Where am I?

Ha, ha, ha! I frequently look at my sad blog and wonder what happened? The good news is that I gave Jeff the password so hopefully between the two of us, we can keep this going. Everytime Nolan says something genius, I think we should post it...and never do. Here's one for you. Tonight he was reading the Bed Bath and Beyond circular and says, "B-E-D, that says bed." Ok, where'd he learn that?

In April, Nolan was discharged from his PT and OT. They gave us a set of exercises to follow. We have found having an active lifestyle for Nolan is just as important. He's learned so many things at the playground like climbing a ladder, backing down a ladder, stepping out and balancing on one foot. Nolan really loved Miss Heather and Miss Claudina. They taught him so much. We will forever be grateful. Nolan is scheduled to have a re-evaluation soon to determine if and when he should return to therapy.

Nolan continues in speech therapy. We did unfortunately have a long break due to insurance issues. Also, his beloved therapist Sarah gave birth to a baby boy named Owen. That, of course, made Nolan very jealous. However, he is happy as ever and thriving in Miss Sarah's care again. She is an amazing speech therapist and will never know the impact she has had on Nolan's life. She gave us our chatterbox!

In April, Nolan started preschool at Beaumont. What a wonderful program they have. He is in a preschool with other speech impaired children. His classroom is staffed by a special education teacher and a speech therapist. Nolan has grown leaps and bounds emotionally, academically and socially. He is learning to share, resolve conflict, make friends and most importantly communicate. He gets very excited to go and learns so much in there. We just wanted him to learn to talk so the academic achievements are just icing on the cake. I didn't know the days of the week and months of the year until I was five, he had just turned three when he learned. They have him practicing his writing and learning about so many things. His team of experts there are great and seem to really care for the emotional well being of our little man.

Of course in May we celebrated Nolan's third birthday. This year he really "got it." We had a party at Hess Hathaway in Waterford. It was the most horrible day weather-wise, but we made the best of it. About 45 people even came! The kids played in the 48 degree weather, high winds and rain. We had to duct tape everything! We then went on a tour of farm animals with Farmer John. The kids (well I should say most kids) really loved this part. Then, we went on a thirty minute hay ride. Farmer John was really taking some of those hills kind of rough. Again it was a lot of fun enjoyed by *most*. When we returned to our gazebo, we had lunch and cake. Everyone was pretty much sick of the weather at this point and left. We went home and Nolan laid on the couch for the rest of the night. He was whipped. He was completely spoiled with wonderful friends and gifts.

Our summer has been full of trips to the zoo, Tigers games, playgrounds galore and daily swimming in our pool. I forgot how much I love summer. Nolan really brought that love back out in me.

I got a long weekend over Fourth of July. We had a great time and tried to do something every day. Nolan saw his first fireworks show with his friend Maya and her sister. He wasn't really interested. He kept asking, "What's happening?" Then, he found a curb to jump off of and did that for the rest of the show. Oh, our Nolan!

We are gearing up for our vacation to Grandma Pietchak's house. Nolan already has it planned...playing with my Little People houses from when I was a kid is his number one priority, then he wants to swim, fish, ride a horse and have Grandma buy him some new cars. Tonight I asked him if he was going to cook for Grandma, he said, "No! I don't cook. Grandma cook for Baby Nolan." It's funny because I've never heard him refer to himself as Baby Nolan.

I have met three great families with hemiplegic children and the moms and I are planning a big picnic in August to bring together families like ours in our area. We are so excited to do this and can't wait to meet everyone. We found a great park with a sprayscape. Jeff, Nolan and I visited a few weeks ago and Nolan loved it.

Well I hope to update more often..."we'll have to see" as Nolan says.