Peter turned two last week! One of his favorite things is Spiderman (of course!) and so he had a Spiderman-themed birthday. We had a small celebration at home on his birthday and then an outdoor, socially-distanced family party last weekend. Some of Peter’s favorite things are snacks, drinking out of other people’s drinks, playing outside, swinging, sliding, triking, books, legos/blocks.
Peter continues to eat well. He has not had any calories through his tube for almost two months now. We have scaled back how much water he is getting through the tube. He is making more verbal sounds and catches on quickly to the sign language that we have taught him. Sometimes I’m not sure what he is telling me because he knows so many signs, but also he’s not also super precise or correct about how he does them. He loves helping and has a few chores: one of Peter’s jobs is to put clothes in his hamper, the other one is to throw away trash around the kitchen and living room. Today he found some granola bar wrappers laying around (thanks to Michael) and took it upon himself to pick them up, throw them away (and he did not take any “treasures”out of the trash this time!) and then closed the door behind him that leads to the landing where the trash can is. I was impressed! We just have to be vigilant that he doesn’t get over zealous with throwing things away! His siblings also do well with their chores—Michael folded towels today and picked up his and Peter’s toys, and Aurora cleaned our bathrooms and did the dishes after dinner (and that is how I am able to have time to write this post!)
School started for three of our family last week—two as students and one as a teacher. Christopher is teaching geometry at our school this year. He has enjoyed it so far. Our school has several measures in place to protect students and teachers, so we felt comfortable sending Aurora to school in the school building. We also trust her to be aware of boundaries and safety procedures. We chose to keep Michael at home and conduct kindergarten from home, in collaboration with his teacher. He joins his class on zoom for several subjects each morning. He is also able to participate in daily convocation via zoom. Our school has been amazing and supportive since we began school there, and they continue to be amazing to make sure that students and families have the resources they need to learn safely. It has been a blessing to me to observe Michael and his class in kindergarten. It has also been a blessing for Aurora to be back with her classmates and teacher.
Several months ago, when I though our fall would be “normal”, I looked forward to my two big kids going to school all day. That will happen someday, but I am blessed by watching Michael work at home, and our extra time together. It does make me busy for most every moment of the day. My goal is to keep Michael on task (because it is easy to become distracted when you are watching your teacher on zoom) and help guide him in his work (as his teacher would as she walks around the classroom checking students’ papers), but I don’t want to hover (because no one else has their mommy with them in school). Peter has been surprisingly cooperative when Michael is working, but wrangling the toddler and helping the 5 year old write 3’s can be crazy.
We had a check up in Kansas City this past week. Labs and echo look great! Praise God! We will continue to get monthly labs locally and then go back for a check up in three months. Peter also received a good report from our local family doctor at his 2 year check up. He is in the 30th percentile! This is smaller than either of my other two, but this shows huge growth in Peter.
Many of you share that you continue to pray for us daily and that means so much to us! Please continue to pray for protection from viruses and rejection.
Here are some more birthday pictures:
First birthday:
Newborn