It’s amazing that we made it four years without a trip to the ER, and the one we made a few days ago ended up being a total false alarm.

But they put him in a super-cute hospital gown, so you need to see some pictures. 🙂

Wow, I have gotten really bad at keeping up with this blog!

Here are some updates:

Joe had his 4-year checkup last week. He’s still teeny-tiny for his age, but healthy and steadily developing. He was less than friendly to the doctor and her staff, having somehow developed a fear of people in scrubs. But when it was just the two of us in the exam room, he was his sweet self again:

He’s had a great summer so far! We spent a few days in Myrtle Beach with my folks and Joe’s cousins, where Joe rediscovered his love of being in the water:

Joe has also enjoyed a little summer school with his beloved Miss Deena. He’s working on coloring, and getting pretty good at it (although he has a bad habit of chewing on the crayons):

Today we’re enjoying a lazy day at home. I was tidying up my office earlier while Joe played in his room, when suddenly I heard my mother’s voice. He had crawled into his tent (thanks, Aunt Michele!) with a book my mom recorded for him, and was cracking up with each turn of the page:

Next month, the three of us are heading to Virginia Beach for the annual state Arc convention. There will be lots of photos, I’m sure!

Seems like only yesterday we were making awkward small talk with “the new guy”…

…. and now he’s 4 years old! Amazing.

Happy birthday, Mr. Tasty.

May 2011

May 2012

Since Joe was 7 months old, he’s been going to the Petersburg branch of Children’s Hospital for weekly therapy appointments. It was a brand-new location for CHoR at the time, so perfect timing!

On one visit a few months ago, a photographer came to get some shots for the foundation that helped make the Petersburg location possible. You can see Joe and his occupational therapist on page 12 of their biennial report.

2009

2010

2011

2012

Joe’s yearbook is out!

Here’s the page dedicated to his Early Childhood Special Education class:

His bus teacher remarked the other day that Joe is so well-liked among teachers and students that, “Now write this down,” she said, “so you remember who said it first. That boy is going to be prom king.”

🙂

New to us, anyway. After our second tow-truck experience with the Accord this year, Patrick stepped up the search for a replacement. So now we have a 2010 Honda Fit! It’s surprisingly roomy inside, and just so much fun to drive.

Here is Joe, kicking the tires at the dealership:

Also new in recent weeks:

1. Joe is a CHATTERBOX. Still no words (that whole “more” thing kind of petered out) but good gracious, does he make a lot of noise. Tonight he gave us a dramatic speech that went something like, “Lovalovalovalova bijibijbijibiji belabelabela.” We clapped in agreement.
2. He seems to be waving hello and goodbye. He does it backwards and sort of upside-down, but he definitely does it when coming and going.
3. He makes very funny faces all of a sudden. Today at lunch he debuted a fishy face that we’ve been hooked on ever since. Video to come.
4. One of his classmates has a nose-picking habit, and Joe finds this hilarious. His teacher said that as soon as it catches his eye, he belly laughs until they can distract him with something else.
5. His walking is getting better all the time, and he climbs stairs like a champ. Slowly and with some help, but like a champ!

EDIT: Here’s the video of today’s fishy face debut:

Joe’s been using his hands a lot more lately, and is particularly drawn to exploring stringy things.

Like Dada’s ear buds:

His occupational therapist pointed out that we could use this to our advantage, in our continuing quest to get Joe to feed himself. Helloooo, spaghetti:

He had a grand time, passing it from hand to hand, stretching it out and flinging it around. He even put it in his mouth a couple of times … but without sauce, it had about the same taste as the ear buds.

So we’ll try it again with sauce … probably outside, where we can hose him off afterward. Stay tuned!

Today, Joe met his great-grandfather! Grandy (who is 98 years old) is my mother’s stepfather. He’s also a WW2 vet, which qualified him for a trip to D.C. with the Honor Flight. It was really nice to see him take in the sights, especially the WW2 memorial.

Today was also Joe’s first time meeting “Aint Naincy” (my mother’s sister), who came up from Florida for the occasion.

Here is Joe on the D.C. Metro:

Here is Grandy, surprised to find us waiting for him when he gets off the bus:

Joe, clapping for the veterans:

And here he is relaxing in the stroller while Patrick hears another cool Grandy story:

Patrick got much better pictures of the day, and those will be uploaded soon!