The Joy of Medium (and a Thanks!)

Walking in the kids section at Old Navy this past weekend, Andy pointed out all the cute animal hats for infants and children. I'd seen them all hanging on the wall, but had avoided them because hats make me uncomfortable.

You see, Elijah has microcephaly, which means that his head size is much smaller than average. Finding hats for him that fit properly can often be difficult. Consequently, shopping for hats can at times be depressing. It brings up emotions and memories that aren't always pleasant.

I remember shopping at the very same outlet mall when Elijah was just a tiny baby. We'd walked into a store with baby-Elijah looking for hats and I found one I liked. Extra-small. It was too big.

Staring at the wall of animal hats in Old Navy this past weekend, I almost didn't want to touch them. I picked up the owl hat, size small, and placed it on Elijah's head. He looked so cute, but the hat...it was just a bit too tight. I grabbed a medium and slid it on Elijah's head. It fit just right.

Elijah and I found Andy in another part of the store. Andy, almost reflexively, took the hat off of Elijah's head and looked at the tag.

"Medium?" he asked, looking at me.

 I nodded with a smirk and we rejoiced with knowing smiles.

Did Elijah need a new overpriced owl hat? No, but we couldn't resist the joy of a medium.

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I wanted to thank you all for the love you've given us via comments here on Elijahland (and Facebook and email and in person) about our exciting news. Sharing our joy with all of you means so much to us and I seriously feel so incredibly loved. Thank you.

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Yes, It's True

Elijah has an announcement to make...

He says, "Read my shirt."

Yes, it's true. Come May of next year, our family of three will become a family of four. We are beyond thrilled.

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Leaves for Dinner

One of my favorite things about the Fall is playing in the leaves, of which we're never in short supply.

This year Elijah enjoyed swimming in the leaves, bobbing under the leafy surface so that we could barely see him.

Playing in the leaves every Fall has become somewhat of a family tradition.

It's an awesome sensory experience for Elijah.

A sensory experience of which Elijah takes full advantage.

Yes, he comes up from his leaf dives with a mouth full of leaves.

Hmmm, perhaps I should add a leaf dish to my meal plans. Elijah seems to enjoy it.

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Craaaaaah

Elijah is standing behind me. Blowing air past his lips, Elijah makes a "craaahhh" noise.

"You're copying me aren't you, Elijah?" I ask.

Elijah smirks at me and laughs a little. He is copying me.

You see, I've had a bit of a cold lately. One of those annoying ones that causes you to be congested for a very long time and subsequently causes you to cough and blow your nose several times a day, even though you feel otherwise healthy (I'm already feeling much better, thank you).

I'll head to the bathroom to blow my nose and soon I hear the pitter-patter of Elijah-feet in my direction. He follows me to mimic the sound I make when blowing my nose.

This is pretty cool for our kiddo who's never mimicked much of anything we do (pretty cool indeed!). Elijah will sometimes imitate gross motor activities, but I really can't think of much that he has mimicked verbally. Even cooler is that he's been doing it all week. It's not just a one day thing or a one person thing (he's mimicked Andy too). Often when we've heard verbalization from Elijah we won't hear it again for six months, a year, or longer. It's a long time to wait.

So, when Elijah comes up to me and copies a noise I'm making? I'm beyond thrilled. He's really copying a sound with his mouth. I hope you all realize how profound it really is. Is it a word? Nope, but in my book it might as well be. That's how cool it is. Just tonight, I pretended to make the sound and Elijah did it too. "Craaaaah," he said, a smirk on his face. This back and forth verbalization is the beginning of speech, so yeah, it's pretty exciting.

Oh, and who cares if it's something gross? It's like a kid repeating that one thing you didn't want them to in an embarrassing setting. A parental rite of passage, don't you think?

{Also, how in the world am I supposed to spell this sound? Craaaah will have to do, I guess.}

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