nap time

okay, I just have to add this little bit! Its too funny to not post. So, James takes his naps between 1 and 2 in the afternoon. Every day. Well, today seems to be a bit different. I "put him down" at 1pm so I could get some things picked up before my Visiting Teachers came over. Lo and behold, he comes creeping down the stairs not 2 minutes later! He let himself out of his room! I've no idea how he managed to do that! He's never opened a door on his own in his life! So, I let him stay up with me (after trying to re-locate him to his room a number of times) thinking that maybe having a later nap time would be a good thing for him- apparently not! Currently, he is banging on his door that I 1.closed and then 2. (lacking string) used my vaccum cord to KEEP closed by anchoring it to the bathroom door which is adjacent to his door. He's been crying about this for about 15 minutes and keeps alternately calling out, then YELLING, then crying, then trying the door (maybe this time it will open)- rinse and repeat. Maybe I'm a "bad" mom for thinking this is funny- but I do! 

A Bun in the Oven

Thats Right! I am expecting again! We're really happy to be making the announcement official. This new baby is due on.... June 3rd! Amy, you might share your birthday (yet again). Originally, the baby was due on June 1st, which is Drue's birthday, but I think it will be fun to have one a few days later. I hope its a girl- Drue wants one too. Not that I won't take a boy! After all, I've got all the boy stuff I'll need! Still, it will be fun to welcome a new baby of any sex into our home. As far as how I'm feeling- I think "not so hot" would be accurate. Some days are better than others of course, but I'm really right in the throes of trimester #1 (about 7 weeks) and this urpiness should diminish around week 14. Yay. Changing James' dirty diapers is so awful, and every day I hope he can just "hold it" until Drue gets home from work or school. Sometimes this works, but not too often. Drue is trying to help me keep things generally picked-up around the house but sometimes this doesn't get done either. But he's doing a great job of being a supportive husband and really trying to do everything he can to make this a bit easier for me. Bless his heart.

Talking

I thought I should post a bit about James and his talking- or lack thereof- and explain what's going on. Sorry, no pics this time... 

So, in May, James got tubes in his ears to provide an outlet for the fluid build-up and hopefully restore his hearing. In June, he tested "normal" for hearing ability. Yay!

I was particularly excited that he got his tubes in because now maybe he would being talking- hoping to hear "mama" within a month. As most of you know, this didn't exactly happen. He is enrolled in Early Intervention play group and has a Speech Therapist. We recently met with his ST and this is what she said:

James has a neurological disorder called Developmental Apraxia of Speech (DAS). Big words. All it means is that the motor center in his brain doesn't know AUTOMATICALLY to put lip movement, breath control, tongue placement, and palate manipulation all together to work in concert to produce a word. DAS is Genetic AND can sometimes be situational... like when he had his seizure. Think of when an older person has a stroke and has to re-learn how to speak. Its not that they don't KNOW what the words mean, its that they have to re-train their brains to form particular combinations to produce certain sounds. Thats pretty much what we're working on right now. 

Now for the good news: this is TOTALLY workable. James will be a little slower to speak, but he will speak eventually. And that is good news to us, indeed.