party pictures

Here are some highlight's from the costume party.

Lewis takes a break from breathing fire for half-smile.






















Some Taylor/daddy bonding time.





















Simon (a.k.a. Charlie Brown)figures out the magnetic farm with some help from Corrie.





















Corrie explores what it means to be a sheep.

















Lewis and Taylor posing for the group photo.
















The group in its entirety. This was the best we got!!

pre-party video

We had a costume party for little people yesterday, and it was a lot of fun. Before everyone arrived, Lewis was getting used to walking in his dragon outfit. While I'm still waiting to see Lewis pull up to standing himself (he's been unable to repeat the performance of earlier today, so far), his waving is a pretty consistent skill, and one he does in this video as well.

Small breakthroughs

Shelley will be jealous she missed it... but our boy finally got up from a sitting position on his own! He's got a little stepstool that our therapist Krista said we should help him push up on. Last night I helped him a couple times, but he struggled... yet just now, he was sitting and playing and started throwing his toys away—the sign he's ready to get up. So I just sat the stool down beside him, and he turned, pushed himself up, and up he went! It's funny to watch him do it... he's kind of like a decrepit old man, but in a cute way. Anyway the smile on his face once he was up was priceless! He's very proud of himself and some of the new abilities he's finding.

He's also been waving—a lot—the past couple days. At 16 months old, he's pretty far behind some of his friends (little Simon at the party yesterday, he's only 10 months and can get up and down pretty easily). But he's catching up, slowly. And it makes me a happy daddy.

—Justin

therapy update and video

Last week, Lewis started meeting with his speech therapist. He will be seeing her once a week, and a developmental interventionist once a week until further notice. The speech therapy has mainly consisted of play generating sounds. We are trying to encourage Lewis to imitate sounds we are making that will hopefully lead to words eventually. We are also exaggerating gestures in hopes that he will mimic those as well. So far no major breakthroughs, but he is becoming more vocal and loves laughing at the sounds we are making all the time.

Here is a video of him vocalizing tonight after dinner. He was stomping around and almost singing. We were not sure what to make of it! Enjoy.

shots and other stuff

On Monday we took Lewis for his 15 month shots. He got four and was not happy about it! He recovered well, for the most part. They didn't weigh him, but according to our scale he is about 24 lbs. That's all we can offer until 18 months.

To get his mind off the pain, we took Lewis to the park later. We got some more good pictures.

He is a strong boy!





















He loves swingin'!





















just chillin'





















Up close
















fun with daddy

pumpkin in a pumpkin patch

We took our little pumpkin Lewis to Jackson's Orchard this weekend. Thanks to the lovely, cool temperatures, it was a very pleasant day.

























One of the best parts was the petting zoo. Lewis has only been to one zoo, and he slept through most of it. The petting zoo was just his speed. He seemed very interested in the animals, if not a little bit scared. Here he is getting aquainted with a sheep.

















While Lewis thinks things over, the sheep strikes a pose!
















After the petting zoo, Lewis took a ride in a wagon.
















Justin enjoys his apple slush while Lewis enjoys the scenery.


























To view the rest of the pictures click HERE.

dancing with disaster

Justin was trying to teach Lewis how to dance recently, but before he was able to really break it down, things took a turn for the worse. It's okay to laugh at this, by the way. :)

college reunion

Yesterday, several college buds met up in Glasgow, Ky. to see our friend Emily (Wilson) Pierce and her new baby, Lily. You may remember seeing Emily in a post last month, when she was still toting Lily in the womb. Lily is now 3 weeks old, and doing just fantastic. Below you can see Lily's aunt, Amy (Wilson) Betts, hanging out with Lewis.





































Amy was the one who gathered the rest of us together. She's getting ready to head back to Kansas where her husband, Jake, is getting reconnected with nature in a very rural area. Amy has a lot to look forward to in Kansas, including the prospect of aiding some cows in giving birth. We're glad we got to see her, even if the visit was slightly chaotic. Maybe in 10 years or so, we can have a more peaceful gathering, where we can really catch up. :)

Here's the rest of the group (L to R): Lewis, Shelley, Emily & Lily Pierce, Keegan Miller, Jennifer (Gray) Miller, (son Grayden seated), and Darla (Johnson) & Liam Oglesby. We're hanging out here in Lily's custom-designed nursery. Lily's parents put this room together especially for her. She's pretty lucky to have some talented parents like Gary and Emily!



















Here you can see mom introducing Lily to a fun toy, with Grayden's help.

An International Affair

This weekend was the big International Festival in downtown Bowling Green, and I had to work at the shop all morning, before going to the newspaper in the afternoon. The grandShepherds came down, though, and hung out with little Lewis... they even took him to the festival for some cultural enhancement!

It just so happens my coworker Dave (who didn't know my parents or my son) snapped a few pics of Lewis in his beloved wagon. They're kinda artsy and so you can't see the grandShepherds, but they're there! Lewis loves that wagon and loves hanging out with his grandma and grandpa.