Almost 3!

It's hard to believe it's been 6 months since I've updated the blog, but life has just slowed down enough for me to reflect on the progress Niko has made. He's been with us 8 months today, and the transformation is night and day. First, as evidenced by many of the pictures posted here, Niko loves animals. He's very sensory-seeking in the first place, and he loves to feel their fur, loves to hug them, and calls every single animal a Doggy. From dogs to cats to goats, they are all Doggies. He has a stuffed lion that he sleeps with each night, and Niko likes to feel the soft mane while he falls asleep. We are leaning into the texture sensory stuff and have some fun birthday and Christmas gifts up our sleeves.

The holidays have been SO FUN to experience with Niko. He truly is just along for the ride, and I love to see his wheels turn when he realizes something is fun. For trick or treating, it took several houses for him to understand what was happening, but here he is in a full sprint, running from house to house grabbing candy. He kept up with the big kids for the first hour, before he sat in the stroller eating Cheez-Its for the second half. For Thanksgiving, he had 12 helpings of mashed potatoes and was so excited to eat.

Niko's food issues have drastically improved. He has no food restrictions anymore and can eat crackers, granola bars - pretty much anything! He still favors soft food and has just started getting a taste for candy. But when he's sick we still have to ask the pharmacist not to flavor his antibiotic, because he can't stand the pink bubblegum or cherry flavoring that most American children are used to.

We decorated our Christmas tree a few days ago, and we expected him to get lost in the wonderment of the season. So far, it seems he finds it very normal to have a large tree in our home, and he's mostly annoyed that he isn't allowed to remove all the ornaments from the tree.

Niko's therapists have been amazing, and he's made so much progress. Here he taking care of a doll as part of his developmental therapy. Since he was deprived of so many early experiences, we have had to be patient while he's moved through phases a baby would experience. The phase of playing with his food to understand texture. The phase of dropping spoons and forks from the highchair because he is learning about gravity. The phase of putting everything into his mouth to experience different tastes. It's really fascinating, and some phases are only here for a week before he moves on to the next. Our developmental therapist has been solely working on getting him to sit down and play. Believe it or not, it's very difficult for him. He's worked up to sitting and playing for 10 minutes, and that's truly amazing. He still prefers rooting through purses to playing with toys, but he's making progress.

Physical and Occupational Therapy have also been going great. Niko is just about running and is so much sturdier on his feet. He works so hard at PT, building his core, leg, and upper body muscles (think wheelbarrows and superman yoga poses). While he hasn't done well sleeping in his leg braces, he did just get fitted for day-time braces that he'll wear in his shoes, which we think he will tolerate better.

Speech is the only are that has been pretty slow going. His receptive language is amazing - he understands so much and follows directions so well. He communicates using a few words, but mostly using sign language, pointing and occasionally screeching. He also seems stubbornly committed to not speaking. If I ask him to call me "mama," he laughs and says "no." When my mother asks him if he can say "Nonna," he says "no." She points out that he's already said HALF THE WORD, and all he has to do is say "no" again. He laughs and shakes his head as if to say, "Nice try - I'll speak when I'm good and ready!"

Recently, he did start saying "help please" when he needs something instead of screaming, and it feels like such a big step. The words are very muttered and jumbled, and I'm sure Brad and I are the only ones who can understand him, but he's trying and it's so sweet.

However, the biggest news is that Niko will start preschool the day after he turns three (next week). His preschool is designed for kids with special needs, and he will be able to see all of his therapists during the school day, which will help alleviate a lot of logistics for us and allow us to spend more quality time with him instead of shuffling him around to his next appointment. Niko loves the idea of school, even though he knows very little about it. He watches his big brothers get on the school bus each day, and he loves to go home and "play school," wearing a backpack and walking around saying "bye" to everyone. While it's been very hard for me to let him go, I know he'll enjoy his teachers and the social element of school. It will help teach him a lot of additional social skills that he hasn't developed yet.

Niko loves exploring, loves animals, loves hugs (he truly is the best hugger) and loves his brothers. He has just figured out hide-and-seek and really enjoys playing with Oliver and Ellis. He has started crying for us at night if he has a bad dream and while our sleep is impacted, it's a wonderful trade-off because it means he's connecting to us. He lets us brush his teeth instead of trying to bite us in fear. He still occasionally hits, but the hair pulling has been so much better - almost nonexistent.

During Thanksgiving, I was reflecting on how truly thankful I am that God brought Niko into our lives. I feel like our family is complete, and he's brought all of us together even more. I am excited to see what this next year holds for him. 2023 will bring about new specialists and more procedures (genetics, audiology, ENT, and a brain MRI), but he is allowing us to tackle it with him, instead of him feeling like we are inflicting it upon him. Brad and I hope it continues to trend in this direction.

For his 3rd birthday, we are celebrating with his favorite things: Maple, Mashed Potatoes, and Music. We are so blessed by this little boy who has a heart for animals, sings along using nonsense words to every song he hears, and gives the biggest and best hugs that I've ever received.

As always, thank you for your prayers and support and for just being the best community we could have asked for. And Happy Holidays!