I Love It When...

I put Tyler to bed and he plays peek-a-boo with me with his covers.

I pick him up from the babysitters and he kicks his legs in excitement to see me.

He "talks" to me when he wants another bite of food. He can be very impatient at times and he lets me know it :)

He gets so excited to go outside, especially to swing.

At the end of a movie and the credits are rolling, he watches them and "talks" in his "surprised gasps".

And of course, who can't love this smile!

We FINALLY have a hole!

I kind of jumped the gun and jinxed ourselves when I said that we were breaking ground 3 weeks ago. I know some of you have been wondering and asking since then, "how's the house coming along" and I have had to answer in a very disappointing voice that no we haven't started yet. The plan was to start several weeks ago but when Jay, our builder, got out there the day he wanted to start, he decided the ground was still too wet. And since then the weather has not been our friend and been cooperating.

Travis even told me when I posted that we were breaking ground that I shouldn't have and it's gonna come back and bite me in the butt. I hate to say it but he was right.

Thursday (which was also my birthday), we got a call from Jay who said they were going to start digging our basement the next day. WHAT?!? Are you serious? This could not have been a better birthday present.

I was extremely happy but also didn't want to get my hopes up too much, since we know what happened last time. So then Saturday afternoon we drove out to our land and found this...
It's so exciting that we finally started and hopefully in about 6 months we will be able to have a home of our own...again!

Freeze Dance

Tyler got a toy for Christmas called LeapFrog Learn & Groove Music Wand.He loves it and plays with it all the time. As you move the wand, you can change the music's tempo and add new sounds when you shake it, creating your own masterpiece. It also has a second setting called the Freeze Dance Game. As it plays a song you are suppose to dance along to the music and when it says FREEZE, you are suppose to, of course, freeze until the music starts playing again.

It is so cute watching Tyler when it's on this setting. He usually stays completely still when the music is playing and is intrigued by the flashing light at the top of the wand. But every time it says freeze, he 'yells' at it. I'm not sure what he's trying to tell it, but probably something along the lines of "hey you stopped playing music, start it up again."

Being a Better Advocate

When you have a child with special needs, that child needs an advocate more than anything. An advocate is someone who speaks in support or defense of a person. Sometimes I feel that I have failed in this department with Tyler. I am not someone who will speak up or cause a scene, and instead I am shy and pretend that I don't see the stares and the rude comments that are towards us. It doesn't matter what they think, right?

Wrong!!! If I don't speak up, then who will. And our society sometimes needs a reminder of not to judge. This past weekend proved that. I had the perfect opportunity to say something but instead was surprised and hurt that someone would say there is something wrong with my child. There were 3 girls about the age of 10, that saw Tyler in his Kid Kart who stared and whispered to each other saying "I wonder what's wrong with him, Is he paralyzed". And those aren't even bad comments they were just curious. But all I did was ignore the comments and walked on (and then complained to my husband about what I heard). What I should have said was "His name is Tyler and there is nothing wrong with him, he just can't walk yet".

Comments and stares from kids typically do not bother me. Kids don't really know better and are just curious and parents need to teach their children that everyone grows up in there own way and at their own pace. So don't judge. It's the stares and comments from adults that get to me the most. We are all different and have setbacks in some kind of way.

This is why I am happy that Tyler's school has a Disability Awareness week, to teach kids that everyone counts and we all learn differently. Some kids may not walk, some may not talk, but one thing that is the same is all kids want to play. So give them a chance. We all learn at our own pace.

So the next time someone says a comment I hope I have the courage to speak up for Tyler. It's the least I can do.

Breaking Ground

Thursday is the big day when we break ground for our new home. I am so excited and have been waiting on this day since July when we bought the land.

We have made a lot of the big decisions of building our house but there are so many more to make. I love the idea of making this house our own but I think I am the most indecisive person there is. Ask my husband, LOL. I'm just afraid that once I pick something out that something better might come along. It's already led me to several sleepless nights, when we were deciding on a floor plan. But it will be well worth it in the end.

Click here to see pictures of the land. I can't wait to see the transformation.

Bath Time

Tyler LOVES bath time!! Especially the sounds and anticipation of getting ready for a bath. It is so cute watching him get so excited. He knows each sound that goes along with taking a bath.

The sound of the light switch turning on in the bathroom

to

the shower curtain being pushed to the side

to

the water being turned on.

Awesome Therapy Day

Tyler did awesome in therapy today. The first 30 minutes of therapy he is on "land" and the second half is in "water". Or you can also call the "water", aquatic therapy. Tyler worked hard for Ms. Jenny on land but he really impressed Cory in the pool. Tyler was kicking his legs non-stop and even when his time was up and he was out of the pool he was still kicking. And of course Tyler thought that was funny!

He also did some sit-ups in the pool. Cory would have Tyler sitting in his lap and bring him down to a laying position and Tyler would pull up all by himself holding Cory's hands and was using a lot of his core muscles. Cory also was not supporting Tyler's head this entire time, and Tyler was keeping his chin tucked and not throwing it back (which he does quite often). So that was awesome.

Since he had an awesome day in therapy, I thought I would add a picture of Tyler sitting on his new bench he got for Christmas. He sits on it so nicely, if I say so myself :)

Modified Ball Pit

Tyler got a sandbox for Christmas that we are going to convert into a ball pit and then if we want we can change it into a sandbox. But honestly I hate the thought of sand getting everywhere. I am sure his therapists would love Tyler playing in sand since it is a good sensory thing but I will have to ponder on doing that for awhile. So for know its a ball pit. The only problem is is that the ball pit is still at my parents house because it didn't fit our car with all the other presents. So for now this will have to do.

Caught In a Tight Spot

First of all, I want to wish everyone a

Happy and Healthy New Year!!!

I know I have mentioned before that Tyler loves playing with the window blinds and yes he still enjoys playing with them. The other day we were making dinner and we moved Tyler's chair over to the blinds to occupy him while we finished up dinner. He was having a blast but I think the blinds won this time.

Christmas - Part 5

Christmas with the Mirly's (my side)

Tyler sitting on his new bench that his Grandpa made.