Bubbles

I bought a Gazillion Bubbles Bubble Machine at Walmart last month when I saw it on clearance. I wasn't sure how well it would work or if Joshua would like it since he seemed to be getting tired of playing with bubbles lately. I had planned to put it back for later but John thought we should celebrate a month with no sickness (meaning no seizures!!), so we got it out yesterday afternoon. It was so much fun!! Joshua LOVED it! Belle, unfortunately, did not love it....she is scared of bubbles for some reason. Anyway, it filled our kitchen with bubbles in less than 30 seconds.

Another Math Mind??

Joshua's speech therapist is always fascinated by the way Joshua does things while he plays. She made the comment last week that he is very analytical in his thinking...judging by the way he likes to sort and match his toys in various ways. She said, "I think he is going to be very good at math." I laughed and told her that John & I both have math degrees. I guess in 10-15 years or so we'll see if she is right!

Time with Daddy

Bobbing for...

Pegs???

He keeps life interesting for sure!

China Part 4

Our campus gate man & his wife...sweet couple.

I have no idea what is going on here, but this is one of my favorite pictures! I took it out of the taxi window.

Food cooked by some of my students.

At the People's Park in Hohhot with one of my students who became a great friend while I was there! I miss my friends who still live there so much!

China Part 3

A parking lot.

At the Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

Carving "pumpkins" with one of my classes...they were actually some sort of squash or gourd, I think.

Outside our apartment with the people who worked in our building.

China Part 2

Not even sure what you would call this. It didn't go very fast though!

How to transport things via bike.

China Part 1

With China being in the news constantly right now since the Olympics start this week, I have been thinking of China alot. I spent a year there teaching English at a university 5 years ago. I fell in love with the people. It really is an amazing place. Don't get me wrong....there was some definite culture shock (and reverse culture shock upon coming home), but it is a very interesting place. I thought I would share some pictures since I have been thinking of it so much.



The Great Wall

A tomb in the city where I taught. These are some of the students at our school.

A view of the city street. My campus was a couple of miles outside the city.

My favorite little girl on our campus. Her family owned a restaurant on campus.

I Finally Got It

I finally understand Joshua's frustration a little bit more about not being able to talk. I mean, he will be sitting at the table eating & point to the kitchen to tell me that he wants something different. I have no idea what he wants. He shakes his head "no" at everything I offer. Eventually a tantrum will ensue that involves him throwing food & crying & me just being frustrated that I can't give him what he wants & feeling helpless.

The other day it occurred to me that I have been in his situation...sort of. I lived in China 5 years ago. Now, I don't speak Chinese & only learned enough to get by while I was there. By that, I mean, I could direct a taxi driver back to my campus by saying "turn left", "turn right", & "go straight"; I could order food at the restaurants on our campus; I could tell people I was American & that I was a teacher; and I could say that I didn't speak Chinese. That was about the extent of it. Since Chinese is a tonal language, I usually messed those things up. I mean, if you were trying to say "I am a teacher" & used the wrong tone, you said "I am a mouse". I would get so frustrated when I was doing my best to speak Chinese & people would just look at me. I mean, I might as well have just been pointing letting them guess what I wanted. Actually, there was a lot of pointing & nodding in the year that I was there. Whenever we went to KFC or McDonalds (the only American options in my city), they would pull out a picture menu & we would point to what we wanted....reminds me of when I hold two things up for Joshua & let him point to what he wants. I still feel helpless when I don't know what he wants, but at least I have been reminded that I lived for year with communication barriers, and I can be more patient & empathetic.

First Tricycle

He absolutely loves it! He even rode it out of the store to the car. We do laps around the house throughout the day & take it out to the street when it isn't too hot.

Progress

So here is an update on how he is doing. As you can tell from the picture, he is walking much more these days. He is still pretty unsteady & uses his arms to keep his balance. Of course, he has alot to balance....32 pounds & 3 feet tall! Our poor dog is great motivation for him to walk. He chases her around the house any time she ventures out of our bedroom.

We have been having an issue with frustration for the past several months. Tantrums are quite commonplace in our home. Partly because he's almost two. They get worse with teething...which we just started again in the last day or so. Mostly, they have to do with frustration over not being able to talk. He seems much less frustrated now that he is walking. He initially was having tantrums out of the blue...we had no idea what was wrong. Once he started walking, that changed. He would only have fits when he was tired, hungry, or just didn't get his way. We can still tell he is frustrated, but at least he seems to be handling it better for the most part. I mean, he is almost two....tantrums are to be expected! And, I just noticed today that he is cutting his 2 year old molars (the bottom ones, anyway). No fun!

About speech....he only made it to 5 of his 8 classes this summer because we kept getting sick. He has had a few sessions with his speech therapist. We haven't really seen any progress in his speech at this point. By that, I mean, he isn't saying any more words. He is more vocal. In the last couple of days, he has entered a yelling/squealing phase. He just walks around yelling or squealing for no reason, other than because he can. He isn't mad or upset....he just likes to hear himself. He has learned some sign language, which helps some of the time. Sometimes, he just likes to use the signs to hear you say the word. He is always impressed with himself when he does a sign. One of the doctors we saw recently told us that speech & signing involve the same part of the brain. So, since he is signing, the intelligence for speech is there....there is just something that is not making the connection between his brain & his mouth yet.

As for the seizures, we are just in a waiting game. We are hoping that there are no more & that will be the end. As long as we can keep him well, we will be fine. He has had a normal EEG & normal head CT, so it appears that these are just caused by fevers & there isn't anything crazy going on in his brain. We do still have the little episodes of turning red & hot to deal with. Next time that starts we are supposed to be able to get him in for an ambulatory EEG that should be able to confirm or rule out a seizure disorder for sure....we think.

Overall, he is doing great! He starts back to his class in a few weeks & will be going 8 hours a week in a class that focuses on communication, so we are hoping that will help him alot. And, he will be around other kids in the class, which may encourage more communication. Just pray being around other kids doesn't cause too much sickness!