Christmas Eve Day

We had a great Christmas Eve hanging out with just the four of us. John usually has to work on Christmas Eve, but since Christmas fell on a Saturday he was able to have off. It wasn't too cold out and we just got some fresh show, so we decided to try taking Max sledding. And he enjoyed it! There are not too many things Max is overly excited about doing. He is a very cautious little boy. It was nice to see him have fun. He liked being pulled in the sled more then going down the hill. And if the sled sat still for too long he would sign "more". And Ava loves sledding! It was nice to have something the four of us could do together instead of one of us staying with Max and the other going off with Ava.






After sledding, Ava and John made a batch of cookies for Santa. We previously made cut out cookies, but they happened to disappear somehow.

New Bed

Last night we put together Max's new bed! He was so excited to see his new bed in his room. And bedtime went a lot better than expected! He didn't nap all day, which helped. He settled himself down and went right to bed and slept through the night. I was worried that he would wake up and start wandering around the house. His head was at the foot of the bed when I checked on him in the middle of the night. He never once fell out! I am interested to see if tonight goes as well. He doesn't nap during the week and is ready to go to bed at bedtime. So I do think the bed will work well for him. And I think that he is really proud of his Big Boy Bed!

(Ignore the pink sheets. He will be getting sheets for Christmas.)

Happy 4th Birthday Max!

Max turned FOUR on November 15th! I keep telling myself I need to get a birthday post out here before Christmas arrives. So today is the day!

We celebrated Max turning four by having family over for a dog themed party. Max just loves being around dogs! And no, we are not getting him one.

Papa Dave made Max's cake. This is my favorite cake that Dave has made so far.

Max eating from the dog bowl.
So happy to be four!

Max hanging out in his room with his cousins.

Life doesn't get much better for Max. Watching Signing Times while jumping. The trampoline was a gift from us to Max.

The party group!

Opening gifts! This was actually the only gift Max would open. After this one he was overwhelmed with the noise of the party. He wanted to take a break by sitting in his bed for 45 minutes. He came back out for the candles on his cake though!

Max interested in the sparkler candle.

After school on his actual birthday. Partying wears him out!

I posted the next couple pictures because this is the first birthday of Max's I feel I am starting to make a gap from the fears and worries I had during his first few years of life. His health is so much better now. We are not constantly running for appointments. I was talking to Max's pediatrician at his four year check up this week and told her I was kind of anxious not having so many appointments anymore. The specialists that have been following him are telling us that they don't need to see him for another year or they don't need to see him anymore AT ALL unless something comes up. His peds told me now that his physical health has improved so much that now I should be focusing that time on making sure he has all the services to reach his full potential developmentally. She told me this is a common transition for parents. Yes, I know everything isn't going to be easy from here. Our main struggles now are his feeding and communication. I think there will always be struggles. But on his forth birthday, I feel in a good place.



Big news! We got Max an IPad with Proloquo2go. He mainly likes to use it at school for now. I know we should be consistent and use it at home more. At home he seems to like to listen to music and look at the pictures we downloaded for him. John programmed a couple buttons for his birthday party. In this video he is telling his uncles that it is time to eat tacos.