But we’re excited about it! The first change is that LIAM IS WALKING EVERYWHERE!! He took his first baby steps at 15 months old, but his balance and strength wasn’t quite enough to allow him to walk all on his own yet. But about a month ago he found the confidence, strength and balance that he needed– partly due to a new physical therapist that makes him work his tail off and showed me new ways to strengthen his muscles– to really take off, and now he is walking entirely on his own and all over the place. He’s into everything now since he never crawled and so for the first time has a chance to explore his surroundings… which means we have to watch him like a hawk! A few days after he took off, he had a minor surgery to get tubes in his ears because of the many ear infections he’s had. The surgery went well and since then his balance has improved even more and his ears look good, so we are glad that he got the tubes!
Right before surgery with his Grammy. They had given him something to make him “drunk”:
Some pics of Liam enjoying his new walking skills:
The other big change taking place is that I am going to back to teaching full-time! I have accepted a job teaching eighth grade English at Harwood Junior High for next year, and I’m really excited about it! I haven’t taught full-time since 2012, but I have been doing part-time jobs on and off since then, and I’ve really missed teaching. Now that Liam is one and a half, walking, and generally happy (except when his food runs out… then he’s like The Hulk), and since it is quite expensive to care for a child with special needs (tons of doctor’s appointments, multiple surgeries a year, etc.), we decided that it was time for me to go back full-time. I started applying for school districts near me a couple of months ago, and after a crazy interview process at Harwood and being convinced that they didn’t pick me, I got the call!
Harwood is a great school and I am SO excited about getting to teach there (and it is five minutes from my home!), but part of me is dealing with guilt at not being home with Liam all the time. He sure does love his mommy, so it will be hard at first not seeing him as often, watching him closely to make sure he doesn’t get hurt, and working on his therapies and progress. BUT, we are SO fortunate to have family close by and willing to help with babysitting. I know that he will be in wonderful hands with his Grammy and Daddy Pap, his Mimi and BobBob, and our family friend, Chrissy throughout the week. Thank you guys so very much for your help with our kids!!
Change is in the air, and our lives will be very different in about seven weeks from now, but we are incredibly lucky to have supportive family and friends close to home that help us out in so many ways. We love you guys!
Living and Loving with 18p- 