Headlining the All Star Preschooler Comedy Tour....

I swear I think this kid thinks he's on stage. At all times. I maintain that I don't know where he gets it.

First, there's the constant singing. He sings EVERYthing these days. On his way to daycare: "We're off to find schoo-ool, We're off to find schoo-ool, We're off to find schoo-ooool!"  And often, "I don't want tooooo" with dramatic flair. (enter, jazz-hands. I'm not even kidding).

Then, there's the big "explanations". This week, "No kisses today mom, I'm a doctor, and doctors don't kiss. Now hold still while I fix you".  After whacking me with the aforementioned foam sword "That's part of my story mom, 'William.then.hits.his.mommy.with.a.sword". Everything is part of his "story". He always says it like he's reading from a telegraph. Stop.

Lastly he's been trying to figure out jokes. He seems to know that knock-knocks must be the basics, so he's starting there, but he can't quite figure out a punchline. He is HAPPY to oblige in a HUGE fake laugh to my old stand-by of "orange who". Oh well, I can't tell jokes either, unless I read them in Maxim magazine, so they probably aren't the most appropriate ones to tell him.

I'm not sure, but I think he gets that he's a funny kid, because he seems to know when it's time to put on a show. Maybe he gets it, maybe not, but to quote him today (please read in dramatic voice): Yes, MOM! I.under.STA-AND".

What We've Been Busy With....

Spectacles, Testicals, Wallet & Watch...

So I haven’t updated this blog since DECEMBER??? Really? How is that even acceptable?? Anyway, so much has been going on that I guess I’ll forgive myself, but still, I know those of you JONESING for a little Will need your updates, lol! :)


We’ll roll back a bit and just let you know that we had a busy, busy holiday season as usual. With our entire family local, it was a lot of running around so that everyone could spend a little cheer with Mr. Will. Santa was good to him, and so was everyone else. He got a pretend shaving kit that he’s enjoying with Dad, and lots of great car stuff. I think his favorite though was his pirate sword. This kid is OBSESSED with Pirates. The eye patch, the hat, the bandana, the sword, the treasure, he loves it all, and spends a good part of his sweet little life saying “Aaarghhh Matey!” (and then beating me or Jeff with a foam sword—good times).

Fast forward through a few weeks and it’s been a flurry of PT and doctors appointments. He got some night-splints …that’s right folks, orthotics to wear at night. While neither of us have the heart to make him wear them to bed (yet—we know we’ll have to succumb in time) that is even more time in the “passive stretching” stages of getting those heels down.

He also was referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist because of a “wandering” left eye. We again made the trek to Children’s and saw some sweet people who recommended glasses. I’ve known since Will was a baby that he’d likely end up in glasses at some point—he was 12 WEEKS premature, on oxygen for SEVEN weeks, and comes from a long line of poor vision. Even still, it broke my heart to see him in specs. It’s just one.more.thing. BUT, he’s a happy, healthy guy and I know I can’t complain. Plus, he’s cute as all get-out in these things. He also looks JUST like Jeff. As my cousin Shannon said—just put a little goatee on him and he’s a mini-Jeff. Too funny.

Last thing we’re still working on—dun dun duuuun: Potty Training. He is officially “Potty Training Resistant”. Apparently that means nothing other than, he can do it, he knows how, there’s nothing stopping him, but…him. He just doesn’t wanna. Oy. I want to be more stressed out about it, and when he has full conversations with me and I realize, holy crap (literally), you’re still in diapers???? I do get a little flustered, but I remain fairly confident that I won’t be sending him to college, or even kindergarten in Pampers.

Other than that he’s just getting funnier and smarter every day. Entertaining me with his CONSTANT chatter. When I correct him he usually says, “Yeah, that’s what I was talking about” or when I start to get flustered with his behavior he tells me “whoa, whoa, whoa Mom…settle dowwwwwwn”. To top it all off, he’s as sweet and loving and kind as ever. He’s not a rough boy, he’s definitely a friend. He pulled me in for a hug the other night, kissed me and said, “I love you baby”.

