christmas

I haven't posted much over the past couple of weeks. The holidays have been crazy.

Zoe's out of school on break. We registered her at her new school last week. She'll start January 7th. She's not excited. I keep reminding her that it's only temporary - until we move to Dallas in June. Then she'll have to start another new school. Hopefully she'll be there for a while.

Jackson's growing like a weed. Had his 4 month checkup a week or so ago. I think he's about 14 lbs. now. Everything seems to be doing well with him. He's meeting the developmental milestones he's supposed to meet. So, we just keep watching him. Probably too much.

Holden's doing well. I think the clinic based therapy is helping him a lot more than I thought it would. He's responding well to the therapists and he's learning a lot. Biomedically, I'm pretty sure we have the MB12 shots to thank for his recent improvements. I've seen more with those, than with anything else he's started. If I don't write these down here, I'll forget. So:

12/22/07 - We had a family friend over. She's a Behavior Analyst. Holden was making great eye contact with her. He eventually came to get all of us, led us to the couch, sat us down, and then ran off laughing and smiling at all of us. If we moved, he would continue to do the same thing. And look at us for smiles and laughs. He initiated a "game", and as my friend said ... not only was it a "game", but a SOCIAL game where he didn't need a tangible reinforcer. Just us laughing and smiling with him seemed to be enough incentive to continue. He's never done this kind of thing before, so it was so so great to see.

12/25/07 - Christmas morning was good. He opened a few presents himself, and even was interested in some of the toys. Of course, after a while, he found the paper and would shread it, drop it, lather rinse repeat. But, all in all, he did great. We went to Disney (Magic Kingdom) on Christmas day. We rode: Aladin's Magic Carpet, Pirrates of the Carribean, The Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Peter Pan, and It's a Small World. He LOVED them all. Laughed the whole time and was really really focused. I didn't know how he would react - but it was so worth every penny it costs to get us there. He had such a good time. So did Zoe - riding Space Mountain for the 1st time (TWICE)! I'm so glad we went.

12/28/07 - ABA at the clinic. His therapist said he did great. Actually got a few verbal imitations out of him. This is big because we haven't been able to get him to this step yet, although it's been a goal for some time. She also told us that we've been chosen to receive part of a grant for hours at the clinic. Hopefully, will be 4 more per week, making his total there to 8 per week until Part C runs out on his birthday (April 10th). This would be so good for him, so my fingers and toes are crossed that we'll hear more about that soon.

As down and depressed as I had been feeling just before the holidays, I feel a little better now that it's all over. Holden did great. He enjoyed the lights, tree, presents, Disney, and Zoe also had the best time. Seeing your kids enjoy the holidays is just the best thing ever. I also started taking Prozac about a week and a half ago. I'm not really sure if it's making a difference. I'd like to think so, but I don't know if it's just the "high" from the holidays and seeing Holden have such a good time. Time will tell, I suppose.

Happy Holidays, everyone!