I am four years old...













Here we are at another birthday. I had a great day and wanted to include some pictures from my party. I am so blessed to have family and friends who love me for who I am. Everyone I know is so good to me and mom tells me that I bring out the best in people. I am not sure what that really means, but she likes to say that other people appreciate life more just by knowing me. It would seem like that would put the pressure on, but I am one cool cucumber.

















Mom and dad just can't seem to believe that I am growing to be so big so fast. I think I am ready for my drivers license and first date but that is about the point that mom puts her foot down. She's pretty tough that way. She says that I can do a lot of things like fishing or swinging on my playset, and that is ok with me for now. I will try the dating thing again on my fifth birthday.























To update where I am now developmentally is getting tougher as I get older. I am trying to talk so hard, but it is just as difficult to understand what I am saying. The part of my brain that controls the muscles around my mouth and tongue are not properly developed, so we work a lot on oral exercises to strengthen those muscles. People who know me well know what I am trying to say most of the time and my dynavox helps so much. In addition to everything I have accomplished in my previous descriptions, I am now counting everything in sight. I know how to count to twenty and always say my numbers the same way. I am able to draw a circle and imitate lines. Mom has even gotten me to copy a square a couple of times. I never thought that would bring so much excitement to her day. It makes me laugh when she gets so happy to see me do new things like that. I am nodding yes and no appropriately and my receptive language continues to grow all the time. I can't say that I understand everything that is going on around me, but I understand a lot.

I think my biggest accomplishment this summer is that I am wearing big boy underwear except at night. I am currently keeping things dry but am still working on the second half of that story. I don't yet tell people that I have to go, so they take me every couple of hours, but I stay dry in between trips. Well, mom says to always be honest, so I stay dry 90% of the time in between trips. Mom and dad are confident in me that I will be fully potty trained before kindergarten.

To my dismay and mom's delight, I now have chores that I am responsible for. My jobs are to feed the cat every day, bring my meal dishes to the counter after I finish, and empty the clean silverware tray from the dishwasher and put them away in their slots. I keep asking mom to "show me the money", but I am currently working for free. I need an agent and soon.

Unfortunately, my seizures are not totally under control. They are, however, few and far between these days. I am taking Topamax and it seems to be working well for me right now. Seizure discussion is a day by day experience, so I just feel lucky for any day that they do not make an appearance. The doctors tell me that seizure control will be of upmost importance to my overall development so they are a big concern to mom and dad.

I am still taking therapeutic horse riding lessons in addition to swimming. I have found that I really love being in the water. I am jumping off the side and swimming on my own with floats around my waist. Most importantly, I just have a good time splashing around the water.

Thanks for reading my four year update. I think the most important thing to say is that I am a happy and caring little boy. Mom and dad continue to be thankful for my determination and spirit. They say that I am an easy little boy to raise, so I am thinking about causing a little more mischeif for my next birthday. Don't get me wrong, I have my moments now too, but something called a "time-out" is usually not too far behind. Mom often says that my behavior would be perfect if we lived in some place called "opposite world". I couldn't find it on the map so I guess she will have to live with my little pranks for now.


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