Where to start

Ugh.

I know I've been slacking on the postings--it just seems like every time I sit down to type something up, I have to stop to do something else. And by the time I can get back to it, days have gone by and there's so much more to cover.

So instead of going into waaay too much detail that no one cares about anyway, I'll make it short and sweet.

Kale's TVI (teacher of visual impairment, or VIT--visual impairment teacher) started visiting a couple of weeks ago. She's great, she's teaching me braille and thinks Kale is the bees knees. Yesterday an O&M (orientation and mobility) teacher came by to meet Kale and to see how he is "traveling-wise". She was very impressed with him and how he moves around, but it probably won't be another six months or so before she starts to actually work with him. She's the one who will introduce him to mobility devices including a cane. Ms. Powers (Kale's TVI) said she will keep the O&M teacher updated on his crawling and walking and maybe he'll get to work with her sooner. He's pulling up on everything now--the couch, the recliner, the table. And he loves it. If he falls, he gets right back up and does it all over again. He'll walk around everything he pulls up on, too. He even prefers to stand (assisted, of course) in the tub now--which is just oh, so fun for me. Not difficult at all (That's not drenched in sarcasm at all, is it?).

Kale started crawling a lot the other day. He did it around six different times. Yesterday he did it twice, once while the teachers were here! That made my day because it seems like I'm the only one who ever sees Kale do it--finally someone else saw it and I don't have to worry that people think I'm making things up (not like I really think they think that...).

Formula is finally a thing of the past! Kale is finally drinking milk. Whew! Now if only I could get him to drink from a sippy cup instead of a bottle. And to drink water and juice. He is eating chunkier foods and I can give him these little yogurt bites and puff snacks. Before I was having to break them up into little pieces but today he took them all in one bite (thanks to my mom). I'm hoping he'll eventually learn to take them in his own fingers and feed them to himself. We'll see. So many things to do, don't want to overwhelm him.

Right now our biggest issue/problem is getting Kale to sleep on his own. In his crib. There was a time before he started having surgery back in April when he slept through the night and it was pure bliss. But since that first surgery, it's been a battle. Most of the time him and daddy are on the couch and that's just no way for either of them to get any rest. We've been attempting the whole crying-it-out and that didn't last too long. But there are safety issues that have us trying to suck it up and get it done. Right this very moment, Kale is in his crib screaming his head off and has been for about 45 minutes. Tonight we're trying out the Ferber Method. So far? It sucks. We find ourselves asking if it's worth it right now. He's going to be having surgery again in a couple of weeks and we'll just have to start all over again.

I know some people think it's horrible and we should just hold him and give in or whatever. But we have our reasons for needing to do this. Every family is different and ours is no exception.

Maile is doing phenomenal. She's learning to read which is such an awesome thing to watch. Reading has always been my "thing" so to see her do it and enjoy it brings me so much joy! She's always loved books but now she goes through and points out all the words she knows and tries to sound out the ones she doesn't. Today she showed me a list of words she was trying to spell just for the heck of it and one of the words she was trying to spell was "dolphin". She spelled it "dofin". How awesome is that? A few weeks ago, the movie "Akeelah and the Bee" was on and we recorded it (I personally love the movie and I wanted Mike to see it--he ended up loving it, too). I swear for the next two days, that's all she wanted to watch! And she kept pretending to be in her own spelling bee, which was the cutest thing.

She's also quite the artist and I'm hoping she sticks with it. She really blows us away with some of the stuff she draws. I was big into drawing (and quite good at it) when I was a kid but stopped for whatever reason. I just hope she doesn't!

Aiight.

I think I covered most of everything. I'm sure I'll remember something else and come back and edit it in. But right now I have to go check on Kale.

So much for short and sweet, huh?



Hope you all have a wonderful, safe and Happy Thanksgiving. I'm sure I'll be back sometime around Thursday to bore everyone with all that I am thankful for.

Until then...