Michael is....SIX??? Yes, I just redid the math, he's SIX!!!!

I really can't believe my little guy is now 6! These last 6 years have gone by so incredibly fast, it's really crazy.

I was thinking the other day about how it doesn't feel like it's been six years since I was in the worst amount of pain I'd ever been in! I doesn't feel like that much time has gone by. I'm really missing the times we had when he was younger. I know it'll be fun to watch him get older, and we'll do more things that will be just so much fun! But, I'm going to miss the innocence of when he was in preschool and even when he was a toddler. I look at Xander, and I just can't believe that Michael was once that young. And the horrible thing is that I know it's just going to go by quicker and quicker! I don't think I'm ready! I want more time.

His birthday was really low key. The week before, I got in a car accident so I've been trying to figure out the insurance thing and medical bills and all that fun stuff. So because of that I wasn't able to make his birthday day what I would have liked. But we did make him a breakfast of orange rolls (thanks to Rhodes), eggs, and bacon. Then we brought out some presents that my parents sent up for him. And let me tell ya, he was excited!!

The boys spent the morning playing with Michael's new toys. Then it was time for him to go off to school. When he came home there were balloons around and he asked for Pizza for dinner. His cake was an angel food cake with mashed strawberries and cool whip on top. Easy and yummy!

At that point I put Xander to bed and then he and Nathan went off to Walmart and let him pick out a present. He chose a firetruck and a pair of hand cuffs.

Tomorrow (Saturday) we're doing a party for him. It's going to be fun, and I'm really excited. I had Michael invite a few of his friends and we're having a fire man themed party. I haven't decided on a game yet, but we'll play one and then do presents and cake and stuff. At that point we're going to pile into a few vans and drive to the fire station, where they will take the kids on a tour. It'll be awesome! Michael is SO excited. I'm excited, but also nervous. Like I said earlier, because of the car accident I haven't been able to put as much into the party as I'd like to, but I think the tour of the station will really overlook any lake of planning on my end. Oh, I'm also going to make him a fire truck birthday cake. Again, it'll be AwEsOMe! I'll for sure have a post just for that!

I just had to laugh when I saw this picture:

Because it reminded me of this one:

That picture was taken 3 years ago, on his 3rd birthday! I love seeing similar pictures and seeing my baby still in that older boys' face!

July 2011

I'm slowly doing it! I'm getting caught up. I can hardly believe it!

Our July was pretty much like our June and May. Just a lot of questions about Michael and not much else going on, that I can remember anyway, other than the 4th of July.

For the 4th, we had Nathan's cousin and wife, Ben and Chelsea, come down from Canada with their 3 kids. We, of course, had a blast! I always enjoy our visits with them, but they're never long enough! We had a fun day that started with the parade on Main Street. Then we went home, attempted naps for the boys, did some shopping and cooking, and then took off for Idaho Falls to wait and wait and wait for the fireworks and then came home. So the typical 4th of July. It was fun, but I wish we would have just stayed at our place and not gone down. It would have been way less stressful for everyone involved and probably more...enjoyable/memorable. Next time!

Michael waving the flag with so much enthusiasm it hardly shows on the camera!Xander holding a gun and sporting the awesome USA headbandBen and Chelsea's adorable, but massive, little Levi. I think at the time he was 9 months old?? He just had his first birthday a few days ago!!! I'm not sure he knows what to do with himself in all the red, white, and blue. He's a canadian!
But he soon warmed up to the idea that it's not so bad after all! Or maybe he's just trying to show 'USA' whose boss?
Xander spent a lot of the time we were in Idaho Falls hanging out in the stroller. He didn't mind it too much and enjoyed people watching, while we didn't have to worry about him wandering off and getting into trouble! It was a win-win!And that was about as exciting as our July got!
Xander got into some sugar.... He enjoyed it!
He also started climbing....The boys started playing together more and Michael started making goofy faces for the camera. And then I had a little photo-shoot with Xander in a box!He's so stinkin' adorable!!!!!!!!Here's a quick video of Xander. He's an incredibly picky eater, and the faces he makes can sometimes just be priceless! There's really no question what he's thinking most of the time!Good thing he's so sweet, as well!!

