Noah loves Baby Alaina
Can you believe it? I'm actually posting two days in a row. That goes to show you what a good nights sleep will do for you! :-) Thank goodness Noah's sleep patterns have continued and he is now sleeping about 12 hours a night. I cannot begin to explain how wonderful that feels!
I think most of you know that my brother Mark and his wife Beth adopted a baby girl at the end of May. Her name is Alaina and she's 4 1/2 months old. Man, she is the most beautiful little baby girl in the world. She's gorgeous! Well, she was sitting in her infant carrier on the kitchen bar and Noah was perched on the bar, too, with me sitting in front of him and I said, "Noah, where's the baby?" and he actually turned around and looked at Alaina. Well, we were stunned! So we asked him again and again and each time he turned around and looked at Alaina. We didn't even know that he knew what a baby was! I mean, we didn't even know that concept even existed in his head. A few months ago - shoot, even just a few days ago - he only understood less than 5 verbal concepts. And know he nows what a baby is! And literally just a minute ago I walked into the living room and said, "Hey Noah, do you want some bacon?" And he turned around and followed me into the kitchen. I cannot believe he is starting to understand some things. His receptive language (what he understands) has always been so low. And now it's improving. And most kids don't start talking until they start understanding things.... so....... maybe he'll start talking in the next few months or next year. Yea!!!
Anyway, back to Alaina... Noah tried to give her high fives and kept touching her hand. He was so gentle with her. We did notice that they play with the same toys. I'm trying to focus on the positive and not dwell on the fact that my almost 5 year old (he'll be five on Monday!) is playing with the same toys as my four month old niece. But on the plus side, it was cute to watch them play side by side. Noah's Aunt Jane and Uncle James gave him a Little Tykes piano for his 1st birthday and he STILL plays it with all the time. Well, Alaina loved it. So they took turns spinning the spinner on the piano and Noah was so gentle with her. It was really sweet.
Oh, and another first! Noah walked into the kitchen holding a ball. Not only that, but he used both hands. There was a time when Noah couldn't even move his left hand. His stroke was on the right side of his brain and really affected his left side of the body. When he was really little he couldn't even open his hand. It stayed clenched all the time. But yesterday, he actually picked up a ball with both hands and carried it all the way from the living room to the kitchen. I think that's the farthest he's ever carried anything with two hands. And he hasn't even showed an interest in balls since he was about 22 months old. It seems like no big deal, but we all noticed it. We were like, "Did you see Noah??? He carried a ball. A ball!!" So we got down on the floor and rolled it back and forth. He wasn't too interested, but still. It was great family interaction.
So, we have had a great couple of days here. I know that there will be some rough roads ahead. We have stopped all therapies and supplements (except for daily mineral drops) and just giving him a break - which is obviously what his body needed. But we will have to pick up and start again.. which I'm sure will cause some regression. Ugh. But then, once he goes on a break, he seems to really progress. So there's definitely some sort of pattern going on. We are just enjoying things right now and really having lots of fun with Noah right now. We'll deal with all the other stuff when it happens.
On another note, Sim ripped out all of the carpet yesterday and bought the new flooring. I think Dad and Danny are putting it in next week, so we should be back in our new place in a week. Sim says the house still smells of cigarette smoke, so we need to crank the air purifiers up again and open all the windows. I think we're going to take down all the mini-blinds and give them a good scrub and maybe that will help. And Sim cleaned all the ceiling fan blades. We probably still need to wash all the windows and get the baseboards cleaned up... and if that doesn't get rid of the smoke smell then I don't know what will. We're trying to avoid painting because Noah can't be around fresh paint. So please say a little prayer that all this works. Noah's still scratching like crazy and I know staying here in Midlothian with all the pollution is not doing his skin any favors. We are so hoping his skin will eventually heal up. He's STILL on steroids. It's been almost 6 months now and that's not good for anybody.
Hope you all have a good and restful Saturday.
Take care,
Noah's Mom
I think most of you know that my brother Mark and his wife Beth adopted a baby girl at the end of May. Her name is Alaina and she's 4 1/2 months old. Man, she is the most beautiful little baby girl in the world. She's gorgeous! Well, she was sitting in her infant carrier on the kitchen bar and Noah was perched on the bar, too, with me sitting in front of him and I said, "Noah, where's the baby?" and he actually turned around and looked at Alaina. Well, we were stunned! So we asked him again and again and each time he turned around and looked at Alaina. We didn't even know that he knew what a baby was! I mean, we didn't even know that concept even existed in his head. A few months ago - shoot, even just a few days ago - he only understood less than 5 verbal concepts. And know he nows what a baby is! And literally just a minute ago I walked into the living room and said, "Hey Noah, do you want some bacon?" And he turned around and followed me into the kitchen. I cannot believe he is starting to understand some things. His receptive language (what he understands) has always been so low. And now it's improving. And most kids don't start talking until they start understanding things.... so....... maybe he'll start talking in the next few months or next year. Yea!!!
Anyway, back to Alaina... Noah tried to give her high fives and kept touching her hand. He was so gentle with her. We did notice that they play with the same toys. I'm trying to focus on the positive and not dwell on the fact that my almost 5 year old (he'll be five on Monday!) is playing with the same toys as my four month old niece. But on the plus side, it was cute to watch them play side by side. Noah's Aunt Jane and Uncle James gave him a Little Tykes piano for his 1st birthday and he STILL plays it with all the time. Well, Alaina loved it. So they took turns spinning the spinner on the piano and Noah was so gentle with her. It was really sweet.
Oh, and another first! Noah walked into the kitchen holding a ball. Not only that, but he used both hands. There was a time when Noah couldn't even move his left hand. His stroke was on the right side of his brain and really affected his left side of the body. When he was really little he couldn't even open his hand. It stayed clenched all the time. But yesterday, he actually picked up a ball with both hands and carried it all the way from the living room to the kitchen. I think that's the farthest he's ever carried anything with two hands. And he hasn't even showed an interest in balls since he was about 22 months old. It seems like no big deal, but we all noticed it. We were like, "Did you see Noah??? He carried a ball. A ball!!" So we got down on the floor and rolled it back and forth. He wasn't too interested, but still. It was great family interaction.
So, we have had a great couple of days here. I know that there will be some rough roads ahead. We have stopped all therapies and supplements (except for daily mineral drops) and just giving him a break - which is obviously what his body needed. But we will have to pick up and start again.. which I'm sure will cause some regression. Ugh. But then, once he goes on a break, he seems to really progress. So there's definitely some sort of pattern going on. We are just enjoying things right now and really having lots of fun with Noah right now. We'll deal with all the other stuff when it happens.
On another note, Sim ripped out all of the carpet yesterday and bought the new flooring. I think Dad and Danny are putting it in next week, so we should be back in our new place in a week. Sim says the house still smells of cigarette smoke, so we need to crank the air purifiers up again and open all the windows. I think we're going to take down all the mini-blinds and give them a good scrub and maybe that will help. And Sim cleaned all the ceiling fan blades. We probably still need to wash all the windows and get the baseboards cleaned up... and if that doesn't get rid of the smoke smell then I don't know what will. We're trying to avoid painting because Noah can't be around fresh paint. So please say a little prayer that all this works. Noah's still scratching like crazy and I know staying here in Midlothian with all the pollution is not doing his skin any favors. We are so hoping his skin will eventually heal up. He's STILL on steroids. It's been almost 6 months now and that's not good for anybody.
Hope you all have a good and restful Saturday.
Take care,
Noah's Mom
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