Little Racoons

It's almost the end of Miles's first real preschool year.  He rocked it.

Ella is about to turn 16 months.  That's a whole year and four months.  She's rocking it.

We just had Miles's 2nd IEP.  We were happy with it.  He'll be going to the same preschool next year and getting tons of services integrated into the program.  He's gonna continue rocking it.

Ella goes to daycare three times a week and is already doing so much.  She's actually a little bit of a hellraiser at daycare.  Yeah, she's done some scratching, hair pulling and kicking.  She fights for what she wants.  The rest of the time she's really sweet.  I swear!!

Miles is sweet.  He made his first real school friend.  Real as in not one of our friends kids.  Real as in a kid from school that he plays with all the time, they hug and kiss hello in the mornings and they wrestle and tackle each other and chase each other around the playground.  Real as in Apollo (that's his friend's name) would go home and talk to his mom about his buddy Miles from school.  So much so that his mom approached me about doing a playdate.  So we did!!!  Miles had his first playdate with a typical kid who became his friend in school!  It was so cute!!!!

Speaking of chasing around, Ella chases Miles around all day along.  She wants to do whatever he's doing.  She wakes up in the morning and the first thing she asks for (well, after a book) is Miles.  The thing is, she doesn't call him Miles.  She calls him "daddy" or sometimes "mine".  This morning she woke up so early that I went to her room and tried to get her back to sleep.  But she wouldn't sleep, she wanted to cuddle.  So I cuddled her in her room until she asked for daddy.  I brought her into our room, assuming that she meant Zach, her real daddy.  But the minute she saw him she started yelling and crying and arching her back and saying "daddy daddy daddy" over and over.  I said "that's daddy, he's right there".  Zach kept trying to hold her and she'd get more angry.  Finally I said to her, "do you mean Miles?  Do you want to see Miles?"  She calmed down and said "yes" while nodding emphatically.  I could tell she was happy I finally understood what she meant. I explained to her that Miles was still sleeping and we had to wait until he woke up to see him.  She looked at me with understanding, put her head down on my chest and closed her eyes.  She decided to wait.  She's got such a good grasp  of language and communication...it boggles my mind.  And she loves her brother so much.

Miles loves Ella too.  He loves her and wants to play with her the same way he plays with Apollo and some of the other boys at school: tackling, shoving, wrestling.  When he sees her in the afternoons after school, he'll often yell out her name, "ELLA!!" and opens his arms wide while running full force towards her for a hug...er, tackle.  Yep, he tackles her onto the ground and sometimes even pins her there.  She finds it hilarious.  She never cries.  It's how they play.  She plays rough....hence all the little mishaps at daycare.  Ella is a sweet little rough girl.  She's learning from her sweet big brother.  It's a winning combination...or something.

I tell you what, they keep us on our toes for sure.  These two little raccoons, as my husband calls them, are incredibly busy, curious, smart, happy, energetic, sweet, loving, and non-stop fun.  Or just non-stop.  They are both communicating so much in English, Spanish and Sign language.  They are exploring their world and fine tuning their muscles.  They are getting to know each other and the world around them.  And they're both learning so much from each other.  I can see how Ella will soon surpass Miles in language and motor skills, but she'll continue learning perseverance, courage and love from him.  And may we all learn a little patience!!!