Growth Spurt!

Oh my goodness!  My child is growing. 

Whomever said my child was going to be small because he has Down syndrome had no idea what they were talking about!

Jacob is 18 months younger than his sister, and already weighs more than her.  Okay, in her defense, she's still a foot taller than him, but Jake is a TANK.

You wouldn't know it if you saw him.  But the child is dense.  Somewhere underneath that belly of his, there's a six-pack. Maybe a 12-pack!

Since he finished school in June of last year, he has grown FOUR SIZES.  That's not a typo. Four sizes.  He finished school a 4T last year.  He is now outgrowing his 7's.  Well, sort of.  His waist is too big for the 7's, but the pant legs are about 3 inches too long.

When I put him in 6X's, the pants would be obscene if he weren't still in diapers, but the legs are just the right length.  But that's alright. They match perfectly with all his muscle shirts!

So this week, I'm buying him a whole new wardrobe (again), and breaking out the sewing machine to hem up all his pants.

I guess in the grand scheme of things, a growth spurt (or three) is a good thing, right?

Summertime & Growing Up

Summertime is a bittersweet time around our house. On the first hand, I get to spend more time with my kiddos playing, laughing, having fun, and doing all the things we didn't have time to do during the school year.

 On the other hand, I am spending nearly every waking minute with my kids.  I'm not going to sugar coat it.  I, a say-at-home mother with 4 pretty fantastic children, am NOT, by any stretch of the imagination, maternal.

I don't spend hours on the Internet searching for fun activities to do with my kids during their sunny days and snuggling them every chance I get.  OK, I do snuggle a little bit.  Can you blame me?  Look at that face of his!  He's adorable! :)  What make motherhood rewarding for me is the knowledge that I am doing something truly important: Teaching my children to be happy, healthy, productive parts of society who will give of themselves to make the world a better place.

 What I enjoy about summer break is that time the older kids get to spend with the younger kids.  We have a pretty wide age spread between the olders and the youngers.  Essentially, we have 2 families of children.  The now-college freshman and her brother, the high school freshman, and then we have the kindergartner and the pre-schooler.  The funny thing is, though, that their personalities are so similar, it's like I'm raising my older kids all over again! Except this time I can fix some of those pesky mistakes I made the first time - or make my older kids experience the frustration I had with them when they were younger. Oh the poetic justice!!

 In the meantime, we will spend our summer playing games with one another, cleaning up the perpetual mess in our home, sunning ourselves alongside the kiddie pool, going to track meets for the olders, and recouping from an exhausting school year.

 There are no big vacations planned for the first time in years.  No going to Nationals for Track, or Family reunions requiring 12 hour drives in the Suburban.

 I think our biggest adventure will be a camping trip in July an hour away.  And maybe a couple family hikes.

 Jake spends his time constantly exploring and learning, although few words, if any come out of his mouth.  So I'm concentrating on reading him lots of sound books that require him to make sounds to mimic the animals.

 He's discovered art, and movies, and playing in the kiddie pool.  We'll make a major attempt at potty training this month, along with swimming lessons.

But for the rest of the summer, it is about living life simply and taking the time to enjoy the little moments with the ones who mean the most in our lives.  Because before we know it, they're all grown up and leaving the nest.

Happy Graduation, Elisha!  We love you!

~Mom & Dad

He Reminds Me of Calvin & Hobbes

This week we decided it's time to update our pictures in the Living Room.  And, in homage to one of our favorite cartoon characters, Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes, we took these:

We had so much fun sorting through the hundreds of photos we've accumulated of Jacob in the first 3 1/2 years of his life.

Even though I've spent the 12 years prior to his birth around persons with disabilities, I guess living with a child who has Down syndrome is different.  Or, maybe we're just really really REALLY lucky.  Although I doubt it. 

Jake has already taught me so much about never underestimating the spirit of an individual, and to never judge them by their 'label'.