May and June 2011

Here are some pictures of our lives from May and June.
On May 13, we hopped on a plane and flew to California! About 4 weeks (probably more, actually) I got a phone call from my dad saying that he had been asked to serve in our ward as the bishop! I was pleasently surprised and we made plans for our trip down to california.
Here's a funny little tangent about an experience I had the week before my dad called me. I was working and at a home visit with a family and we were talking about her planning a trip home to see her family and all the stuff that goes into preparing to go on an airplane with little kids. Suddenly, I just got a feeling that we were going to be going on a similar trip home to see my family! It was wierd, but I brushed it aside not thinking anything about it, because we weren't planning any trips at the time. Then later in the week my dad called me and told me the news! It was pretty cool.
So the trip was short and fast, but so fun! It was great to see some cousins I hadn't seen in a long time, as well as some Aunts and Uncles. It was fun to let my family see my kids and to have us all together for such a short time!
As far as I remember (this was, sadly, 5 months ago), the plane rides went really well. We had the usual snacks and activities to keep the boys entertained. One of the snacks were pull-and-peel licorice. Xander and Nathan had fun with that:

I love his puffy cheeks here!

Do you wanna hear another fun story? Of course you do, right, otherwise you wouldn't be here! In the weeks leading up to Xander's birth, I was understandably concerned and a bit freaked out about having another baby, and was worried about his health and blah, blah, blah...everything you worry about! So I asked Nathan to give me a few priesthood blessings to help give me some comfort. He did so, and it was just so interesting, because in those blessings, I was told that Xander would be just fine and healthy, and that he would bring lots of laughter into our home. I remember thinking that was an interesting thing to hear in a blessing, and Nathan and I discussed it lots. But what's been even more interesting, is the fact that Xander really is just FUNNY! He makes all of us laugh a couple times a day! Whether it's by the things he says or the things he does, and especially when he's throwing his tantrums. He's just plain funny!

Here he is on one of those funny days! I think he was trying to take off his shirt, and it got stuck. He now does this regularly just to get laughs, but this day he was really frustrated!

Michael and Xander fight a lot, but they really are good friends. Xander really enjoys following Michael around and frequently copies the things he does and enjoys being Michael's little shadow.June

Here is Xander in the crib again about a month later. At this time, he was really interested in dressing himself. The problem was, he didn't realize what went were, so he was trying to put his shirt on his legs. Michael thought it was hilarious!Oh My Gosh--To say that Xander had a shoe fascination in the month of June would be an understatement! He. Was. ObSESSed! If he saw a shoe laying on the ground, he would pick it up and bring it to you!

It didn't matter if the shoes matched or not, or even if the shoe wasn't yours! It was lose, and that just wasn't acceptable! Also, if he noticed that someone wasn't wearing shoes at all, he would go on a mad hunt to find the shoes and return them to the owners! Thankfully now he's consumed in putting the shoes away! I like that obsession a whole lot more!

If this picture wasn't so blurry, I'd love it!

Michael and Xander also liked to play Ring Around The Rosy. I have a video to upload, and I plan on doing that as soon as I can! It's pretty fun.

Nathan also randomly had flowers delivered to me in June!

And Michael insisted it was cold...in June....

My studdly Xander...

and my handsome Michael.

Michael's Pre-K Graduation

On May 20, Michael graduated from Pre-School. Of course, Xander and I were running late and Michael was so excited to see us!! Poor guy, I asked him later and he said he thought we weren't coming.

As you can see in this video, Michael was very excited for this event!

Blogger is having issues with the video.....whose surprised????

He's so handsome!!!!!

