October Recap

Halloween is one of Grant's favorite holidays. Even now, he is constantly asking when the next Halloween will be. He loves dressing up and all things "pooky" (though he hates to be scared. Silly kid). He was a great helper making cookies for family night. He added candy eyes to everything and his monster creations were pretty fun.

Grant's occupational therapist has been working with him diligently to increase his hand strength and fine motor control. In October, Grant started drawing people figures for the first time independently (a HUGE OT milestone that he had really struggled with). I was so proud of him and we took a picture of this leprechaun at the end of the rainbow with a pot of gold. I love Grant's determination at conquering things that were once so hard for him. He is a great example of perseverance.

We have also really been trying to help him learn to write letters and his name. He was so proud of his rainbow picture and his name that he added to the back. Way to go buddy!

Miles is such a different kid from Grant. I remember sitting for hours with Grant trying to help him learn to stack objects. Most of the developmental tests for OT and PT in this age range involve stacking items and it was such a challenge for Grant (due to all he has been though and his body's need to compensate for his heart). Imagine my surprise when I came around the table one day to find Miles had swiped a bunch of baby food from the pantry and was proudly stacking them like a pro. It is so fun to see him developing and learning new skills.

Halloween day brought a lot of fun festivities. Grant got to dress up for his preschool party and then we went immediately over to my mom's office for their Halloween luncheon. Grant wore this monkey costume and Miles was a cowboy (though this was only 1 of the 3 costumes he wore through the day/season).

Interesting story about this monkey costume.... when Grant was around 6 months old, I remember shopping at Old Navy on the day after Halloween. They had marked down their costumes dramatically and I just kept coming back to this monkey costume. It was the only one left and it was only .50 , but it was in a size 5T. I am a sucker for a good deal and I remember debating if I should even get the costume because I didn't know if Grant would ever grow old enough and big enough to be able to wear it. I bought it on a whim and it has been hanging in the back of Grant's closet since he was a baby. He fell in love with it when he first saw it and insisted that he was going to be a monkey for all Halloween related activities. The first time we put it on, I teared up. It had been a symbol of hope hanging in the back of his closet for 4 years and today he finally wore it. He was the cutest monkey and I am so glad that I bought it with baited breath all those years before.

My mom made this cute veggie skeleton for her potluck.

My mom's division all dressed up as the avengers (MaHa was the Black Widow). Fun!

That night, we went to a trunk or treat as well as a few doors in our neighborhood. The kids were so excited to get started that this was the best we got for pictures. Miles switched over to a cow costume that Grant wore a few years ago for the evening. He was so cute and would moo instead of saying trick or treat.

These are just some random photos from the month. Miles is often super snuggly when he goes down for a nap and when he wakes up. I love these quiet moments with him.

In other news, we decided to flip Miles to his forward facing car seat in October as well. He is a lovely 30 pounds and is so much happier now that he can see. The car seat sat in our living room for a week and he treated it like his personal throne.

Grant found the skeleton glow in the dark pj's that he had when he was little in a box of clothes we were unpacking for Miles. This led him to be absolutely distraught that his bones jammies didn't fit him anymore. It was serious drama for a few days and I resolved to go and find the kid some glow in the dark pj's. He wears them as often as he can and they loved being skeletons together.