Six!

Monday was T's 6th birthday! He really is a big boy now - and getting bigger all the time. A happy time was had last weekend with three grandparents, two cousins and an aunt & uncle coming to help celebrate. It was fun to have the house full - and to see our nephews playing on the new playset we got for T. He takes his time with new playground or swingset-type activities, and seeing his cousins dive toward this playset and have such a good time on it was good inspiration for him - we now uses the swing and can climb up the slide and slide down. No, he's not using the ladder or ramp yet, but he will - and we got this for the long haul for him. His first OT (whom we called for guidance when shopping for the playset) said that he may be using this for several years longer than a typical boy; that even when he comes home from school as a teenager, he may need to swing hard for a while to get out his energy from the day, so buy something that will last and will hold up! So we did - and it was great to see it being used by all three boys (and their parents as well!) I think the playset was happy, too.

No birthday cake for him this year - just one of his muffins made with nut flour with a candle stuck in it! He smiled at the lit candle, and even tried to blow it out this year. Very cute. He sang a few lines from "Happy Birthday", but no one else was allowed to - it's still a touchy song for him - he still covers his ears and sometimes shrieks when other people sing it. So, we just said "Happy birthday" to him, and it was fine.

He is getting more and more comfortable in our new house all the time. This week he has discovered the pool table downstairs which came with the house. He loves rolling the balls in to the corner pockets and watching them roll down - very entertaining! He smiles and laughs and has a great time. Not every kid has a pool table in his playroom! I'm glad he's warming up to the basement - all his toys are down there, and that is where his Verbal Behavior home program will be set up until a space opens at the school.

Ah, Verbal Behavior! We've had to take a two-month hiatus from this wonderful therapy - due to the move and vacations, etc. - but we'll start back up in a week. I am eagerly anticipating the return of VB to his schedule - it's been so beneficial for him, and frankly, it will be nice to have a few hours that I'm not solely responsible for his entertainment and education. It's been driving me nuts this past month - unpacking, organizing, all the stuff that comes along with setting up a new house - all the while knowing that he is just sitting in the family room spinning his toy windmill or similar toy, idle, idle, idle...but what can I do? I know he's happier when actively engaged - and he's been very on-edge at times because he's bored and gotten into a zone where he's spent so much time in his own world that it's hard to break him out of it - but again, there's only so much I can do. I keep telling myself that this month won't kill him...it may set him back from where he could have been, but again, no one could do VB this month, period. And I certainly couldn't keep up with it with everything else I've been doing, and I keep telling myself that it's summer vacation for him, for crying out loud. The pressure I feel...the pressure I put on myself...my biggest struggle.

So, T starts VB 1/2 day through a private school in a week, and kindergarten the other 1/2 day in the public schools the following week! Hooray.

And Rob & I are the parents of a six year old boy. A very wonderful six year old boy! Happy birthday, T.