The whole class together

After the graduation we all went into their classroom and had an ice cream party. One of Michael's favorite parts about pre-school was the dress up area! Here he was dressing up as a cow boy with his friend, Mathew. What's funny about Michael and Mathew, is that they LOVE each other!! Michael will frequently see Mathew around town and they will, literally, run towards each other and give each other bear hugs! Then they will hold hands until it's time to go their separate ways.

The Final Chapter to Michael's Medical Mysteries!!

It's funny--while I was writing my huge post about Michael's summer, I was starting to realize why I had no energy or even motivation to update my blog! I knew it needed to be done, but I really didn't have the energy. It was something I was feeling really guilty about, but now I feel okay with it! I was tired, and worried, and confused!! It's funny how fast this summer went by. The other day, someone asked me what I did this summer, and I honestly couldn't think of anything at all to tell them!! I felt like such a dud. But, now I know--I got my prayers answered!!

So Tuesday we had the appointment with the Pediatric Cardiologist. I didn't realize that we'd get to meet with the cardiologist that day; I thought we were just going to do the EKG and then meet later on in the month or something. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that she was actually there and met with us about 10 minutes after the EKG was finished.

She was great, and actually sat down and listened to everything that had gone on in the past few months and my concerns. Then she listened to Michael's heart and was very good with keeping him still and feeling like he still had some control of the situation. Then she told me that everything appeared fine with his heart! She didn't notice any holes, or murmurs, the valves were opening and closing right, everything looked great!

The most surprising part of the visit was learning that, in her opinion, the seizure Michael had was not a seizure!! She said that with seizures the individual comes out of it feeling very tired, quite confused, and just wanting to do everything they could to go back to sleep. She also said they are very red in the face. Michael was not any of those. When Michael came to, he was pretty aware, incredibly pale--almost sickly, even--and certainly wasn't tired!
Since there is a family history of passing out from pain, she believes that's exactly what happened with Michael! He just passed out!! I was so relieved, and almost giddy, to hear her say that.

We feel so blessed that we were able to get all these answers!! I know that things happen for a reason, and I know that one of the reasons we are still living in Rexburg is because of these services that we have! I mentioned to Nathan a few weeks ago how interesting I found it when I look back on our lives together.

When Nathan and I met, I was trying to get into the elementary education (eled) program. I was not having much luck, so the first semester after we were married I decided to take a child development class as a pre-req. for the eled program. I fell in love with child development that semester! I vividly remember sitting at our kitchen table reading out of my book for that class, looking up at Nathan, and just saying, "I just wish I could major in child development!" He looked at me and said with a 'well-duh!' sort of tone, "You can." It had never occurred to me that that was a possibility.

So I enrolled as a Child development major, started to learn about children and the different theories and behaviors that are typical in young children, received an internship with the Parents as Teachers program that gave me more of an in depth look into the typical development in children before they enter into kindergarten as well as the different screening tools to identify any developmental red flags. It was during that time that Michael was beginning to show signs of a speech delay, and I started to notice it before a lot of people around me thought it was a big deal. But I persisted, and because of my internship I knew where to go to start the process of getting him speech services. Shortly after this, I got offered a job and was able to find work before the down turn of the economy.

Through Michael's therapies I gained some contacts to give me support and guidance after Michael's "seizure"/fainting episode. These contacts let me know about Dr. Lawson, the behavioral psychologist and warned me against the crazy neurologist that I was originally going to take Michael to. I hate that Michael had to have that scary episode where he passed out, but I'm grateful for it as well, because it's what led us to these answers!

It's just been made really clear to me these last few weeks that my life has a plan. This particular plan was started 7 years ago! Who could have known that so much would have come from me enrolling in one little class! I had no idea that I would have a child with special needs! I needed to take Child development from that particular teacher and that particular time to help us get to this point.

I'm excited in another 7 years to look back and to see more of how this plan has rolled out!

Michael's Months of Medical Mystery

***Warning: This is a long post***

May was the start of a crazy summer for us! I wish I could say it was a good crazy. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of good things that happened this summer, but it's also been tough.