Jacob has been surprisingly intelligent, resourceful beyond belief, and his expressions mimic those of Calvin's. 

Every morning I wake up to see a twinkle in his eye that grows brighter as his discovery of life increases.

Day after day, I notice the frustration he feels, evident in his rare outbursts - not because his mind doesn't comprehend, but because his body won't cooperate with what he's trying to get it to do.

I see pride reflected on his face when he accomplishes a task he has worked hard to achieve.

Then there's the mischievousness.  Oh, my sweet, naughty, little rascal!  He has a special look on his face and inflection in his giggle when he teases me or tries to get away with something he knows he shouldn't.

Then there's the calm patience he exudes.  I often experience this emotion on one of his many sick days.  Although a relatively health child, I think his medical issues early in life diminished his immune system.  It seems as if he brings home virtually every cough, cold, or bug possible from school or church.  Sickness generally means I get to have a precious few moments of quite as I cuddle with my rarely-still son.

When he isn't sick, Jacob is usually HUNGRY!  That means he spends a LOT of time trying to manipulate me into giving him more food.  He takes his time eating, spending several minutes well after the rest of the family has left the dinner table savoring his food.  It's not unusual for my little boy to ask for 2 breakfasts, and snacks before lunch.  "Please, sir.  May I have another?"

Outgoing.  Jake LOVES to get his picture taken.  And if I don't do it, he will!  Thus, one of his first selfies!

Contemplative.  This is one of those emotions he shows that I really didn't expect to see from Jacob.  Especially as a child. But on occasion, I will catch him sitting still, seeming to contemplate the world's troubles and how to fix them.  Before long, he will get up from his little chair and go about his business fixing whatever it is that's been weighing on his mind - usually with one of the above mentioned emotions.

Competitive.  Another delightful emotion I've seen as of late has been Jake's competitive nature.  His big sister is only 18 months older than he, which allows for many opportunities to compete.  His favorite thing is to play basketball and catch, or running (which often results in him catching up to, and tackling his sister - with perfect form, I might add!)

Aside from his endless love and compassion, I must say that my favorite emotion I see Jacob exude is his imagination.  This little boy is no vacuous space housed by a shell of a body.  Oh, no no no no no!  Little Jacob is this treasure-trove of thoughts and emotions wrapped up inside a firecracker of a boy.  Every day I will, after hours of playing with friends or his sister,  find him playing by himself perfectly content playing a game of make-believe that only he understands, or hiding under the hamper in his own private island of mystery.   

Yes, life is good with little Jacob around.  All he needs is a toy tiger to carry with him everywhere he goes!

Are Those Words I Hear?

How can it be that it's been 4 MONTHS since my last post?!?!

Oh, that's right.  Life has a way of seeming to slip through your fingers at mock speed when you're the mother of four incredibly wonderful, but unbelievably different children.  Living life with an over-achiever 18-year old senior, a just-figuring-himself-out 14 year old, a precocious smarty-pants-wants-everyones-100%-attention 4-year old, and ever-curious-crazy-busy-wonderfully-delightful 3 year old sometimes takes its toll on me.  

But I wouldn't change a single minute of it for all the money in the world (don't quote me on that in the midst of the chaos though!)

Jacob is already 1/2 way through his first year of pre-school and the differences are startling to say the least.  Who knew that 2 1/2 hours per day, 4 days a week would make such a difference?  But boy howdy it has!

(Jacob's school picture)

Since school has begun, Jacob has finally begun to say words!!  I'm not saying he's speaking in full sentences or anything, but considering the fact that before pre-school we were lucky if he'd even make a sound, his attempts to vocalize are massive!

Although most of it would be considered merely grunts by the lay man (isn't that always the case when any child is beginning to speak?), he's been generous enough to accompany some of his words with their coordinating ASL sign as well.  Now Jake will not only wave good-bye, but say it as well.  As a fully intelligible word, mind you!  He also says "hi", "mom" (but only when he's mad and can't get my attention any other way), "Elisha" (sounding more like 'la la' - but I'll take it!), "Nate", "no", "dad" and my all time favorite: "three" - which is usually because he is COUNTING to three!!!! Woohoo! 

