Last week

I watched a pretty little lady perform at her dance recital.  

 I laughed at our third child.

 I celebrated a birthday with my man and with friends.

 I lost my Papa the day after my birthday.  We shared a special relationship, and he will be missed.

A Chinese Yes

Price has motor planning issues.  I am convinced he knows what he wants to say or do, but he's stuck inside a body that doesn't always work for him.  His communication consists of signs, crying, or squealing  (either happy or upset).  He shakes his head for "no", but "yes" has always been the "more" sign.  The up and down movement of his head has always been hard for him.

A couple weeks ago, however, Price started nodding "yes"!  What an accomplishment.  The funny thing is that it looks more like a bow than a typical head nod "yes".  Nathan and I think it looks a lot like how the Chinese greet one another, and it makes us laugh everytime.  

This Sunday

This Sunday means everything! He is Risen! I especially loved this post by Greg Lucas about how this Sunday means disability will be no more. Hallelujah!

Sibling love

{feeding Price his pudding}

I posted something a few weeks (or months) back that linked to an article about how siblings of special needs children are extraordinary. Well, I witnessed just that last night.

My mom spent the night with us and while she usually just sleeps in Ellery's bed with her, we decided to give her the entire bed and let Ellery bunk with Price. We roll a mattress from Street's room onto the floor of Price's room and voila, Ellery's bed for the night. The kids all get excited when the mattress comes out and can play for an hour jumping on it, letting us throw them on it, and just being goofy. (Now that I'm thinking about it, maybe we should break that thing out more often.)

Ellery and Street were in Price's room having a ball and a couple minutes into the fun, Street stopped and I could see his wheels turning. He ran out of the room, down the hall, and into the playroom where Price was playing. He said something like, "Bro-bro, cababbaba," and started motioning for Price to follow him. When Price didn't budge, he got right in front of him and started pulling his finger. Price still wasn't budging (the boy is heavy), and so he tried again, this time getting behind him and pushing him with his two hands. Price fell flat on his face, then started laughing, and finally began crawling in the direction Street was pointing. Ellery chimed in and got down on her hands and knees and started crawling right beside Price. All the way to his room...where Price lit up at the sight of the mattress and quickly joined in on the fun.

Street couldn't stand the fact that Bro-bro was missing out. I love that. I wiped a few tears and told Nathan that was the sweetest thing I have ever witnessed. Seriously, Street and Ellery are Price's biggest motivators and encouragers. He is one blessed little guy to be sandwiched between these two.

17 1/2 months

fun at the rodeo

first bites of pudding

favorite words: uh-oh, no, bro bro, ebey (for elle), cracker, cookie, big truck, big bus, hewoo (hello), oh ma (oh man), please, dog, bye-bye, nigh-nigh, and of course mama

favorite toys: still the vaccuum cleaner (he calls "vac"), mops, brooms, electrical cords and wires, choo-choo's, puzzles, phones, bubbles

favorite places: driver's seat, back yard, park, Price's school, wuwu's house

favorite books: Goodnight Moon, Goodnight Gorilla, Goodnight Construction Site (got a theme going here)

This kid is a hoot. Our constant entertainer. He's also Bro-bro's best friend and Ellery's follower. Goodness, we love this little face.

In His time

"Flowers bloom at the right time. You cannot force them to bloom. They do it when they are ready and on their own time." - Ellery

Hello writers block.

Don't you love the little "fratty-haired" climber in the background?