Busy weeks - Everett update

I try to attend to both kiddies as much as possible, I always feel like I'm neglecting one of the other. I wonder if that will ever get better. 

Clara and I made bracelets. I'm so anxious to do crafts with her. I remember doing fun things with my mom. We ironed on a lot of teddy bears to sweat shirts for me, I used a lot of puffy paint and beadazzled my way through a jean baseball hat a time or two. Clara seems interested for the first five minutes and then would rather play doll house, so, doll house it is! 

The "Early Steps" interventionist that comes to the house twice a week. Her name is Justine. 

My silly boy

The finished bathroom. New everything but toilet.

New tile, kitchen complete.

This is my friend Kristina from work and her daughter, Jessica. Her son, Josh was born with Down syndrome. He is the big sister to Jess, five years older. She has been great support since Everett was born. They are a wonderful family!!

PT with Miss Jenny! Everett is working so hard, each day. We're still trying to get him to get off his belly to crawl and stop army crawling. He's very speedy with the army crawl and I think is confused as to why one would do "more work" since it's harder to hold himself up off the floor. He is pulling up on the couch with the cushion removed. He likes to stand but locks his knees. We've ordered ankle supports to help him learn to stand correctly. We're seeing him attempt to cruise (walk across the couch while standing and holding on) but he struggles with not toppling over. He eats baby food well, can sip from his straw cup but doesn't care for much. He doesn't want to feed himself but with some provoking he will. He is starting to eat table food better but eating and feeding him self is a slow process. He's getting a few more "ma/na" sounds in there, but not often. He makes lots of noise but has yet to string his babble to form more than "dada/baba" He claps and turns pages on command. I am positive he understands well, but he is as stubborn as a mule. He signs "more" for dada once in a while, he knows when he is supposed to use it and when I ask him to he just gets annoyed and "yells" at me. He's grabbed Daddy's nose when prompted, we're working on where body parts are, mainly the face. He follows many commands to put in, get, we're working on give. I have a list of two pages of things we need to do daily with him, it's quite overwhelming and those are just the basics. It's amazing how much we take for granted, how much comes natural for so many, he has to work so hard for everything. Most days we just go on business as usual, chipping away bit by bit, excited for each little thing learned/accomplished. I have moments where it all becomes very overwhelming and I panic. I feel like I'm not doing enough, like there isn't enough time to fit in everything we need to work on, like Clara is being left out, like a failure. Everett has been favoring dada lately and I feel like it's because that's where he gets a break, mama's always pushing him, always teaching him. Don't get me wrong, we snuggle, but I make him work hard. I just try and find balance, it's never been so hard to find it!!! 

His therapists love him. He is always pleasant and hard working. They look forward to seeing him and watching him grow. I recently decided to ask for a new OT. I love her, she is very nice, but I accomplish more at home with him than she does in therapy. When I'm packing up two kids and walking out the door at 7:30am with an hour drive (total) I want it to be time well spent. She is young and sweet, but there is no direction, he can do more. It's been and will be awkward, we switch in Sept. His early steps interventionist is the person that follows all kids from the NICU. She says he has great focus and attention to tasks. I'm so proud of him, each day. 

Cereal party!