In addition to the awe-inspiring phenomenon we dub 'speaking' I've noticed that Jake has mellowed.  Yes, MELLOWED!  This is the little boy who wakes up and hits the ground running full-speed from area to area creating disaster faster than a Level 5 tornado.  If you take a moment and watch, one cannot help but marvel at his efficiency.  It's quite impressive, actually, how someone so little can create so much destruction in such a little time. 

This too, has diminished significantly over the last few months.  When we left Children F.I.R.S.T. one of the goals they had for him was to have Jacob sit at an activity for 3 whole minutes before losing interest.  To date, I have seen him "read" books, color, sit for an entire meal at dinner, and, as I write, he is sitting at the back sliding glass doors staring out at the newly fallen snow covering our back yard.  - Oops!  I spoke too soon.  He's now pushing his chair to the cupboards to see if he can pour the cereal out onto the floors!...and now into the living room where he's knocking off all the throw pillows (sigh).  OK, he's not PERFECT!  But his attention span (for things he's interested in) has increased from a minute or two to as long as 10 or 15 minutes for the truly engrossing activities. 

Yes, I would dub pre-school a success.  :)



(Our favorite family past time is listening to Jake laugh!  It's the best sound in the WORLD!)

Now...if I can only motivate myself to get him potty trained.....

Stretching the Limits

This week my son turns three.  THREE!!!  How can that be?  It seems as if just months ago we were in the hospital fighting for his life, trying desperately to get him to gain the few precious pounds he needed for his heart surgery.

Now, we're beginning to transition from our early-intervention program, which consists of 2 hours twice a week to pre-school through the school district, which is 4 hours four times per week.

This move entails testing to see how far he has progressed in the three years of early-intervention.  It also allows the school district an opportunity to see where he's at developmentally, and how far he must progress in order to reach the capabilities of 'normal' children his age.

When I arrived at my 'meet the staff' meeting where we would establish his IEP (Individualized Education Programs) for the next couple years, I came prepared to be told that my son, Jacob, needed more therapy to keep up developmentally with the 'normal' kids.  And, although these well-meaning individuals come equipped with degrees and years of experience working with children with disabilities, none of them had met Jacob.  All they knew about him was based on predispositions and what was written on paper.

When I sat down at the table for our meeting I was faced with six staff members who would be caring for my child in one capacity or another for the next 2-3 years.  Each of the ladies were wonderful, personable, and truly had a desire to better Jacob's life.

The first person to speak was Jacob's new Physical Therapist.  She took out his test results based on the Peabody system and proceeded to tell me that there were many things they'd be working on with my son to get him 'up to speed'.  Then she asked me,

      "The test says he walks forward and backward.  Does he run?"

     "Yes,  he was running in the hallways on the way into class.  And he's really quite fast.  I need to work to keep up with him."

     "Oh."  She flashes a confused look on her face, and writes something on her paper.  "Does he walk up stairs?"

     "Yes.  Yesterday he was walking up the stairs one foot per stair unassisted.  He walks down the stairs with the help of the railing, putting two feet on each step, before proceeding to the next."

     "Really?"  the therapist comments, before scribbling on her paper again. "How about jumping?"

     "Take him out to the parking lot and he'll jump all over the parking blocks without effort.  He gets more air than his 4 year old sister does when she jumps."

     "It says here that he can throw a ball 3 feet."

     "Actually, he throws it across the room.  I'm trying to keep him from breaking windows right now."

What this therapist had forgotten is that although Jacob has Down syndrome, he is also a boy...a child.  And like every other child in this world, he has a personality and his capabilities differ in some degree from every other child whether that child has Down syndrome or not.

