2009, a charm so far

Logan is sleeping. All night. For about three weeks now. This is HUGE. I don't know what finally clicked, but he is sleeping, and he's a much happier boy because of it. We've cancelled his sleep study because why drive all the way to Baltimore and keep him up all night, disrupting what's become a beautiful trend of sleeping like a champ?.. If we ever need to revisit this in the future, we know we have resources. But we're just going to cross our fingers he keeps at it. We've been making a really big deal the next morning when he gets up, telling him hooray for being a such a big boy, and how proud we are of him for sleeping all night. He eats it up, too. I think he loves sharing a room with Dylan and that's been a huge part of it all. He wants nothing to do with his old 'baby' room.

And with consistent sleep, we're seeing and hearing more language. Words, words all the time, even some phrases. I do think its all related, and his more rested mind can focus on communicating and being understood. His speech therapy continues, and getting him to practice specific consonant sounds (H and W especially). I'm visiting some preschools next month, trying to plan for next fall. And sometime in the months ahead, when the time seems right and he seems ready, we'll say goodbye to diapers and hello to big boy underwear. He shows signs of being ready soon and I'm hopeful we can tackle that one this spring, before pool season. I plan on incorporating Dylan's help and the powers of older brother persuasion.

I was driving to Costco today, thinking of where we are, as a family, right now compared to a year ago. Last year really kicked our butts. Things are just easier and better in so many ways:

1. This time last year, we were facing numerous gigantic car repair bills. It went on just about all year, until Andrew traded in his car in November and now has a nice, low mileage car/truck he loves. I don't think I ever wrote about his new car here, but he got a cute Honda Element truck that's really versatile, gets good gas mileage and its just pretty darn sporty.

2. We were just beginning a long cycle of trips to Kennedy Krieger for Logan to see a behavioralist due to some aggressive, nasty behavior we wanted to nip in the bud. Its also the time we began speech and OT for him. It really seems to me the work and energy we put into all this for the past year has really made a difference in him. He's really such a happier, more predictable kid who can play nicely and share with other kids. I'm sure we still have a lot of work ahead, but he's really doing well and is making us laugh a lot these days.

3. This time last year, I wasn't working. Last fall, I started a great, flexible part time marketing job that gives us some extra income and allows me to use a non-mommy part of my brain that was getting a little dusty. I don't have a lot of 'extra' time anymore, but I'm glad to be contributing a little to the family income, and I really love the people I'm working with.

4. We weren't getting much sleep - Logan's sleep issues, stress over car expenses....it was all taking its toll. Things seem to be much more manageable now and we're finally getting real sleep.

5. I spent the first half of last year stressing about Dylan starting kindergarten. How would he do? Would his handwriting skills finally take shape? Would he make friends and enjoy himself? I'm happy to say he's adapted to it all so well, and I couldn't be more proud of him. His handwriting is improving with practice and most importantly, he loves school. Now I can spend the first half of this year stressing about him starting full day 1st Grade this September and wondering how in the world he'll have time to eat his lunch (he takes so long to eat his meals and they only get about 20 minutes at school). I think this next year, we'll really see his reading skills bloom, too, and I'm so excited to watch that happen.

Yes, 2009 is looking much better. We didn't resolve our bathroom dilemma yet, and that might rear its ugly head again sometime this year. But we won't go there unless we have to. And really, when you're getting good sleep, even a leaky bathroom somehow doesn't seem as daunting.

In other exciting news, Dylan's third tooth is loose. He lost his bottom middle two last September, and nothing else has happened in a long time. But last night he announced one of his top teeth is a little loose. So sometime in the weeks ahead, his little boy smile will start to change into a big boy smile. I'll post a picture when the Big Event occurs. He still hasn't spent the money the Tooth Fairy brought for the first two teeth. I think he's saving it up for a new Wii game.