I'm back...

Today wraps up two weeks of visiting with family. Isabella has had a blast spending practically unlimited time with her cousins. I feel that I've barely seen her, and thankfully snagged her away for a date on Friday afternoon, and then more time on Saturday when I bribed her with a trip to the library to receive her reading prize for the summer reading program (note to self: check if the library will actually be open...duh).

Isaac is making progress in his speech development by leaps and bounds. This is so exciting to watch since we really didn't expect him to be able to say his name for quite a bit longer. I should also express that we don't want to undermine what he will ever be able to achieve; we set goals in our minds for what we would like him to accomplish, but we also try to stay realistic and hopeful at the same time. I'm not sure if that makes sense, but there is a fair amount of grieving in this life with special needs, and for our own emotional security we prepare ourselves for any situation. 

With that said, Isaac has been a generally happy person lately. I do attribute a lot of his mood lately to diet. Trust me, I'm not one who believes removing dairy from a diet is the key to happiness, but I have noticed that he isn't as crabby since the move from formula to a dairy free blended diet. He has had formula about ten times in the past five weeks, and when I resorted to using milk in a blend, I did notice that he was crabbier. Eventually I may consider having some allergy testing done, but for now, I'll stick with what is working and change it as needed. I'll admit, the challenge of balancing his calorie and fat intake along with the consistency of the blend, is frustrating.

Isaac is beginning to experiment with putting things up to his mouth, specifically, cups, straws, and...a TOOTHBRUSH (teeth brushing is a serious battle, as it is with most children who have special needs and have tactile defensiveness). Oma found one of these juice things for Isaac since he spent a couple days pining after Evelyn's. He never actually took a drink (Walter and I gave it a try and it takes a strong suck to actually get any liquid) but just the fact that he closed him mouth around the straw, was a big accomplishment for him.

A birthday party with friends...

We are working on getting our routine (whatever that is) back on track, and will enjoy a quiet week at home, staring at our chickens, and weeding the garden.