My Cashew at 2 1/2

I've been planning to write this post for months, and I always seem to find a reason to put it off. I think part of my problem is there just seems to be too much to share...where to begin? Every single day, Anlon does or says something that just lights up my world. Since turning two in July, he has blown us away with how much he has developed. The most notable change has been in his communication. He just "graduated" from speech therapy two weeks ago, after meeting with our current therapist Reshma twice a week for the past 10 months (prior to this we were seeing a different therapist in St. Pete for several months). It is absolutely amazing how much he is talking. I couldn't have imagined how people now comment on how well he speaks. We've gone from making a list of words he could repeat after hearing to words he could say without prompting to not being able to keep track because he can now repeat any word and speaks in full sentences. What an answer to prayer this has been. We have learned so much from Reshma and are so grateful for her clinical excellence and commitment to Anlon's language development.

Some of the sweet things he says: When he's made a bad choice, he often says "I sorry for acting that way and talking that way." I've often told him that he's such a good helper, so now when I thank him for being good when we're at the store, he says "I such a good helper."  When we pray before meals, he thanks Jesus for things he sees on the table (we still sometimes use a couple of toys or books to encourage eating). So he'll say "Thank you Jesus for big purple Holly Shiftwell car, thank you Jesus for baby pig...". He says "you" instead of "me", so he'll say "Mommy to pick you up", "want Daddy to play with you". I call him Cashew (as well as Spud, Buggy, Bug, Little One) and Vipul calls him Peanut (as well as Potato, Biggie, Biggles, Monkey, Muncle, Monster, Senor Bigglestein, etc.). So he'll say "I Mama's Cashew and Daddy's Peanut."

He completed occupational therapy in January, after going twice a week for 11 months. I knew we were nearing the time when our therapist Janet would say that he no longer needed therapy, but I burst into tears on the day she told me. It was such a monumental moment for me as she explained that although there are things we need to continue to work on, Anlon has reached the end of his need for therapy at this time. After his initial struggles with feeding, our next greatest concern had been in the area of his fine motor skill development and appropriate play skills. I cannot put into words what a difference OT has made and Janet has been outstanding. I am a better mother because of her.

Anlon just began physical therapy two weeks ago to improve core and overall strength, but enough about therapy! I wanted to share some pictures of Anlon doing some of his favorite things. He loves spending time in our backyard and going on walks in our neighborhood. Most mornings, he asks "May I go outside please?" He loves to push either choo-choo train walker, Mater truck walker or shopping cart or pull wagons on our walks, while watching bugs, picking up acorns and crossing the street (he loves to cross the street). And he knows the drill - hold my hand, look left, right, left again and "make sure no cars are coming, no trucks are coming and no mommy's cars are coming" - not sure where he got the last part :)

Anlon still needs a medication for delayed gastric emptying (which he will hopefully outgrow soon) and an appetite stimulant, but he is eating better than ever before. He loves a variety of fruits and vegetables, including pomegranate (when they were in season, he often ate an entire pomegranate each day), brussel sprouts, and kale. He also loves whole-grain waffles (loaded with ghee and maple syrup), salami, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, cheese sticks, spaghetti made with bowtie pasta, and scrambled eggs with cheese. I'm incredibly thankful that mealtime is actually an enjoyable experience for us now.

We've been blessed to have some very special friends that Anlon adores. He has a number of little buddies that he enjoys playing with, but there are a few that he sees more consistently and talks about them when they're not together and prays for them and their families.

Austin

Jack (although their faces aren't showing, this is my favorite of them)

Javen and Malachi (they've been in Uganda bringing home their new brother Moses and Anlon has really missed them!)

Matias

Norah Grace

Anlon still loves books and has memorized almost every page of some of his favorites. Over the past few months, he's most enjoyed It's Time To Sleep My Love (there were weeks when this was the book he chose every night), Kisses for Daddy (Vipul's rule is that only he can read this to Anlon :), This Little Prayer Of Mine, The Wide-Mouthed Frog, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, and The Little Golden Bible Storybook (he really loves his Bible - it's so neat to see how God's truth can penetrate the heart of a child).

