December already?

So today was all about laundry, de-cluttering, and putting things that didn’t have a “home” while I was gone away.  I brought up one box of decorations, and I think the kids and I will tackle the decorating of the tree tomorrow.  Timothy seems to be ok with it being there, although the first day he thought it was pretty fun to throw things under/behind it.  Thankfully he’s not really interested in that anymore though.  LOL

I took the kids to the library this evening.  Timothy chose a book too.  I read it to him, about four pages in he took it from me, and closed it.  Ok, moving on to Olivia’s.  LOL  He really doesn’t have a lot of interest in books, even picture books.  No biggie, we’ll keep trying.  hehe   After the library we went to Subway for supper (a treat! we have only eaten out twice since we’ve been home!).  He did pretty well, he ate some potato soup, a yogurt, and the bread and cheese from the sandwich.  He is also getting used to drinking cold milk.  I can’t say he prefers it, but he will drink it.  I usually warm it just enough to take the chill off of it when we’re at home. 

Communication is moving along.  While Timothy is still basically non-verbal, we are working on it.  He can learn, he already has.   I know it’s early, but he understands quite a bit.  When we ask if he needs to go to the bathroom, he says “da” and heads for the bathroom!  When we ask if he is all done at mealtime, he signs all done, and smiles really big!  LOL If he gets done and no one asks, he just signs it on his own.  When you ask “Where’s Mama?”  he points to me.  Or “Where’s Sissy” he points to Kati.  We go through all of the family members and he gets them all!  If we don’t ask “Where’s Molly?” He will point to the dog and “Woof” until someone asks so he can point to her!  hehe  He’s also getting the “parts” down (nose, ears, eyes, mouth… )  I’m so excited about his progress in just a short amount of time.  He also knows the word “No” and just what it means.  LOL  

Besides him understanding us, we are learning to understand him.  When he needs to go to the bathroom, he whimpers and points down.   When he is hungry or thirsty, he signs “more”.  If we offer the wrong option, he whimpers, so we know to get the other.   He gets cranky and sometimes cries when he’s ready to go to bed(took me forever to figure that one out!).   He is so proud of himself when he does something good like putting things away or picking up his stuff.  He is so cute, he'll smile big, and clap, and say "YAY!!".  He loves to be tickled and laugh, especially if I’m doing the same thing to Olivia.  They are so FUN together!  Olivia still tells anyone who will listen that “This is my brother, he is from Ukraine” . hehe