We Are Back!

All I can say is that September is a crazy month - but we are back! Tommy turned 4 and he's doing great.

Communication
Last week he went to a local apple farm with his classmates and he actually had the words to tell me about it! He told me they took a bus and then made some bus sounds. He told me about sitting in a tree and picking up apples. It was so nice to have him share information about his day with me.

He loves riding on the cart like this!

His vocabulary has been increasing and his ability to communicate is really improving. It makes life so much easier! The other day he fell off the couch and got a little hurt. For the first time ever he was actually able to tell me what hurt! He clearly told me he hurt his toe. It may seem small but this is a huge development. This level of communication allows me to help him and meet his needs. It can be nearly impossible to guess what's wrong sometimes.

Birthday
Tommy is 4! He loved singing happy birthday with family and friends. He liked it so much he sang it about three times in a row. This was the first year that Tommy was really into his birthday and seemed to get into the celebration. I did what I could to really make it about Tommy and what he likes.

We put balloons and streamers down at his level so he could enjoy the decorations too. I created a Tommy menu with all his favorite foods: pizza, mac n' cheese, gummi bears, M&M's, and of course -Cheese Balls! Tom loves cheese balls. This is a well know fact and he even got two containers of cheese balls from family and friends. They will be gone in no time!

Tom's little friend from the neighborhood (let's call him K) stopped by when Tommy was half way done unwrapping his gifts and he took off to play with his friend. Even though it was rainy they ran outside to play and go down the slide in the backyard. It was so cute to see how excited Tom was to play with his friend K.

K does an excellent job of adjusting to Tommy's blindness. He just grabs Tommy's hand and off they go. About a year ago when Tommy was being evaluated for his transition to pre-K they determined that he could not run. Though I would argue it's a valid adaptation on Tom's part to not run as a fully blind child - not until he's willing to use his cane more at least!  But when Tom and K take off with K in the lead Tommy sure runs right along with him now. I love to see Tom keeping up with a kid his own age and it is wonderful to see him be accepted by a peer. When children are exposed to people with disabilities at a young age they adjust without judgement. I really think that people my age missed out on something but not having children with disabilities included in our schools.

I take Tom's picture sitting out on the bench on our front porch every year on his birthday.
I'm going to have to try again. It was cold and he didn't want to sit still.

He really is getting big. There's nothing more he wants to do these days than play with other kids. I was just talking with some other local moms of visually impaired children about organizing a play date. I think it's time for that!