Seizure
On May 10, Nathan turned 27. We celebrated by having a nice day together....I forget what all we did, but it was a good, fun day. I baked some yummy molten lava chocolate cakes and we let Michael stay up a little later than usual. About 8:45 I decided it was time for Michael to go to bed. Nathan volunteered to do the bedtime routine and they went up to bed. I sat down to watch the rest of a show we were watching, listening to the giggles that were coming from upstairs. Then I heard Michael cry out, "OW! OW! OW!". It concerned me, but I continued watching the end of the show. Then Nathan yelled down to me, frantically, to call 911.

I found the phone, dialed, and ran upstairs. Nathan came out of the bedroom carrying Michael in his arms and Michael had his eyes closed and appeared listless. The 911 operator came on and I said that we needed an ambulance and that my son has passed out. The operator was asking me questions and after a few minutes, but what felt like hours, Michael started to wake up. First he was groaning, then he was crying. We went down stairs and waited, again for what felt like hours, for the ambulance to come. It felt like it was taking forever, and it was so eeriy to hear the sirens and know it was coming to us. While we waited, Nathan and I were able to talk for a few minutes. Nathan told me that he and Michael were wrestling, which is not usual for them. Nathan pulled Michael's leg to bring Michael closer to him than usual. At that point Michael screamed out in pain, and started to slowly lose control of his facilities. He lost the ability to continue screaming/crying, then slowly down,and slowly closed his eyes. Nathan said it looked like Michael was trying to fight it, but couldn't. That was when he called me.

Finally the ambulance arrived, and the paramedics came in the house and checked Michael's vitals. They said everything looked fine. Michael was a bit pale, and yellow, and kinda green, but he was aware of what was going on and acting pretty normal, but a tiny bit sluggish. The only thing that was wrong was that his leg hurt and he couldn't walk on it much. We also noticed that Michael had wet himself at one point. The paramedics suggested the possibility it was a seizure and suggested that Michael go to the ER to get checked out. We opted to take Michael ourselves, instead of riding in the ambulance. The paramedics left and Nathan and Michael went up to the hospital.

The doctor diagnosed Michael was a sudden onset seizure and a sprained leg. We're thinking that when Nathan pulled Michael's leg, he must have twisted it in a weird way or something. We're currently in the process of trying to figure WHY that pain caused him to pass out/have a seizure. Luckily Michael hasn't had any more episodes. Originally, we thought he had a few more during the next few days, but those were ruled out by a neurologist as not being seizures

EEG
A few days later we were referred to a neurologist in Idaho Falls. We told him what happened and he suggested that we do an EEG. Basically it's a test to map the brain waves and check for seizures. So we drove down to Idaho Falls at 9:00 PM to do the test. They like to do the test around bedtime so they fall asleep. They get a better reading when they're sleeping, somehow. So we did the test and then came home. The whole thing was maybe 45 minutes. That test wasn't conclusive enough, so a different was ordered. This was more interesting--it was a sleep deprived EEG. We had to keep Michael up ALL--NIGHT--LONG!!!!!! Nathan volunteered for the position of keeping him up all night since I was going to be the driver. They went out and bought all kinds of yummy treats and movies. Nathan said Michael did great and didn't seem to have a hard time at all! Then I got up at about 5:30 and we drove down the Idaho Falls. That was hard for me to keep him awake, since he wanted to fall asleep as soon as we were on the highway.

Soon after he started to fall asleep in the car, I saw what I considered a blessing, although it was gross. It was a cow doing his business. But, it was enough to keep Michael entertained and not sleeping. We kept pointing out other cows and started that nasty bathroom talk! Like I said, gross, but effective. Michael was able to stay awake and turned into quite the chatterbox! The EEG went fine and we also did an EKG, basically a looking at the heart. The doctor was thinking that the seizure may have been related to a common issue on Nathan's side of the family that revolves around passing out from pain. After these tests, we drove back home and slept away most of the day.

