Best kid

I hope I don't sound like a broken record, but Charlie is so much fun right now! His language is growing in leaps and bounds. It's amazing to me how many new things come out of his mouth.  A lot of it is repetition, but some of it is just pure communication, and it is awesome. I've been trying to teach him to say Help when he needs something instead of just whining/grunting for attention. Last night, he said, "Hep, Hep" clear as day when he couldn't open the cabinet of books. He asks for "muk" (milk) now, and says something that sounds a whole lot like "snack", and says "book" when he picks up a book to read, and "uh-oh" when he drops something. I feel like I should carry around a notebook and write down each new thing he says, because they're coming so fast and I can't remember by the end of the day all the new things he has said. 

One of the blessings of having a child who has some delays is that we appreciate each new syllable, each change. I'm sure a lot of parents with "normal" kids do too, but I don't know if I would be as attuned to each achievement if he was just going about them on the expected schedule. His teacher is so great too - she's so excited by his improvements, and sends me emails that say things like, "He had an awesome day, he even said the animal sounds in our gingerbread story.  And he has just started saying his name…what a star!" Show me a parent who wouldn't love to receive an email like that!  

We had a consult for private speech therapy at Childrens Hospital this week, and the doctor that saw him definitely acknowledged his delay, but said he's right where he should be in a lot of his understanding, and while his expressive speech is still behind, he's measuring at 18 to 24 months in a lot of the skills. So he's 6 months to a year behind, but I think had they seen him a month ago, he would have measured a lot further behind. He has made so much progress just in the last month.

On Friday, Pamela gifted us with photos of Charlie with Santa Claus. It's the second year she's done so (you can see both the 2009 photo and the 2010 photo below) and it's such a great gift, because we don't have to battle the crowds on the weekend to try to get in for a Santa photo. She said he was a little afraid at first, but Santa gave him a lollipop and they were fast friends after that.

Yesterday, we went to get our tree. Charlie seemed to be a little confused about the whole tree in the house thing. We put him down for his nap, and then I started decorating - and when he woke up, the stockings were hung and the tree was lit and covered with ornaments. So fun to see his little face light up with excitement at the decorated tree. It's great, because he doesn't understand the whole Christmas morning, gift extravaganza thing yet, he just likes the look of it!  He kept pointing at the stockings and the tree, wanting me to tell him their names. And then, within about 10 minutes, he shattered a little snow globe that I was letting him play with... oh well, that's how Christmas with a toddler goes, I guess!

I hope everyone is enjoying the season as much as we are!