We learned that Peter is learning to adjust soooooooo well to his surroundings! Besides switching to a new daycare last week, we had a very busy 5 days and he sure rolled with the punches. We weren't sure how he would do, and we are glad to report that he did fantastic!
Last Friday we left town after work and drove to Mankato. We got there about midnight. We stayed at our friend, Tim's, house. In the morning we had breakfast with him and then went to visit Peter's old daycare. He got to see a few old friends. He warmed right up to them and ran like a crazy boy all around the house! It was so great to see that. He remembered everything! His best friend, Brady, even showed him how to play the Wii. We are now considering saving up for one, since we know he's interested in it. Around noon we had lunch with Haley & Jacob to celebrate Haley's birthday. Then on Saturday afternoon we drove to Burnsville (Mpls area) and had supper at Chuck E. Cheese with a group of our friends. We wanted to meet at a kid-friendly place so Peter could have fun while we caught up with Ann, Chad, Luke & Melissa. It was a blast. The boys won 500 tickets for Peter so he got a cool prize. After supper we drove to Ben's parents place and crashed. On Sunday morning we went to church and went back to the farm for a mini Christmas celebration. We also celebrated Ed & Paula's birthdays (Ben's parents). Peter got to see his cousins and take some fun pictures. After lunch--mid afternoon--we went to Ben's Grandma Jackie's house. Peter fell asleep there so he didn't get much visiting in with her, but we sure did. :D
Then we drove to Rochester about suppertime. We ate at A & W and checked into our hotel. The hotel we stayed in was awesome! It has only been open for 2 1/2 months. We swam in the hotel...Peter enjoyed it. He was a little timid and mostly played on the steps but we got him in!
He kept saying he was "at the beach"! The funny part, is we could see the snow outside the pool windows. hehe
Here is a picture of him in the tub with his new tub toys from Ann & Chad (a new Rocket from Little Einsteins & a group of Wonder Pets figures...I know, you totally wanted to know, right?).
On Monday morning we played at the Rochester mall. It's a nice mall and with all of our trips to Mayo we've never been there so we were glad to have had some time during this trip to go. I found a few good deals on dress clothes at Ann Taylor Loft (closing sale), while Daddy and Peter played in the "play area" and read books at Barnes & Noble. We ate at Applebee's. That part wasn't Peter's favorite (he doesn't really do restaurants) but we managed. We had an appointment in the Genetics department at Mayo at 2:45. Peter fell asleep on the shuttle on the way over and slept through the entire appointment! The doctor talked with us about Peter's progress. He said Peter looks "normal" so is pleased with that. :D They still have some of Peter's blood from our trips in the Spring so he will be sending it off for one more test to be sure that Peter doesn't have what is called Sotos Syndrome (I'm not going to explain because the doc is 99% sure Peter doesn't have it). We are to meet with Genetics again in 6 months to make sure things are still on the right track. Then on Monday night we brought Peter to a movie as there was a 14 screen theater next door to our hotel. We saw Madagascar 2. It was cute. Peter did well and sat through most of it. He kept wanting to play with the video games out in the entry (especially when there was a "scary" part but we managed to keep him in the theater). On Tuesday we met with Dr. Barboresi--Pediatric Behavioral Neorologist. He was VERY impressed with Peter's progress since our trip there in the Spring. Peter got to pick out toys to play with and interacted with the doctor very well. Dr. B wants us to come back in 6 months to make sure things keep progressing. Because Peter has ABA therapy and private PT, OT & Speech, he has made no further recommandations. He says Ben and I have covered all of our bases and Peter's progress is proof that the hard work is paying off! We are thrilled with this news! (Well, we knew he was doing better but it's always great to hear it from the best autism doctor on the planet) When we were waiting for the shuttle on Tuesday to take us back to the hotel, Peter took a few pictures with our camera...(he's getting kind of good!)
Daddy
Mommy
Pointsettias....
Artwork on the wall...
And I took this picture! It's Peter's new WallE shirt...when he moves, the small WallE on the shoulder lights up. He LOVES this shirt. :D By the way, I'm not sure if he's about to pick his nose, or what....??
We grabbed our van and left to head home. We stopped at Ben's grandparents house in Hampton to visit as this was our "Christmas" stop. We left there about 4pm and hit Minneapolis during rush hour and 4 inches of snow. We didn't get to St. Cloud until 9:30pm so we got a hotel there and stayed the night. So Wednesday was a waste of day as we didn't get home to EGF until after 1pm. Peter needed a nap and well, we were just exhausted so neither of us made it into work. Now it's Thursday so our work week is almost done! Yipppeeeee!!
So Peter did awesome this past week. I think it was partly because he was with us 24-7. When he doesn't see us all day and then has therapy at night, it takes a toll on all of us. It was great to spend some quality time together, even though it was a vacation/doctor/holiday all rolled in one! We drove over 1000 miles in 5 days! We are thrilled to be home for awhile, spending Christmas in town with the Beauchamps and in our new home! Woo hoo!
Gotta get going but I'll post more soon. Hope your holiday season is blessed!