His favorite song right now is from the Seeds of Faith cd - "Grace (La-Di-Da)". Every time we get in the car, he says "I want to hear la-di-da song" and after we listen to it and the next song comes on, he says "Don't like this song. Want to hear la-di-da song again." Thankfully I like the song because right now we listen to it A LOT. He also loves a song about Noah's Ark from a cd that came with a book we have. For at least a month, he asked for me to sing the "Noah's Ark Song" every night before bed. The ABC song has also been a favorite and he's been able to sing it since our trip to KY in October when he learned it from his friends Makenzie and Camryn.

He has always loved his stuffed animals, but in the last month or so he's been even more interested in them. His favorites are Leo the lion and Tommy the tiger, and they are usually required to rock with us before naps and bedtime. Once in his bed, he asks for all of his animals to be placed on top of him - Leo, Tommy, Pooh bear, Edwin the rabbit, Haathi the elephant, Eagle, Sea Star, Airplane, and Blue bear.

Anlon and Vipul have developed quite a special bond and he gets SO excited when Daddy gets home from work at the end of the day. If Vipul gets home late a couple of days in a row and isn't able to see him before he goes to bed, Anlon gives him the cold shoulder and we have to make sure that they have quality time together asap. It's wonderful to see how Anlon learns different things from each of us and responds to us in different ways.

After a rough night, he couldn't stay awake until nap time.

He loves to hold Vipul's thumbs.

He could do this forever!

Here are a few pictures from some fun outings we've had.

The Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney

Lowry Park Zoo

The Florida Aquarium

Dear Anlon, 

There is honestly not a day that goes by that I don't thank God for you. If I ever doubt His goodness and grace, I just need to look at you. You are such a sweet, gentle, loving little boy. And you are so funny! Everyone who spends time with you walks away with more joy in their hearts than they arrived with. Your name means "Great Champion" and we believe God has a very special plan for your life. I pray that you will always know the love of Jesus and will always feel that love expressed by your Daddy and me. And I pray that as you continue to grow, you will grow as Jesus did, in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:52)
Love,
Mama

Christmas 2012

Well I'm a little late writing this, but I wanted to make sure I documented this past Christmas with our Cashew. This Christmas season was most memorable because Anlon is really starting to understand what we are celebrating. When asked why we celebrate Christmas, he would say "Baby Jesus was born." He asked to read "The Nativity Story" (which we bought before his first Christmas) all of the time, and has memorized most of it. He would finish almost every sentence or say the entire sentence when we got to certain parts.

 This short video isn't the best as he was super tired and not quite himself, but I thought I'd still include it.

 

Anlon enjoyed helping decorate our tree (although what he enjoyed most was taking things off!). He really liked looking at our different ornaments from over the years and hearing the stories behind each one.

One special memory from this Christmas was the Happy Birthday Jesus party that our church had. Anlon made an ornament that we'll keep forever, had lots of fun with a couple of his best buddies and enjoyed a yummy cupcake (well all of the icing :)

Another highlight was the train ride we took to the North Pole. (Florida Railroad Museum) We drove to Parrish about an hour away and went on a 30 minute train ride (complete with Christmas lights and carolers) to a winter wonderland with children's activity stations, yummy treats, and Santa Clause. We really haven't talked too much about Santa since he's not the center of our Christmas celebration. But we thought it would be fun to have Anlon meet him. He liked the bell ornament Santa gave him, but wasn't too sure about Santa.

It was a late night, so he passed out on the way back. Although he was tired a lot of the evening, he talked about the train and all that he saw for days after. 

The next morning we left to spend the weekend before Christmas with my mom and her husband Nick. It was a very special time. Anlon loves his Nana and they had a lot of quality time together. And he really enjoyed playing with "Mr. Nick". They gave him a classic Radio Flyer tricycle and he loves it!

We went to a really fun Christmas event while we were there. Anlon met the Abominable Snowman, rode a train through the woods, explored the elf village and had a blast in the children's playroom. 

The one challenging aspect of our time there was Anlon's very poor sleep. Although he had his own bedroom and everything he's used to having to sleep well (except his own bed), he struggled each night to go to sleep and stay asleep. On Christmas Eve morning, he woke up at 3 am and finally only went back to sleep for a brief time after watching one of his favorite shows on Vipul's ipad. Of course, as soon as we returned home he slept like an angel.

We headed back home in time to attend the Christmas Eve service at our church. We decided to keep Anlon in the service with us and he did great (it didn't hurt that he was exhausted). 

