Update After Too Long

I know, I know, it's been TWO MONTHS since I posted! I miss blogging, but it just doesn't seem like there's been time. I hope to get back into the habit over the summer, when life slows down a little around here. But for now, a little bit of an update . . .

Kellin's eating skills are still slowly inching forward. He feeds himself most of his oatmeal in the morning now, but only if I sit there and prompt each bite. Oh, I long for the day when he will eat a whole meal without me coaxing him along! He will now pick up banana pieces and put them in his mouth, and he will pick up apple slices and take bites of them. He is pocketing food in his cheek much less but still does sometimes. And unfortunately, he is still throwing up during meals on a regular basis. Sometimes it seems unpredictable; he just gags and then it all comes back up. It's very frustrating, especially since he still needs every calorie we can get into him!

Although - Kellin IS gaining weight! He was in to the doctor in April (because the poor guy had strep) and he weighed 27 POUNDS! That's a gain of 7 1/2 pounds since he came home. It doesn't sound like much, but that means he's gained about 40% of his body weight, which is a lot! He's still a skinny guy but he's getting taller and is now in 3T clothes (although he has to have adjustable waistband pants or tight elastic shorts so they don't fall down).

Kellin is getting better and better at moving around. He climbs in and out of the car completely by himself now, including getting into and out of his car seat. He climbs up the ladder to the slide outside by himself. He knows how to get to the kitchen and to his booster seat independently when told. He is close to being able to get to the stairs and the bathroom without help. He has learned to jump! This morning, I heard him on his trampoline twice all by himself, jumping away. It's really the cutest thing. Kellin has a cane now and he is amazing at using it! He holds it without needing reminders and he keeps it in front of him while he walks (most of the time). He has used it outside and at several other places, and we plan to take it lots of places this summer.

Kellin is babbling more! His "talking" seems to come and go, as he goes through periods where he makes lots of noises and then other times when he is mostly quiet. Right now, he is "talking" a lot, so we are just encouraging him as much as we can, and hoping that it might continue and become more intentional. Kellin is still not saying any words at all but we are always hoping it will click for him!

Kellin is doing really well with his pre-Braille skills. He explores Braille on pages and "follows along" in books as we read, with help to keep his hands in the right place. He has a new alphabet toy (one button for each letter) that he loves, so we added Braille labels onto the buttons, and now he is exploring Braille as he plays!

His play skills are evolving too. Kellin used to be "stuck" on one or two toys and would prefer to use them over and over, for hours if we would let him. Lately, we've noticed that he is moving from toy to toy as he plays, and also making quite a mess in his toy area as he picks things up, drops them, explores them. Loving it!

All the kids are done with school for the year, so that means that we will have lots of time to spend as a family over the next few months. The kids all have different activities planned for the summer, and we have a few trips on the calendar too. It will be busy but tons of fun! I hope to blog about all of our summer activities and not just about Kellin this summer.

Some pictures from the past couple months:

This was in APRIL. In MINNESOTA. We had some unusually warm weather!

Same April day. Our artist!

Rabbit went to a math competition for school. She placed 3rd out of 215 for the fact drill, 6th out of 215 for the individual round, and her team placed 10th overall. So proud of her!

Such a good big sister!

You can just see the love here, can't you?

Last day of school. Tigger's last day of second grade and Rabbit's last day of fifth grade. Rabbit moves on to the junior high next year!!

Brothers playing together.

I thought this picture was just the sweetest. Daddy and Kellin walking through the park together.

That crazy warm April again!

Tigger had his birthday and what did he want? A huge stuffed dog, of course!

Pooh gets to help Daddy pedal his bike this year rather than sitting in the bike carrier. He loves it and feels very grown-up!

King of the castle!

Pooh just hanging out.

Waiting as Tigger tries on shoes during a shoe-shopping expedition. I thought this was kind of cute.

Goofy face!

Our little train engineer.

I found these cardboard nesting boxes at a thrift store, and Kellin loves them!

We were at a toy store one day and I randomly picked up this Cookie Monster and handed it to Kellin, expecting him to immediately drop it. Instead, he carried that thing around the whole store (so of course we had to buy it). It's in his crib now and I see him cuddling with it quite a bit.

Walking to the park with his cane. The park is about half a block away and Kellin walked both ways. Pretty good!

Bare feet in the grass! Last summer, he did NOT think that was fun.

One of Kellin's favorite activities - splashing in water in the sink.

Trying out the big kid swing - he did great!