Kitties and Language

It is amazing to hear Elijah talk around the cats. He tripped over Oreo and said, "I'm so sorry Oreo, it was an accident. are you OK?" He just asked, "Can I hold Tiger like a baby? OH he is a fat cat!" When Oreo first got here he was a little skittish being in a new place. Elijah leaned down to pet him and looked up at me and said, "look mom I am being gentle."


I know it may not seem like a big deal, but for me it is a big deal. This is so much vocabulary. He is also using words more than actions. he is hitting less and is less frustrated.

We have got to go shopping for Christmas presents for the kitties. That should lead to more language. The cats are also good for helping with Elijah's behavior.

We do love our Kitties!

Update on family

Well, Oreo has been with us for four full days and things are going smoothly. The other two cats, Perky and Tiger, seem to be more accepting as each day goes by. They are hissing less and playing a little with him, really just chasing him. Elijah really enjoys him and is very gentle with him.

Jacob takes good care of all three cats.

We are on the countdown to school being out, 3 more days, and to Christmas...9 more days after today. I am so ready for school to be out. We are not doing too much, just staying home and baking or playing the Wii. I am going to make some more pralines! They are a real challenge and I think that is why I like making them.

Elijah is doing well in school. He is using more and more age appropriate language. This morning he was watching "A Christmas Vacation" when the tree catches on fire and he said...."that man ruined the other man's Christmas tree".....wow what a big word! ruined! He is using more question sentences too. We practiced spelling words tonight and boy did he have some tough words, but he did well! His IEP meeting is on January 5th and I am curious to see what everyone thinks of his progress!

New Addition to our Family

We added a new kitten to our family yesterday. His name is Oreo! He is precious, but of course Perky and Tiger, our other two cats are not too impressed. Oreo was quite scared yesterday when I brought him home and he hid out a lot. Today he has been more adventurous. He is out playing with Jacob right now! This morning, Elijah went to find Oreo and brought him to me in bed. He then looked at Oreo and told him, "No hissing, you be friends with our cats." Well it is not Oreo doing the hissing, it is the other two.

Jacob, who is 13, is having a ball with him right now. Both boys are sweet with all three cats and it is nice to see them be that way. Jacob was just using baby talk with Oreo. Elijah was in hysterics earlier playing with her. She is just a few months old so a true kitten. Hope they all three can get along.


I made a ton of sugar cookies today to take to school next week and use with my students. I have to make enough so we have them here at home too. They are a favorite of both boys! I also made two batches of pralines. I am taking a batch to a potluck lunch we are having next week. Both batches turned out yummy!

Only one more week and then we are out of school for two weeks! I am about done shopping. I just have a few gift cards to pick up!

Endochronolist and Falling Balls

Elijah and I made the trip down to the endochronologist this morning at Children's Hospital in Dallas. This is him in front of the tree. While waiting for the doctor, in the examination room, Elijah asked to play with my Iphone. I let him use it. He started playing FALLING BALLS. You have to tilt the Iphone back and forth to make this stick figure man move and move him out of the way of these falling balls. If the ball hits you, there is a SCREAM and a splat on the screen. He was so into it, that when his figure was hit by the ball and screamed, he jumped and that scared me making me jump. It was so funny! He got so silly. He loved seeing me jump. He started laughing more loudly as he continued playing and was snorting while he laughed. That got me tickled and I started laughing. He then started snorting more. Considering we were in an examination room, we were having a grand time!

Elijah grew almost two inches since June 1st of this year. He gained a little over 10pounds. He is not quite on the growth chart yet, but he is for weight. He is in the 50th percentile! We need to be sure he doesn't gain too much weight, but the doctor is pleased. They took a hand xray and will let me know what they see in that as far as growth goes. We will go back in June 2010 and if he has grown more, then we won't go again unless the pediatrician sees he is not growing. Oh, and looking at his growth velociity, he is growing faster than typical boys his age so hopefully he will catch up!

Not babies anymore

Looking at this picture, I can definitely say that my two boys aren't babies anymore. Just look at how BIG Jacob's hands are. He is 5 ft. 6 inches tall, so he has me beat by an inch. His hands are bigger than mine and his feet are larger than his dad's feet. I still remember when he was learning to crawl and then walk....where did the time go.



Elijah has grown up in a lot of ways in the last year. He has gained weight and also grown taller. He is also more mature and wanting to be more independent. He is my cuddler in the morning and will come lay with me in bed giving me kisses. HIs language skills have grown so much.



Just wanted to share these pictures!

He Made It!!

Elijah finally made it to level 4 in his behavior classroom today! He was very excited when he got off the bus to tell me. I was home early due to a doctor's appointment so I met him at the sitter's house! We went to Walmart to do some grocery shopping and I let him pick out a LEGO toy to put together.

Elijah has made so much progress in the last year. We have had many steps back as we have forward and it has taken us a while to get here. His annual IEP meeting will be in January! He is a child with a hearing loss, but really, he is doing so well in regards to language. I think now that behavior has calmed some and we have a good set of medications, that his brain is calmed down enough for him to make the language progress he has made. Progress in behavior has really come along since his program at school was tweaked. I feel I will always need to be a strong advocate for Elijah, more so in regards to his tourettes, OCD and ADHD rather than with his hearing loss.

We are counting the days until Christmas break and then the days until Christmas. I plan on doing some baking this weekend and more baking over the next few weekends.

I am taking Elijah to the endocronolgist on Monday to see how much he has grown and keep track of all of that! I'll let you know how that goes too!

I Gotta Feeling

I Gotta Feeling has been on my ipod for quite some time now. I listen to it in the car and Elijah is sometimes with me. Just recently he has been making requests. First he wanted me to play "The Kill", he recognized it as a song I had done on Guitar Hero. It is a heavy rock song and I had been fun to do on guitar hero. One day he was really rocking to it in the backseat.

Well this past weekend, I caught him singing, "I gotta feeling". That was all he sang, was the title, but it was cute to hear him singing. He is now asking for it each morning as we drive to school. It is a good upbeat song, so I am glad he likes it and hoping it will help him have a good start to the day.

Elijah's implants have helped him access to so many things he would not have had...MUSIC being an exciting one. I am glad to see he is enjoying it!