The biggest update is we had his speech evaluation. The team of speech folks decided his expressive speech is delayed (as we suspected) and is at about a 14 month old level. This difference qualifies him for speech therapy so sometime next month we'll get started in hopes that he can soon verbally express his needs a little better (because he knows exactly what he wants, and he gets frustrated when we guess incorrectly!).
Calem seemed to have a good time on our weekend trip to the beach. The first day was perfect, not too many people there, and the weather was perfect. He had a great time making shapes in the sand, but we lost track of time and he soon became hungry. (We learned this at our last beach trip, when he gets hungry he tries to eat the sand!!) The second day at the beach didn't go as smoothly. After getting lathered in sunscreen, we arrived on a particularly windy day and he was pelted with sand. He didn't cry when he was stung by the flying sand, but he wasn't a fan of playing in such conditions either, so we turned around shortly after arriving, but all the sunscreen made it difficult to get the sand off his body without a thorough scrubbing (the showers at the beach only have cold water, so it wasn't a fun experience for anyone!).
We haven't gotten him re-enrolled in any activities yet, the ones we're debating include a gym class, swimming, or music. In the meanwhile, he gets to go to story hour at the library and goes on regular walks with Jason and Picaso. He loves going to the park. His favorite are the slides, but he likes swings too. Around the house he loves to find hiding spaces, his favorite is a little alcove behind the recliner, where he'll spend his time looking at books and holding a ball (he loves balls--it is one of the sounds he can make clearly, "ba"). He loves watching youtube videos of Elmo.
He is still not eating that well--often living off of fruit, yogurt, and snack items (yogurt melts, Pirate's booty and cereal) but has managed to gain weight nonetheless. He is sleeping a little better, waking up only twice a night most nights and can usually go back to sleep within a few minutes.
A very sweet, very busy little guy, can't believe how quickly he's gro