Luckily, from those EEG's the neurologist didn't see any seizure activity, but did refer us to a pediatric cardiologist. Basically he just wants to make sure that Michael's heart is working well, and wants it looked at by someone who specializes in pediatrics. That test is coming up within the next few weeks.

Sensory Processing Disorder
A few weeks after these tests were resolved, we started Michael with a new physical therapist. Michael has continual muscle tightening and bowed knees, so he's been seeing a PT for a while. The old one moved away, so we got a new one who did some evaluations on Michael to get an idea of what needed to be worked on with Michael. When the PT showed me the results, I noticed that a lot of the areas that Michael needed to work on had to do with fine motor skills--small muscles in the hands. I suggested that we also do OT, which is occupational therapy, and the PT agreed. So, now Michael sees a speech therapist, PT, and an OT. He's a busy boy, but he doesn't always realize he's doing "work", so he doesn't mind it--usually.

I love his OT! He's a really great, young guy who is a lot of fun. He also does some work with Sensory Processing Disorder, and noticed that Michael has a lot of the characteristics of children who struggle with SPD. So, he did some more evaluations and gave me a questionnaire to fill out, and together we've come to the conclusion that Michael has a sensory processing disorder!!
This was really a light bulb moment for us!! Finally we started having Michael's behaviors come together and we finally realized why Michael does a lot of the things he does. It was truly a great feeling! What is a SPD? There are two types. There's sensory seeking, and sensory overload. Michael is sensory seeking. I'll do my best to explain what it is.

Basically, or not so basic....Michael is not receiving enough sensory input, so he's constantly trying to do more to get more input. We have a place where we are sensorally comfortable...I think I just made a new word....anyway, there's like a sensory equilibrium. Sensory seeking children are below normal, sensory overload individuals are above it. So when Michael is running around and shaking people's arms, and just getting in our faces, he's trying to get more input to raise himself up to normal. Also when he's yelling/singing/etc. he's also working on getting it up. Eventually, they get enough input and they are comfortable for a bit, but they don't maintain it, so they start to fall and they have to start the whole thing over again. Hopefully this paragraph made SOME sense! To find out more information, you can go to http://www.sensoryprocessingdisorder.com/. There's TONS of information there!

SPDMaintenance
So we've been trying to figure out what helps bring Michael up to his normal limit. Some things we've discovered with the help of the OT is a sensory brush. Basically it's a surgical brush that we receive at the hospital after giving birth to give the baby a bath. It's a small little brush that fits in the center of the hand and has stiff bristles. We rub it along Michael's arms while pushing hard on the brush and kinda "paint" his arm with it. We do it on his arms and his legs. It's interesting, because when we do this, I can sometimes actually see him calming down. We mainly do it as a part of the bed time routine, and his head literally starts drooping and he begins yawning.

We also do joint compressions after the brush. We also do these on the limbs and the fingers and toes. Basically, we hold both ends of a joint--so for the wrist, we hold the palm in one hand and the forearm in the other--and push and pull the joint. These two things give him enough input to help him calm down and get ready for bed. What's interesting to me, is that for the few weeks before the diagnoses, he wasn't going to bed until 10:30 or 11:00 at night!!!! It was ridiculous! But, the first night we did the brush and compressions, he was asleep before we even got to the bottom of the stairs. It was Amazing!! There are still a few nights where he stays up really night, but 99% of the time, he's asleep within 10 minutes of putting him to bed!

Some other things that seem to help are mints--they give an intense immediate flavor and help him focus. Also pushing against firm surfaces. So, pushing boxes that Xander is sitting in, or pushing against Nathan's hands or the other side of a door that Nathan is pushing against (I'm too weak so I don't offer any help there). Anyway. It's interesting what helps him, and I feel like we're always learning about it.

Hair Twisting
Amidst all this stuff going on with Michael, he's also started to twist and pull his hair. At first it was just kinda weird, but it's now started to actually give him bald spots. They're not yet bald, but getting there. We're thinking this has to do with the SPD, but we're also wondering if it's anxiety related and are working on figuring different methods to help him that aren't so....obvious

Behavioral Psychologist and Results
And lastly, this past week we got some more information about Michael. We took him to a behavioral psychologist in Idaho Falls who did a ton of tests on him and was able to give us some information on what was going on with Michael. We had a lot of concerns, and it was really nice to feel validated! Basically, he findings were that he has a mild case of apraxia, which is random muscle tightening through out his whole body. He also definitely has ADHD and the SPD. Both of those combined leads him to a secondary learning disorder. Basically, he's really smart and is able to take in information, but his ADD and SPD make it difficult for him to process the information and to sit and listen to what he is being instructed to do, therefore not taking in as much of the information as he needs to. She gave us some really good tips and information to help him cope with school and life, as well as some other resources to tap into to continue getting Michael the help that he needs.

What else have we done?? We've also moved into a 3 bedroom, flew to California to see my Dad called to be a bishop, and Michael has started Kindergarten.....I'm a little tired!
So, needless to say, we've been busy!!! This has been a crazy, busy summer, but it's also been really good and I feel like we've made a lot of headway in Michael and getting him the help that he needs!

Michaelisms

This is just for me to remember some of the funny things that Michael has said. I'm trying to clean up my blog a bit.
**August 2010--(After Michael unleashed a whole string of countless questions) Mom: "I don't know, Michael. What do you think?" Michael: "I DON'T think"
**May 15, 2010--Mom: "Michael! We need your fireman expertize!" Michael :"What!? You need the fireman to pee?"--**April 29, 2010--Michael walks over to Mom holding his arm out. Michael: "Mom, look!" I look at his arm but I don't see anything. He points to his arm and I see some small red bumps. I say okay, and Michael says, "I have NIPPLES growing on me!"
**Sometime in April 2010--Nathan had Michael in a headlock. Nathan: "What do you need to say?" (looking for uncle) Michael: "Andrew!" (Andrew is the name of Nathan's brother, Michael's uncle)
**March 26, 2010--Mom: "What does 'A' say?" Michael: "MICHAEL!"
**March 24, 2010--Michael: "Mom, can I play in here?" Mom: , "I don't know, son." Michael: "Say yes!"
**March 1, 2010--Anyone: "Happy Birthday Michael!" Michael: "Yah, Happy birthday to you too!"--He did this all through out the day.
**Feb. 27, 2010--Michael: I want a candy. Nathan: Not right now! Michael: But it's my birthday!
**Feb. 26, 2010--Nathan: Don't step on the carpet or it will eat you up! Michael: But it doesn't have a mouth!
**Feb. 21, 2010--Me: "Come on Michael, get your coat on so we can go home!" Michael: "Calm down Mom!"
**Feb. 11, 2010--Me: "Michael, you're not disobeying are you?" Michael: "Me am, but I wont do it again. I pwamise, Mom, I wont do it again, okay?"
**Feb. 2010--Michael: Let's watch Americol Idon!
**Feb. 2010--Amy from the other room: Michael, you're not hitting your brother are you? Michael: Me am!
**Feb. 2010--I was upset about something he did, and he looked at me, raised his eyebrows, and said, "It's okay Mom. It really is."
**Early Jan. 2010--We were driving on a side road and Michael asked about the bales of hay that were stacked up. Somehow we started talking about how horses eat hay. Then Michael said: "When I'm a little horsey, I'm going to eat hay!"

Xander's First Trip to the Dentist

On April 12, 2011 we took both boys to the dentist

The waiting room is awesome! There's a tree house play structure with a slide and toys for the kids to play with. The walls are all painted lime green and it's just a really fun atmosphere.

Here are the boys playing, Xander having NO idea what's about to happen.....

We let Michael go first with the hygienist, and Xander payed close attentionThen it was his turn with the hygienistHe was NOT impressed!