In this case, he just didn't like his previous Physical Therapist.  Not that she was a bad person; their personalities just clashed, so he refused to test for her for nearly a year.

I had to explain to the new Physical Therapist that Jacob is strong as an ox.  He can do pull-ups on our kitchen table, opens doors, runs, jumps, and does all the things a normal little boy does. In fact I'd hazzard a guess that he can do more.

I had a discussion with the Occupational Therapist about the fact that Jacob tested within the limits of 'normal' in his progression.  The previous OT suggested NO OT for him. At ALL.  This is absolutely unheard of for a child with Downs because they typically have low muscle tone and have a hard time with fine motor skills.  I ultimately agreed with their suggestion that he continue OT because I'd noticed that he cannot work his fingers independently for sign language, and it would ensure he doesn't fall behind in the future.  Besides, can you really have too much therapy?

Even speech therapy came with a few surprises for the ladies.  Up until 2 months ago (that would have made Jake 34 months old - nearly 3), Jacob could not/would not say a single word.  Part of it was due to hearing difficulties - he's had 3 sets of tubes, finally the T-Tubes they put in 2 months ago have stayed and we're seeing progress - and part of it was out of sheer stubbornness.  Now, in the past 2 months, we've seen a massive break-through in speech.  He now knows more than 30 signs, and has voiced 12 words.  This week alone he's said three new words.  That revelation elicited gasps and ooh!'s from the staff. This is in addition to the fact that he points to anything he can't sign or say, shakes his head yes and no, and is perfectly capable of making his wants and needs known in one way or another.  The progression is coming fast and furious!

'So what is the moral of this story?' you ask.

It's simple.  These ladies came into our meeting expecting, based off of predispositions and the statements of others, to see a child who was completely different from the one I presented them.

I, on the other hand, have never had a child with disabilities before.  And I refuse to assume that because of an extra chromosome, he is destined to be an un-thinking, barely-functioning part of society whose role will never be any more important than bagging groceries at the local grocery store, or being the 'happy boy'.  For that reason, I do not give him limits.  In fact, I try to defy them any chance I get.

When they told me that the earliest a child with Downs had ever learned to walk in their program was 16 months, I worked with Jacob until he could walk at 14 months.  When he failed to progress with his PT evaluations at age 2, I went out and bought all the toys needed to help him reach his missed goals.  It was that day, after 2 hours of play time and watching him achieve each of his 'missed' goals that I realized he was just fine.  He was merely stubborn.  Just like all the rest of my children.

That's not to say that I expect Jacob to be the next Einstein, or a neurosurgeon, or an 8th grade English teacher.  But when there are people with Down syndrome in the world who are world-renowned musicians, mayors of cities, music teachers, and a bevy of other roles in society, I have hope.  I remember that my child, though different, is still important, and has a purpose here on this earth.  The range of abilities for people with Downs syndrome is just as broad as the range of abilities of those without an extra 21st chromosome.  Our job as parents, caretakers, and service providers, is to take those abilities or preconceived notions and to give our children a chance to defy them.

If we give our children an opportunity to defy their 'limits' we enable them the chance to experience a better life for themselves.  Society once thought those with developmental disabilities should be institutionalized.  I still believe we are limiting our DD population by not expecting more of them.  It is my hope that we will treat each person as an individual, challenge them to stretch and progress to the best of their abilities, and only then, be satisfied with the end result.

A Moment of Inspiration

To say that life has been crazy around our household for the last several years would be an understatement. 

Since Jacob's birth, we have struggled with his heart surgery, immediately followed by 3 broken legs - each leg occurring on a different family member, and all seeming to break within a week of the last person's being healed.  Then there was the loss of my mother a year ago to cancer and my father 11 months later to complications from diabetes.  In the past 3 years, we have never had more than 7 days of peace before the storms of chaos kicked back up again and we found ourselves struggling to keep our heads afloat and care for our family as best as we can. 

