Speech and Feeding Therapy

Nate started speech therapy this week. He has improved quite a bit in the last several weeks but he's still  behind so they are going to start coming out once a month just to keep an eye on his progress. Nate officially says 5 words now even though some are only understood by Todd and I. He can say...
Dad - "Da"
dog - "dah"
apple - "Daaaa da" (this one is a stretch but he consistently says this when he sees an apple so we count it :)
yeah - this one he does pretty well
I love you - I posted a video of his version of this a few weeks ago. I wouldn't have counted it but the speech therapist said it was close enough.

Nate also started clapping last week! We have been waiting for this skill for a long time. It's the first step to other non verbal communication (like waving, pointing, and sign language) so it is very important for him to learn. Plus, it's just so darn cute!

The speech therapist is also a feeding specialist so she is going to try and help us out with feeding as well. Nate is much much better at eating these days but he still has some definite issues with certain textures. He eats a lot but his diet consists mostly of fruit, bread, cheese, milk, peanut butter, and of course chocolate. I'm hoping that with her help we can lengthen that list just a little bit :)

Here's a look at Nate's first Kit Kat. He's decided that chocolate is pretty delicious!

In other eating news, we are officially done with bottles! I don't know why I thought I could "encourage" him to drink from the sippy cup since I haven't been able to force him into anything else he didn't want to do. One day, he just decided he was done and that was that. I hope potty training comes as easily :)

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year! Our fun started the day before when we went to the special Halloween story time at the library. Nate went as Whinnie the Pooh since we had a slight mishap with his regular costume (The size was mislabeled so we had to exchange it...so annoying).

Here is Nate at the library.

 Story time is kinda pointless for Nate because he never sits to listen to the story. He is always wandering around and causing trouble. Hopefully soon he'll get the purpose of the library and start to enjoy it more.

On Halloween, Nate and I went over to Todd's office for lunch on our way over to an audiology appointment. He ran around in his dragon costume showing everyone his new trick...roaring. I didn't get a video of this trick so you're going to have to trust me when I say it's the cutest thing ever!

Side note: The audiology appointment went well. They are finally convinced that Nate can hear so we don't have to go back for anymore follow-ups. Yay!

After his nap, I took him down to the church to do a trunk-or-treat in the parking lot. We went down with Nate's buddy Curtis. Curtis is 4 and Nate absolutely LOVES him! He is so good with Nate and they play really well together. Curtis is really into knights right now and wanted to be a knight for Halloween. When I told him Nate was going to be a dragon, he was very excited. Here are the 2 crazy little monkeys all dressed up.

Picture Overload!

Out for a walk on a cold fall morning. Nate absolutely LOVES his stroller and would ride around in it all day if we'd let him. Good thing his sock monkey hat still fits him this year. He looks so cute in it!

We went to a corn maze with some friends last weekend. It took longer than we thought and it got dark before we made it out. It was pretty cold but we had a great time.

Nate tried to find his own way out!

I bought some balloons for Todd's birthday last week and Nate loved playing with them.

He's never played with a toy for more than 5 minutes before but he played with this balloon for a half hour!

Love this laugh!!

I've been loving messing with his hair lately. It's so long but still practically invisible. 

He thinks it's really funny when I tell him how "awesome" he looks :)

Bath time is his favorite time of day lately. He loves "swimming" around and plays until the water is freezing. And, no surprise, he likes eating the bubbles.

Another Boise Trip & 18 Month Appointment

Boise
Nate recently had an appointment with a developmental specialist in Boise. The NICU likes to keep track of their super tiny babies by having them see these specialists over the course of their lives to track development and help us find help for any concerns that they may find. The lady we saw was the same occupational therapist that saw Nate every day while he was in the NICU. It was really fun to see her again and she was very surprised with how big and healthy Nate is. We didn't learn anything that we didn't already know - he's behind on speech and a few minor physical things. It was mostly just to have someone else take a look at him.