Love you too big boy.:)

March for Babies 2011!

Check me out--I'm AHEAD of the game????

Well friends, once again our lives have been touched by a premature birth.  This time some old friends have welcomed Baby Noah, at just 24 weeks gestation. Because of advancements made possible through funding and awareness efforts from the March of Dimes and March for Babies, baby Noah is already wowing the NICU nurses and docs.

Every year, more than half a million babies are born prematurely in the United States. Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death worldwide. Even babies born just a few weeks too soon can face serious health challenges and are at risk of lifelong disabilities. Premature birth costs society more than $26 billion a year.  Click here for more information on how the March of Dimes supports families to both reduce the risk of premature birth and assist those facing it: http://www.marchofdimes.com/mission/localprograms.html

I hope you'll join us in 2011 to support our March for Babies team "Will's Wobbly Walkers". We'll be walking April 30th and have a BIG goal this year.  I hope our team will raise $3000 or more to support the March of Dimes. We've come a long way as a preemie family, and I am so grateful to everyone who has helped us support this cause that is so near and dear to our heart.  Click here to register for our team, or donate today!! http://www.marchforbabies.org/tarisakay



Watch for updates in the coming months! 

Will's First Day

First Time With Mom

Big Strong 3 Year Old!



Soccer!

We started soccer this weekend--what a blast!!!Will surprised me by actually being pretty good and handling the ball and showed a lot more coordination that I'd expected. He is still working on his "participation skills" and told me a couple of times that he "was just going to watch" because he was mad he couldn't do what he wanted, but it wasn't too bad. I can't wait to see what he learns in this class--AND we were super excited (well, I was) to see some old Gymboree friends in our class!

More Shots!

Will had a second round of Botox injections this last week. It was a completely horrifying experience for about 30 seconds.  I had to hold him in a bear hug with his legs dangling down, while they gave him a total of FOUR injections--one in each calf and one in each hamstring. This was the toughest round for me simply because of his eloquence in expressing the pain.  He turned his little head around to see what they were doing behind him and wailed "What are you doing to my legs!!!!????!!!!" and "It hurts so bad!!!!" There was a moment I thought I might puke.

We've also been referred to New Berlin Therapies for PT once a week. This is a big change for us--we'd only been doing Birth-3 PT and it was very sporadic---it was always a "teaching" session, and it got to the point where they weren't showing us anything new.  Anyway, they tested him for 3 different areas, Ball Skills (catching, throwing and kicking) where he surprised me by testing at 38 months, but tested at 21 months for Balance Skills and 28 months for Locomotive Skills (running, walking, jumping).  So, it's been determined that his gross motor skills are delayed and posing a safety issue (he's still extremely wobbly on stairs, coming down a curb, or running across gravel, etc.)

New Berlin Therapies was always recommended to me by other preemie moms, like it was just the end all be all of where I needed to be--and now I see why!! This place has slides, swings, a huge trampoline, a ball pit, ladders and anything else you could possibly dream up to play with--and they use it all in therapy.  They have him step on bubbles, climb a rope ladder, ride a tricycle--you can't make PT any more fun than that!! I'm really looking forward to seeing how he progresses!!

The third component at this point is a new set of orthotics.  He received a new pair at the end of September, and they were so ill-fitting that I finally just decided he wasn't going to wear them.  When we had the followup with the doctor who prescribed them, she was pretty disgusted with the shoddy work and sent us to be re-fit.  We'll pick those up this next week, so we'll see what happens with those.

This probably sounds like a lot--but I know in the grand scheme of everything that he could be dealing with, it's a small thing.  It's frustrating for me to watch him struggle to keep up with other kids his age--and some even  younger, but I know how far he's come and I know that things will only keep getting better!

Fall Fun!

We're already having so much fun this Fall, with 2 trips to pumpkin farms (and we're not done yet!), getting in some last warm-day fun at the Zoo and romping in the 40 tons of leaves all over our front (and back, and side) yard.  This is truly a special time of year!