After my father's passing, the waters calmed, and we've had more than a month of blissful peace.  As I've stepped back and begun picking up the pieces of our fragmented lives, I've had a chance to see where the chaos has affected us most.

Although children are resilient, I've seen the affects most noticeably in my little ones.  Rather than rushing to my father's side the moment K.C. came home from work, I've been blessed with quality time with my children (and cleaning my home! - thank goodness for small miracles!).

It quickly became apparent that I get out of them as much as I put in.  And recent months have been a dry spell for poor Jacob.   I've seen Jacob make more progress in the last month verbally than I've seen in nearly a year.  He went from being able to do 12 signs in February and virtually no sound coming from his mouth, to now being able to sign nearly twice that much, babbling all day long, and occasionally trying his hand at a few small words like 'mom', 'dad', 'yay', and 'ball'.  Yesterday he even tried to say 'yes'. 

The last several weeks he's been exhibiting signs that he's interested in potty training, which was something I didn't think I'd need to address till he was four.  I talked to his Pediatrician and she reminded me that even though Jacob has Downs syndrome, we should not limit him.  Instead, give him opportunities to succeed. 

Sufficiently humbled, I've committed to beginning potty training as soon as the older kids get out of school in June.  (Wish me luck!)

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And on that leap of faith,  I wanted to share an article to the most amazing man who, by any standards, would be considered remarkable.  What  makes this individual awe-inspiring is that he, too, has Downs syndrome.  Here's a teaser about my newest inspiration:



"Award winner and world traveler, Sujeet Desai is an accomplished musician and a motivational speaker who was born with Down syndrome. He plays seven musical instruments and has performed with world-class artists like Kenny G, Candy Kane, Joe Whiting and Quincy Jones, graduated from high School with honors before he finished his post secondary study at the Berkshire Hills Music Academy in Massachusetts. Since the early 2000’s, he has performed in over 40 states in the United States and in 14 countries around the globe. He is a recipient of numerous national and international awards including “The Presidential Award”(Singapore), “The Quincy Jones Exceptional Self Advocacy” award and “The World Down syndrome Day” award(Cape town , Africa).  "


Sujeet Desai was asked to share a few travel stories with us. He willingly shared these.

“I have been travelling worldwide for over 15 years performing and speaking. Each trip I have many funny stories happen. Below are 3 stories, “Said Desai. “Years ago, I received award from the President of Singapore. I was supposed to play for three minutes before receiving the award. For that performance, I got dressed up in a Tuxedo with a special new tux jacket that my mom ordered custom made from India. There were over a thousand people waiting for arrival of the president and security was very tight. Security guards were carrying guns all around us. I was waiting with an escort to welcome the president and walk with him down the aisle to the stage to perform my piece and receive the award. I was very nervous with guards holding guns behind me. Just minutes before the president arrived, a guard asked me to take off my jacket. I did not want to do that but he did it anyway as that was there was rule that no one would wear jacket. They wanted to avoid anyone carrying suspect weapons in their jackets and also the president had decided not to wear a jacket that event so it could be casual. I did not understand everything at the time. I got very upset that they took my jacket away and I knew my shirt was not nicely tucked around my Cummerbund. There was no time to fix it and my mom wasn’t allowed in our secured area. I got very nervous and did not want to perform. The big moment came when the President arrived, now with even more guards surrounding him with rifles. He shook hands with me. Put his arm around my shoulder and smiled. Suddenly I stop shaking, I felt very comfortable because the President looked like any other person and I was not scared of him anymore .I played the theme song for 'Mission Impossible.' Every time I see the pictures my shirt sticking out, I think of all that happened at such an important moment of my life. (Another time) When I perform international I have pack all my performance items very carefully; still weird things happen like recently when I visited Romania. I packed my tuxedo shoes. But one was my shoe and the other was my brother’s shoe, two sizes bigger than mine. We had only hours left before I would need to go on stage and we did not know of any store selling these shoes and we did not speak the language either .We were already tired after my rehearsal and had my three instruments and luggage to drag along. A kind man took us from store to store translating to the store staff what we were looking for, dragging our luggage while walking on the road, and at times in a taxi and also on the subway train for more than six hours to finally find a replacement pair of tux shoes. Every time I wear those shoes, I remember the history behind them.”

