Trick or Treat

So I suppose I should post some of those pictures I referenced in my last post, huh?


We'll start with Halloween. This was our first year going trick-or-treating with Tycho, and also the first year that you can't just stuff him in a vaguely animal themed onesie and be done with it. Costume was going to be an issue, because he won't wear anything on his head, and 99% of costumes for toddlers involve some sort of hood or hat or head piece, so no. And I didn't want to dress him up as just some random thing, and instead something that he would actually be interested in. But the things he is interested in are trains, fish, and Lightning McQueen, and I'm sorry, but I'm just not creative enough for that. But wait... another thing he likes? Candy! Because candy!

When we were kids my sister was an m&m one year so my mom and I copied that costume (scaled down to Tycho size) pretty much exactly. And it was perfect. Nothing on his head, he could just wear his regular clothes underneath, so no worry about it being weather appropriate, and now that Halloween is over I need to remove the straps and he has two m&m pillows for his room, huzzah!

He was... okay... with trick or treating. We had a really rough day on Halloween so he was in a funky mood when we met friends to go door to door. He wasn't interested in wearing his costume and even though I had tried to explain the concept to him, he didn't really grasp what we were about to do But after a couple houses he figured it out pretty easy and it was all groovy. I don't think he ever once said trick-or-treat, and he insisted on being carried between houses for the entire hour we were out and my arms were sore for days, but he had a really good time, and it's going to be a happy memory. Babydude especially liked all the pumpkins. :)

The Best Thing

I have a lot of photo-heavy, low on content stuff to post what with Halloween and Trick or Treating and a trip to the zoo and his big boy haircut and our holiday family pictures, but that is all nothing compared to this.

Tycho talks.

Rocket science! You guys, I was so worried. My stomach was in knots for months as I was waiting and waiting and waiting, first for the language explosion that I was expecting that never came, and then to get him evaluated, and finally to actually get him placed into a program and start doing something. It was an emotional roller coaster, harder than I ever expected parenting to be, and a experience I never would have dreamed I would have.

The months ago Tycho could barely put two words together. He didn't have names for anyone or anything besides mama. He would lose old words every time a new word would appear. And we couldn't communicate effectively and we were all frustrated.

But now. Last night we were eating dinner and Tycho was sitting happily at the table say, "EAT FISH! EAT FISH! MORE FISH! PLEASE FISH!" while he ate. He uses rudimentary sentences. He has names now for Daddy and Arlo and his friend Selby at school and Lighting McQueen and Nemo and Dori and Thomas Train. He has new words every day. He supplies the word "feet" at the appropriate time when I sing him "Part of Your World" at bedtime. (And then he asks for "more song" and I sing him the reprise.) At our more recent trip to the zoo he said "lemur." He knows what a star fish is. I don't think I taught him that.

I am bursting with pride and happiness and gratitude and joy. Really and truly this is amazing and wonderful and I feel like we are able to know so much more of his delightful little personality now that he is able to share with us through his speech. When I think about where we are now and how far we've come I feel like a ball of energy and light. Euphoria. I can't even describe it.

We still have a ways to go but progress is being made and I couldn't be happier.