Todd wasn't able to come along this time so it was just me and Nate Bug. We visited lots of friends and, of course, went to the NICU as well. It is always so much fun to visit all of Nate's nurses and doctors. They are always so excited to see him and totally spoil him with hugs and cuddles. He loves showing off his tricks and being the center of attention. He showed off his walking skills and told everyone how much he "loved them" :)

We were able to stay at the Ronald McDonald House again. I haven't mentioned too much about the RMH but I can't say enough good things about it! They have been one of the biggest blessings to our family over the past 18 months.

We were able to stay at RMH for 130 days while Nate was in the NICU and have stayed every time Nate has had to return for appointments. It is located right across the street from the hospital so I was able to walk over every single day. They have 19 rooms that are set up like hotel rooms with 2 community kitchens, a living room, and 2 laundry facilities. The kitchen is fully stocked with food that can be used anytime. They also have volunteers come in several times per week to make dinner or treats for the guests. They provide all of this and only ask for $10 per day. You can find more information about the RMH on their website (rmhidaho.org). If you are able, please please please visit their website and find out how you can help this wonderful charity! There are many ways to volunteer or donate and the website has list of things they are in need of right now. 

This last stay was the first time Nate was big enough to play in the huge playroom that they have there. He absolutely LOVED it! I'm sure he could have lived there and been completely happy :)

18 Month Appointment

Nate also had his 18 month appointment at the begining of this month and it went really well. We saw a new doctor this time since our regular doctor just had a baby and was on maternity leave. He was super impressed with how great Nate was doing. He said he would have never guessed he was a micro preemie without seeing his typical "preemie scars". He was happy with his weight and his eating and didn't seem super concerned with anything. We did talk about this winter and what the plan is for RSV season. We are waiting to hear if our insurance is going to cover the Synagis shots this year and I'm super nervous that they won't. We certainly can't afford to pay for them on our own (they are $1500 each and he has 1 per month for 5 months!) so if they won't cover them, Nate will have to prove that he can stay healthy on his own. His doctor was great and helped me realize that it has been a miracle that Nate hasn't been sick yet and WHEN he does get sick, he'll help us get through it. I'm hoping this is how Nate's appointments go from now on! It's so nice to leave feeling confident instead of worried about ANOTHER thing. 

Family Pictures

A couple of weeks ago I needed a family picture and realized that we hadn't taken any nice pictures since before the babies were born. We didn't plan on making it anything fancy because it was super last minute and just in our backyard but they actually turned out really nice! 

 

I had to make this one bigger so you can see Nate's face. 

This is the noise he was making during the picture...

   

What a crazy kid!

Our Little Helper

I was looking through my list of Nate's favorite things that I kept this month and realized that there wasn't a single toy on the list. He is obsessed with everyday things and "helping" us with our daily tasks. 

• He is loving being in the kitchen lately and will stop whatever he is doing anytime he hears the fridge open. He likes to help close it. He doesn't really cause any trouble in there, he just likes to slam the door. He does the same thing with the microwave too. 
• He's also discovered the toilet paper. He loves anything that spins so naturally, he was fascinated by how the toilet paper roll works. If we're not careful, he'll get a big handful and tries to eat it.
• Another favorite pastime lately is destroying my hair. As soon as he gets a clear shot he grabs a chunk of my ponytail and gives it a good pull. Then he runs away laughing. Here's a picture of my typical new hairstyle at the end of everyday. Don't let that innocent looking face fool you...he's naughty!

• Chasing is still a favorite activity around our house and happens every night when Todd gets home from work.

Lots and Lots of "Talking"

We have a lot of noise coming from our house lately. Our little Nate Bug is starting to tell us exactly what he thinks about life (although we usually don't have a clue what he's saying :) 

He can say "da da" and "dog" but they sound pretty much the same. He clicks his tongue and he answers questions with "yeah!" when he wants to do something. Other than that, he spends his day babbling about who knows what :) He's quite opinionated!