And then 7 months happened...

So much for my 2011 resolution to blog more frequently. So let's turn that into a 2012 resolution! These last 7 months have been a blur. Mainly a blur of Leo developments/frustrations coupled with work and the holidays. Actually it's ironic that I pick today to finally post something, given the absolute craziness that is my job right now. I think my brain is craving anything that can be completed quickly and within my complete control. Hence a blog post.

Leo will be turning 2 next month. Yes, that's right. So what are the major highlights with Leo these days? Well....

1. Crawling. Yes! I know I'm totes burying the lead here. But...I can't believe I'm putting these words out in the universe: LEO IS CRAWLING! Caveat 1: He's not cruising all over town hence no real baby-proofing need yet, Caveat 2: it's a slow crawl, not terribly smooth and sometimes he just falls over. But who cares! He's up on all fours, moving his knees forward, then his arms. I call that crawling. And so does his neurologist.

2. Talking & mimicking. He is a chatter box. His name, objects, things in books, animals, Mama, Daddy, Doggies, his care providers, food that he wants - you get the idea. And we're finding, pretty much any word that comes out of our mouth will come out of his. Plus he's adding more to his vocabulary on a daily basis.

3. Cognition - 100% normal! This is perhaps the biggest sigh of relief we've had over the last 7 months. Due to the major delays with his motor skills we have been more than a little freaked out that he would also have cognitive issues, or learning disabilities or, who knows. We've just been really scared. But as of this week's neurology check-up we are in the clear when it comes to his smarts. According to the brain doctor "Leo is super smart" and "I don't see any delays in cognition" and "he should be just fine in school, no barriers that I can see." So we're sort of overwhelmed by that news since it's been this quiet weight in the back of our minds for so long. This is not to say that he couldn't benefit from a developmental preschool perhaps - in order to get him really ready for kindergarten and given the likelihood that he'll still have some motor stumbles for the next year or longer. BUT, looking at the big picture, he's in good shape.

4. Movement - So what does his future look like relative to movement? Well we don't really know. He may need a walker for a bit, he may need a brace for his ankles or something like that, he may continue for PT for quite a while, he may catch up this year and just be a little stumbly and uncoordinated - the point being, we don't really know. But he continues to make really good progress and of course the crawling thing is pretty huge. His biggest challenge is just overall balance, strength and coordination. With all things - coordinated eating and other oral motor stuff, coordinated fine motor movements with his hands/fingers, coordinated sitting, moving out of sitting and into crawling, moving out of crawling and pulling himself up and then, of course, walking on his own. Pretty much everything you can think of that requires a coordinated movement to do - he has a hard time with that. But he's getting better. And that's really the most important thing.

5. Mr. Funny Man! Saving the best for last, this kid is a ham. He loves attention (weird), loves making us laugh, loves being made to laugh, finds the most off the wall things hilarious (weird), and is generally pretty awesome.

Beyond Leo, we finally got some space in the basement finished off. We're loving the space. And next on the list includes some outside projects, because it's February and this is when we become obsessed with gardening. One project in particular - a living wall on one of our fences - has us getting very nerdy and creative. I will certainly update here.