Spring is our favorite time of year!

I love this time of year when there are reminders of Holland on every corner.  Will has had a busy spring and continues to keep us on our toes!  We haven't posted since 3.21 but we have done a lot of fun things and continue to see a lot of great progress with Will. 

He is back on his thyroid medicine despite my belief that he would not need to, and seems to be doing ok on it.  He was making so much progress with speech and his behavior was better and he just seemed to be more aware and focused, that I thought for sure his TSH would come back normal.  It was very high at 9.5 so he is back on levothyroxin at a slightly lower dose per my request. 

Will is slowly adding more words to his vocabulary and starting to string 2 and 3 words together with prompts from me.  So if he wants more crackers and he comes to me and says cracker, I repeat back to him with signs, 'more   cracker   please' and he signs and says it back.  We have a pretty good system going!  He has also been very excited to label things he knows how to say for me and will come tap my leg, show me a car and say car.  He is very proud that he can label certain things and of course, gets lots of praise.

He has been going on the potty here and there when we put him on it.  We aren't really potty training at this point but just trying to gain some awareness.  I think that moms that potty train kiddos with special needs must have nerves of steel and most certainly have a special spot in heaven!

Will has started soccer on Saturdays with daddy and has been running around the yard playing t-ball, frisbee, bubbles and in the sand a lot this spring.  He has also become very fond of his wagon and insists we take it to the park instead of the stroller so he can pile in his dump truck, soccer ball and whatever other toys are chosen that day.

He started with another new speech therapist a few weeks ago and so far it has been good.  He is still doing well with his current occupational therapist and has been doing well in school lately too.  His teachers and therapists report he has been more vocal in the classroom with his peers and continues to want to play along with the others.  Today his speech therapist told me that while playing with one of his friends, the friend took Will's toy and Will took it back and pointed at the friend and said 'No! Me play'.  This is huge for Will to not only stand up for himself but verbalize it!

So here are some pictures of our adventures!

 

 

Will coloring Easter eggs

 

 

Easter

 

Will pouting...had to include this one for good measure:)

 

Will visiting Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis

 

Watching runners at the St. Louis marathon.  Waiting patiently for daddy:)

 

 

 

Uncle Ricky came too!  It was an adventure.

 

Loves to imitate daddy

 

 

We finally got him on the carosel at the zoo!

But there was no way he was getting on a horse:)

 

 

Will and 'Yi-Ye' (Lily)

 

Getting fitted for his tux for uncle Ricky's wedding in August

 

 Will listening to story time.  His two buddies are on either side of him...Lucas on his right and Mickey on his left. 

 

Daisy one of the therapy dogs came to school last week.

I think they are having a stare-off!

 

Coloring with daddy.  Note that awesome grasp!

 

 

The t-ball set was a recommendation by both of his physical therapists and now I know why they thought it would be so great!  The process of hitting the ball, chasing the ball, putting it carefully back on the tee and hitting again is great for balance, strength, running and bending and hand-eye coordination.  Not to mention it is really making him tired at night:)

 

 

 

So uncle Ricky you can stop making requests for Will updates.  In my defense, our computer is not well:(  I have some really funny videos of Will singing and dancing, but they will not upload.  Thanks everyone for sticking with us and checking in on Will.  We get so much support from our families but know that we have a really supportive group of friends out there too!  Just your thoughts keep us going on hard, frustrating days.  Keep us in your prayers and we will keep you in ours.