October Update
October was full of big and fun milestones for Gideon! Tired of him hitting his head against the side of the crib as he attempted to rock himself back to sleep in the middle of the night, we moved his crib mattress to the floor, and he did great from the very first night in his “big boy bed!” He then wanted to snuggle with us at bedtime every night since we could lay down on the floor next to him. Gideon wanted to wear Daddy’s shirts to school, and we let him a few times. His teachers got a good laugh out of that! We had our first parent teacher conference this month, and we are just so thankful for all of the ways Gideon’s teachers bring out the best in him. Ms. DeAnn was quick to focus on his progress, which she said she’s so proud of, and she told us she thinks he’s close to talking too!Much to our surprise, Gideon started verbally “asking” for things this month! One day, he just started pointing to numbers and shapes on his puzzles, and then adding an “ahh!” to indicate he wanted us to tell him what shape or number he was pointing to. Within a few days, he expanded his “asking” to letters on the fridge, colors on his flashcards (which he now LOVES to study all the time!), and any other object around the house that caught his attention. This is a HUGE step for him, as this is the very first time he’s verbally indicating he wants our attention or a specific response! It’s also REALLY cute, as he uses a really inquisitive inflection to “ask” us for things. After a few days of “asking” us to name shapes and numbers, he started recognizing and correctly pointing to basic shapes and numbers 1-20 we asked him to find too! While in Washington DC, he also suddenly started doing his entire numbers and shapes puzzles by himself. His progress was so sudden and so quick, we think we underestimated the impact of trauma on his learning and growing. It was like his brain suddenly calmed down enough to really be able to learn and take off!For his fall festival at school and for Halloween, Gideon dressed up as a garage door technician because he still loves garage doors so much. He was so proud of his costume, which he lived up to when we took him trick-or-treating with the Farmers for the first time. He couldn’t have cared less about the candy, but at each house we went to, he went straight to the garage door and felt it. It was so funny! Gigi and Pa gave him applesauce and yogurt when we went trick-or-treating at their house, and he was literally shaking with excitement. What a little love.Milestones:
