax build up which has always been a problem for M. We may have to start going in more frequently to have it drained. But, at least we now know he can hear us, he just isn't understanding us. We have another meeting with his ABA therapist on the 18th and we'll talk with her more about what types of therapies she thinks he might need. Both the audiologist and the ABA therapist think he needs more speech therapy but his pediatricians don't agree.

Michael saying "Ow"

If you listen carefully you'll hear the smacking sound (him clapping, hitting my arm) then the 'Ow ow ow'. While I'm thrilled he makes the sound, I'm hoping he learns to only use it when someone actually gets hurt, not when he hits them and says it :)

A busy few weeks!

Busy Busy! That's us! Not that we're doing anything major but we're just always DOING! Michael has had a couple great weeks of fun and learning. 

His first year of Pre-K is done! We're sad because some of his friends won't be there next year. But we're happy because some will and his teachers will be there too. He loved Pre-K! When the year started, Matt and I were nervous about how he would do, how would the teachers handle him, would he even make it through a 2h45m day...? Well he did great. He learned the routine and adapted to his environment. His teachers are AMAZING. They have endless patience. And never once did we receive a phone call sending him home. We cannot wait until next year!!

 We had a somewhat scary week during his last week of school though. He stopped eating and drinking for about 3-4 days. On day 3 we took him to the doctors to see if there was anything physically wrong. He wasn't running a fever or showing signs of discomfort but I was actually hoping for a sore throat. The docs could not find anything wrong so they told us to wait it out a couple more days and see. We were able to get some fluids in him through a syringe but that was it. Around the 5th day he started eating. It wasn't much (ice cream, oatmeal) but it was enough. Now he is back to being my normal pig. :) While he wasn't eating he didn't have much energy or strength. He sat. A lot. He did discover his love for 'weeding' though. Of course, he ended up 'weeding' my plants! They could use a little trimming anyway.


 I love his interest in lining objects up! It doesn't matter what it is, as long as he notices the objects being similar. Blocks, spice containers, soda cans...and now Kool-Aid!! We let him play like this most of the day before I wanted to actually make some. Out of sight is still out of mind with Michael though. So once they were in the cabinet, he was okay. :)

Water!! Oh how he loves water. He stays in his tub for an hour. He can be content to just have his hand under running water. But a waterpark...? Oh my! We went three times in their opening week. He enjoyed hopping in the water, splashing, floating around hanging onto Mommy and Daddy. He wasn't a fan of the "splash zone" where the children can dump buckets of water on each other or spray them. But he did enjoy going down the mini-water slides! He doesn't freak out when he goes under water but it is still not his favorite. The hardest part is getting his mouth closed. Matt tries to time it and dunk under with him when it's closed. Michael comes up, blinks his eyes, rubs them a little and that's about it. We bought season passes to the local park. Michael and I can hang out in the 2-3 foot end and Liz can wander around the place freely. When Matt is able to come they go down the double slides or the lazy river together. 

When we couldn't get to the water park one day because of the rain, Michael did not understand. He tried to go outside and we let him hang out on the front step. He would go out until he got really got rained on. He tried dragging Daddy out too!

Last night was our town's fireworks preview show. Michael saw some fireworks last year and seemed to enjoy them. Or at least, he wasn't upset by them. He just  watched without much reaction. This year was a different story. He was beastly while waiting for them to start. The minute the first went out he was thrilled! He loved the lights. The big booms made him cling to us and giggle. He would bury his head into us but always make sure he could see what was going on. It was a great way to end the last night before Matt left for another TDY (3 weeks this time). 

Michael has also learned a word (sound?). He says 'Ow'. He says it when he hits ME though. His hitting isn't to HIT but to make the clap sound. But when he would do it I would say 'ow'. It is adorable watching the build up to the word. Sometimes he mouths the word but nothing comes out. Sometimes he says 'um um om om oh oh OW! OW! OW! OW!'. He has said it a few time when he falls and we say ow. And he will almost always repeat it when we started saying it first. But, its usually followed with a smack since he associates the word with the sound/act of hitting. We'll have to work on that part :) It sounds like he might be learning 'uh oh' as well. He has only done it clearly a few times so it is too soon to tell. 

Michael will be starting ABA therapy in the next coming weeks. We're excited to see what he can get out of it!