Currently, he performs regularly in community churches, nursing homes, senior centers, hospitals to help bring joy to those who live away from home and family. This 30 year old ‘uniquely abled’ man enjoys independent living in his own home in upstate New York although he spends plenty of his time outside his home; traveling worldwide to do inspirational solo music performances and self-advocacy workshops.

Besides his love of music, Desai enjoys martial arts and has a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. But his accomplishments don’t stop there. He has won a gold and silver medal in the Special Olympics World Games '99 in Swimming, Alpine skiing, Cross-country running and Bowling. It is no wonder why he is a media darling and his life has been chronicled in two documentaries as well as several dozen TV and newspaper interviews including being featured by The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, “The View”, “20/20”, “Oprah Winfrey”, and WCNY. Recently, Desai was honored by NDSS as National spokesperson for Down syndrome which was published in 40 magazines nationwide as “THE TRAVELER” as part of a Down syndrome awareness campaign. In 2010, this talented young musician was selected as an Ambassador by Down syndrome International (London HQ). Sujeet Desai explained that he is most proud of his 14 international awards for self advocacy and how he has become a role model for others. But he is equally as proud ofhis athletic accomplishments including the medals at the Special Olympics and Belt Belt designation.


His travels has given him the opportunity to meet and perform for some notable celebrities including Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Anthony and Timothy Shriver, John McGinley, Kristi Yamguchhi, Nadia Kamunich, Bart Connors, Scott Hamilton, and Jim Kelly to name a few.

“My mom and my dad both trusted in my abilities and offered me every opportunity to learn new skills and most of all loved me no matter whether I learned or did not learn. That increased my self esteem and confidence to believe I can do anything if I put my mind to it. Just like anyone else. People usually do not believe in that a person born with Down syndrome can live a good life. They do not respect them for who they are. However, my parents never did that. They did not treat me differently and gave me every chance to learn just like they did for my older brother,” stated Sujeet Desai.

Desai has become a role model and has brought inspiration and hope to individuals born with disability, their parents, educators, and the services providers. Sujeet’s motivational workshop “My Story: How to improvise life with multiple intelligences” sends many messages across the world that given opportunities for their abilities individual with disabilities can “Make It Happen!” And his music is more than just an entertainment; it’s educational, inspirational and focused to make everyone’s personal mission possible. To learn more about Sujeet Desai and hear his music, please visit his web page www.sujeet.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sujeetmusic.

By Diana Rohini LaVigne

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Once again, I am humbled by the strength and tenacity of the human spirit.  I hope you find his story equally has inspiring. 



Susan

 

Jacob @ 23 Months

So Much has happened in the last several months.  It's hard to believe that it's already been 6 months since his 1 year anniversary for his heart surgery.  But what an exciting 6 months it has been.

Although life has not been without its ups and downs over the last several months, I'm finally beginning to get a grasp of what my new "normal" life is going to be.  It's a life filled with therapy visits, doctors appointments, sickness - big and small, giggles, celebrations of the little things in life, and absolute bliss as I enjoy watching my little boy learn and grow.  I am often amazed at how little his Down syndrome affects his personality, and how he truly is just a little boy - albeit a LITTLE little boy. 

In recent months, we've had two visits to the hospital emergency room.  The first, in June, was because he woke up rasping and wheezing for breath.  I called the Dr. and, in light of his medical history, they sent us directly to the Sacred Heart Medical Center's emergency room.  NOT the Valley Hospital emergency room, which was 1 mile away.  Nope.  We got Sacred Heart - a specialty hospital that was a 30 minute drive away.  Luckily, we got there and they quickly discovered that it was some phloem in his throat.  Nothing to worry about.  Go home.   Woohoo!!!!