Then Michael met with the dentistAnd Xander got increasingly more cautiousThen Xander's turnI think you can tell just how well that was recieved!

But we all made it through it and their teeth look good and healthy!

That month we also got Xander into speech therapy. I knew he was still young, but I regret that we didn't Michael into speech earlier than we did, and I didn't want to regret it with Xander. So we got him evaluated and he qualified (but just barely) and has been seeing the same speech pathologist as Michael about 3 times a month. And if you see the side bar, his speech has ExPLODeD!

January 2011

Is it just me, or did January fly by! I can't believe that we're already half way through February. Unbelievable!
Michael is so funny!! He can NOT wait for his BIRTHDAY!!!! He asks me a few times each day how much longer he has until he can be 5. He's so jealous of his friend Kyler, who turned 5 in October. It's so funny when I tell him he still has 2 1/2 weeks. His response is ALWAYS either "that's too long" or "you said that yesterday". Oh to be young and have turning 5 be your biggest concern!!
Here's our month of January in pictures. There's not much rhyme or reason to them. Michael has become more interested in taking pictures than actually being in the picture, so there's not a lot of him. Xander on the other hand still has no say on the matter, so he's pictured quite often.
There's not much to update you all. I talk about Nathan's new business in the post just under this one. I've just about doubled my work hours so I'm staying busy with that. Nathan also freelances for a news paper in Idaho Falls and Pocatello, which is pretty cool and fun. Michael is going to Pre-K and will start school in September which he pretty dang excited for! He's learning so much, and is always spouting some random nonsense out. It always rhymes, but rarely makes sense. He also LOVES telling knock jokes that also don't make much sense, but just telling them makes him pretty happy. I need to get those on video!
Anyway, there's a quick update on us. Enjoy the pictures!
Xander all bundled up and ready to go out into the snow.

He's happy in the picture, but didn't last long in the white stuff. We'll try again next year. My prediction: He wont be able to get enough of it!

I realized as I was uploading pictures for the December post that I have a lot of happy pictures of Xander, and he is usually happy. But to get a good representation of the kid, you need to see him mad.

Here's he's just telling you he's not happy,

but now he's just plain ticked and so incredibly hurt that we would deny him what he wants! Heaven forbid!

But the anger certainly doesn't last long.

He discovered that he can see us through his legs!! How exciting!
You can even see the wall!

He was actually trying to look at me, but he didn't quite get how to turn his body so he could actually see me through his legs.

In the months of December and January we realized that Xander has a milk allergy. It suddenly appeared a few weeks after his birthday. It's so sad, because he loves milk products. But, he LOVES fruit, especially bananas!

And when he gets a banana, he inhales it. He can eat a full banana in about 2 minutes.

It takes a few minutes for him to actually chew the thing, but it's all in there!

Just chill-axin' in Dad's lap. If you notice in the picture he has a cup and spoon in his hand. This is another thing he loves doing! He gets a spoon and a cup and "stirs", "sips", and "dumps". He can do it for about 10-15 minutes at a time. Love it!

One night I read him this book before bed and he refused to put it away when we were done. He was clutching it so tightly that I could NOT get it out of his hands. So I decided to put him to bed with it. About 30-45 minutes later when Nathan put Michael to bed, he was still reading it!! He was laying in bed holding it and looking at the pictures.

(I'm holding the book up in the picture because he wasn't interested in holding it once the camera was out, of course.)

Bath Time Fun!
Xander is a huge fan of the bath. He gets so jealous if Michael is getting a bath and he isn't. He really gets mad.

He sits in that tub and splashes the whole time. And, if Michael is in the bath and Xander isn't, Xander will make his way to the tub, stand up, and reach into the tub just so he can splash.

My favorite picture! I love his eyes, the pure joy in his face, the shower curtain barely in the picture, the little water particles you can see on him! Everything! I love it.

Michael's thing right now is to chew on the ducks head---don't ask why, I have NO idea! He's crazy!