We continued our tradition of spending Christmas morning in our home. In fact, this year we were able to spend all of Christmas day at home. We made pancakes together, opened presents and relaxed. He loves his new train table - our gift to him.

The day after Christmas we left for a family vacation to Orlando. I never thought we'd enjoy vacationing in Orlando so much, but it really is an ideal place to travel with children since there are so many kid-friendly resorts and fun things to do. We wanted to have one more get-away while it is just the three of us. We took Anlon to Sea World for the first time and he LOVED it. It was a really fun trip, except for Anlon's poor sleep. I think we'll be more home-bound for awhile.

This Treasure

Strange how difficulties can sometimes result in inspiration. The last few days have been really hard due to a combination of factors. One of those factors is Anlon's recent return to his 5 am wake-up time. His usual time is 6 am, but since the time change last month, he's been waking up at 5. However, I had become spoiled after a brief stint of 6:30 and even 7 am mornings (which we've never had before!) and 5 am feels earlier than it used to.

A few mornings ago Anlon woke up crying just before 5 (he always cries when he wakes up earlier than he should) and I waited to see if he would go back to sleep. I was emotionally and physically exhausted - weary in my bones. I prayed that he would somehow go back to sleep, if only for a few minutes. I decided to take a shower since I couldn't sleep at this point. I've had this feeling before - the feeling that I've come to the end of myself. I'm out of words. I'm out of prayers. My heart is burdened with so much more than Anlon's lack of sleep. And yet this morning sleep would seem to make everything better. Lord, Please. Please. PLEASE. I can't hear Anlon cry as the water beats down. What if he's fallen back asleep? But what if he hasn't? What if I turn the shower off and hear him still crying? I am faced with a pivotal moment. I only have two choices. I can allow this feeling of despair to take me over or I can choose to believe that the God of the universe knows best and will carry me through this day and every day after. I can choose to smile (for real - not just the mask I've been known to put on) and trust that He who began a good work in me will continue this work, painful as it may be.

I chose the latter option, somehow. Yes, Anlon was still crying. But it was ok. It really was ok. And what a wonderful morning we had together. Some of my sweetest moments with him have been before the sun comes up, while Vipul is still sleeping upstairs and the house is quiet. This morning was sweet. And he even took a great nap, during which time I was able to rest too. The prayers of a dear friend on my behalf were answered. And we had such a fun time preparing dinner together. I've told him that he's such a good helper. Now when I thank him for helping me, he tells me "I such a good helper." He enjoyed standing on a stool, watching me cut vegetables. He even ate a few pieces of raw zucchini and yellow squash. Thank you Jesus for your goodness and mercy that abound in the midst of tears. Thank you for this simple, perfect day.

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed."

2 Corinthians 4:7-9

 

Turning Two

Several weeks ago, we celebrated Anlon's 2nd birthday with our families and Anlon's close friends (which at his age means those friends whom he spends the most time with). I was really excited to be able to host this celebration at our home, as we now have the space for larger gatherings.

It was a bit hectic getting our home in order since we had just moved 3 weeks earlier, so most of my party planning involved unpacking. What I envisioned was just a relaxing, fun morning filled with children playing in our backyard. So I kept the details pretty simple, focusing on yummy food and homemade favors.

 But before sharing some pictures from the party, here are a few other pictures of sweet times with our families.

Anlon with my niece Khaya and my mom

Vipul's dad reading While the World is Sleeping to Anlon

Since Anlon LOVES stars and cars, I decided to make crayon molds in these shapes as party favors. This was really easy, but did take some time since the crayon paper had to be peeled off and the crayons had to be cut into smaller pieces for the star molds to bake in the oven (for the car molds, I melted the crayons in a makeshift double-boiler and then poured the wax into the molds). Thankfully, our families helped a lot with ensuring all was done in time!

My mom loading a tray of crayons into the oven (Khaya put this tray together)

Vipul and his dad peeling crayons

Car molds cooling

Ta-da!

I decided to make cupcakes instead of a cake. Although I was planning on making the batter from scratch, I opted for a box to save time. But I did make the icing myself and it was SO yummy! Vipul's mom was especially helpful with decorating the cupcakes. I was really happy with the way they turned out!

Brunch was enjoyed by all

It was really special to have Vipul's best friend Richie and his family join us.

My prayer for you Anlon, is for you to grow to know and love Jesus and become a man like your daddy - a man after God's heart. I love you my Buggy.