Then, the week before Labor Day, Nathan was sick with stomach aches and lots of time in the bathroom.  Inevitably, Jacob got it.  However, it didn't just stop with stomach aches and diarrhea.  Soon the stool turned reddish brown (which resulted in a doctor's visit verifying there was, indeed, blood in his stool).  Then, by the next day, it was all mucous and blood - no stool.  THAT was another emergency room visit, which resulted in an ambulance visit, to Deaconess Hospital just down the street from Sacred Heart.  Originally they seemed to think that he had Inception, which is where the large and small intestines telescope into one another.  It's something that can be life threatening.  However, after 3 days in the hospital, a few visits from the specialists, and lots of cultures, it was determined that Jacob just (relatively speaking, of course!) had Salmonella. 

So, we were sent home with the instructions to keep him at home and away from people until he no longer had diarrhea.  Sadly, Courtney got it shortly after, and that set off an entire month of quarantine of the little ones from the rest of the world. 

Now, all is right medically, and Jacob is finally back into his therapy sessions and Courtney is back to loving her "Courtney Days" every time he goes to therapy.

We recently had his 6-month assessment with all of the therapists and it's not looking good.  Of course all the time he has spent sick and out of therapies has not helped much.  Rather than being 3 months behind developmentally, he tested as being 9-12 months behind.  So each of the therapists gave me a list of new goals for Jacob for the next 6 months, I immediately went out and bought a bunch of items to help him work on his goals at home, and by the end of the night, he'd already achieved four of his goals. 

I began to think that I was BRILLIANT!!!!  Look at all the progress I'd done with him in just one night.  Then I realized.  Um, nope.  The boy was just to stubborn to perform on command for the ladies.  He could do it all along.  He just didn't WANT to when they asked him to.  Doh!!!

Beyond life as a boy with disabilities, I've had such a pleasure enjoying Jacob as just A BOY.  He may be almost 2, but he still looks like he's only 1 because he's so small!  So I'm often underestimating him.  Not a day goes by when I'm amazed at how quickly he can run (and I mean RUN) from disaster area to disaster area, tearing things off the shelves, emptying the entire Tupperware drawer all over the kitchen and living room, climbing the couches to get to things that I thought were out of reach, grabbing the toilet paper and TP'ing the house 3 times over, finding where I'd 'hidden' my phone and dialing grandpa at 7 a.m. while he's still asleep, and so on and so forth. 

Occasionally I get tired of running after him and cleaning up his messes and just sit and watch the chaos unfold, or play games, or just cuddle with him and Courtney.  I'm sure KC comes home and wonders what the heck I've been doing all day to have the house end up in such a mess.  But having had so many close calls with Jacob has made me realize the importance of the little things.

Having lived the first three months of his life without a smile on his face, has made me revel in his giggles when he's tickled by his daddy.  Working so hard to get him walking at 14 months, helps me to marvel at his speed as he's running full speed away from me in an attempt to keep me from grabbing my phone back from him.  All those months of feeding tubes remind me that his constant choice to fling ALL his food onto the ground and then eat it off the ground instead of his plate is small compared to the achievement that comes with being able to EAT at all! 

I love to watch the devious gleam in his eye when he tries to play 'keep away' from me with his favorite ball.  I can't help but crack a tiny smile when he flings himself onto the floor in a temper tantrum, trying to express himself when he still cannot talk and has so few signs to use (but that's only because he's too stubborn to sign!).  He's such an expressive little boy who can communicate everything he wants to say with his facial expressions, pointing, and other nuances of communication.

Even at such a young age, I KNOW life with Jacob will never be dull.  It will never be mundane.  And it will never be a waste of time. 

Life with Jacob is pure, unadulterated joy!