Happy Father's Day

Over the last year, I have really learned to appreciate what it means to be a father. I think that in the beginning, after the diagnosis, I was finding myself in disbelief. I thought that it was my fault.

Would I still be a father if I knew ahead of time how different things would be? The answer is a resounding "Yes". I take nothing for granted now.

Today I heard my 3 1/2 year old say the word "bumble" for bumblebee. I watched him imitate the hand motions to the song, giggling all the time. THAT was cool!

Like any father, I have my good days and bad. But there are more good. And the good is getting better everyday.

Ask yourself as a parent, how much do you take for granted? Open your eyes and enjoy the random acts of cool your children show you. It's there...look for it.

"I did it!"

No pics of this yet, but crazy cool thing happened the other morning. Joy has been trying to teach Myles to pull out his own clothes and dress himself.
She would say things like "Myles, go get some underwear from your bureau drawer." This usually takes him about half a second. But the other morning he took particularly long in his room.
We were just starting to wonder about him when who comes out with underwear, shirt and shorts on?? And might I add...coordinating colors ! Who cares if his shorts were on backwards....I mean, come on....who hasn't wanted to put their shorts on backwards at one time or another ???

Unassisted

Just look at that face. Not so long ago we wondered if he would ever smile. Now, with help from so many special teachers, therapists, and friends we are starting to see a change. Here he is on his scooter board, practicing therapy again. It's been great seeing the improvements with Sam. He is babbling more now and clearly saying some words. I could (and will in the future) go on and on about the random acts of cool Sam has shown me. But the other day I was completely blown away when I saw this...

The Kid can WRITE !!! Unassisted !!! OK, only once...but hey, THAT'S COOL !!!
Props to The Joyfullness for the hard-core encouragement. He couldn't have done it with out ya, baby!

by the numbers

I think it has been an amazing experience watching Myles learn to talk...to actually connect words into sentences...to ask for what he wants. And to watch him identify letters and numbers has been very encouraging. But when I first saw Myles write his name, I nearly did the big boo-hoo. To see your child make the connection between the spoken word and the written word is incredible !!

We take so much for granted in our lives. My boys have helped me appreciate every single moment. As easy as 1...2...

Happy Birthday

What a great birthday weekend! Got to hang with the "Brownies", eat grilled fish and veggies, and have homemade blueberry pie. And I got a "French Press" from The Joyfullness. What's so cool about a coffee maker for your birthday? Only this: That in all the hustle and bustle of day to day life, my wife can pick up on the little things that make me happy. That someone can know you almost better than you know yourself...that you can depend of their love everyday...well, that's just cool....

Letting your guard down

Today I took Samuel's baby guard down from his bed. No, he hasn't really needed it for a while. Yes, it still hurts a little to take it down. I doubt he will notice much except that it will be that much easier for him to jump out of bed...run down the hall...and climb up into our bed in the middle of the night.

For me, though, I guess it is a mixture of pride and sadness. Another step that leads him to adulthood, and the hope that he will never again need a guard rail.

Training Wheels

Neat thing today: Got to help Myles with his bike riding. He still is learning and uses training wheels. But today, I was able to let go and watch him pedal some on his own. Hard to believe that one day I will be handing him the keys to the car!