Ethan updates, May '10

Last week we hit some milestones with Ethan. First, he finally ate a grilled cheese sandwich. I'm not sure why it took so long for him to get into sandwiches, but he's finally becoming receptive to eating peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, and he even ate a "veggie" sandwich I made out of soft-cooked carrots and toasted, buttered pita bread. So it looks like he's starting to broaden his food horizons. Thank goodness! He also ate eggs for the first time since he was born; this is more of a miracle than you think. It's not that I haven't tried to feed him eggs, don't get me wrong; it's that he has spit them out every time I put them in his mouth. This time, he actually chewed and swallowed, and asked for more. Hallelujah!

In addition to that, he started really using his fork and spoon this past week. It's neat to watch him work out how to scoop and lift and get the food to his mouth without losing all of it along the way. He's doing pretty well, but of course has moments of deciding to chuck it all on the floor, or splash it on the table, or just stick his entire hand in the food and squish it around. Just testing his limits and seeing how far he can manipulate the world around him, I guess.

Along with those advances in meal-taking, he has also really conquered "bye-bye" and says it all the time now, not just when prompted. He says it at the end of TV shows, when one of us is going to go take a shower, when his dad walks out and ties his Converse... sometimes he even says it just to let us know he wants to go outside and play. Being able to communicate with him is such a blessing, and I'm glad we are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

In other news, he is starting to be able to walk again, though with a limp, and seems to be in much less pain after twisting his leg going down the slide on the 13th. I'm so glad to see him trying to walk again, because it was tough to see him wince in pain every time he put any weight on his ankle. Poor thing; it must have been so frustrating to have his movement hampered like that, and be unable to walk around like he's been used to doing for so long now. At least he's on the mend now, though. I never thought I'd say I can't wait for him to be running around the house again, but there you have it!