so far, so good

Well, we took the plunge and put up a Christmas tree. It is in the corner between two couches for maximim security. So far, Lewis has shown relatively little interest in it, though he has pulled off an ornament here or there, and tried to pull off a few more without success. The cat on the other hand is known to sit up in the tree (not too far up, mind you), re-living the days of her youth when she had claws and could climb trees outside at will.





















Otherwise, Lewis has been enjoying walking around outside a lot!! He loves being out there and cries whenever we come inside. He has also become an avid reader, looking at books on his own and bringing us books he wants us to read to him. He is loving building towers with his blocks, and can stack them pretty high all by himself. He is quite proud when he can get that next block on top of an already high tower. Of course, he loves knocking down the towers too.

He got us excited last week at a therapy session when he clapped on his own. Once he realized what he was doing he stopped immediately. He wouldn't want to let on that he can do some of this stuff! What a puzzle he is sometimes. But we love him!

thanksgiving in Bowling Green

We spent a very pleasant weekend in Bowling Green with my sisters, Beth and Ellen. Our parents were out of commission in Belarus, so we gathered at our house, which was really convenient. Though we were few, we had a lot of fun. Lewis had more books read to him, and towers of blocks built for him than he could have dreamed possible.

Aunt Beth and Lewis:
















Aunt Ellen and Lewis
















Ellen and Justin ready for turkey

















On black Friday, we attempted to shop a little bit and only ended up getting Lewis a new hat and coat since the weather has turned cold. Here's a picture of Lewis all bundled up for one of our walks. (He's really into kicking off his shoes lately too).

lewis stands by himself!

Our habit with Lewis has been to get him playing with toys on the floor when we need to get something done around the house. My dream has been for him to come barreling through having discovered how to stand up without our help. Today it happened! Twice he was left playing and all the sudden he appeared.......my thought was that his stool (that he has learned to use as an aid in standing) was not far and maybe he scooted close enough to use it.

After dinner, Justin set up a scenario where we ignored him so he wouldn't feel like we were watching, but the stool was a few feet away and Lewis was sitting in the middle of the floor. Sure enough, he turned away from the stool and stood up all by himself! For the rest of the night, he was sitting down and standing up, practicing his new skill. He was cracking me up because he has never wanted to sit much because it meant he was trapped. Now he has really found new freedom. We are really proud of his progress!

He's not very fast, but he is consistent. Here's a video.

back from California

Justin and I returned from our vacation/anniversary trip yesterday. We were so happy to get home 3 hours early and to be reunited with Lewis at the Louisville airport! He spent time with both sets of grandparents over the five days we were gone and seemed in good spirits. He slept like a rock his first night home in his own bed. We all did, really!

We spent the first two nights of our trip in Mariposa, Ca. This tiny town did not have much going on. In fact, we may have been the only guests there for a while. We had dinner at the only open restaurant in town, called Pizza Factory. Thankfully, it was really good! We stayed in Mariposa because it is close to Yosemite National Park. We spent a full day hiking up to Vernal Falls, checking out the view at Glacier Point and finally seeing a few huge sequoias in the dark!

Our hotel in Mariposa (notice all the cars)
















In front of Vernal Falls





















View from the top of Vernal Falls





















Justin at the top





















In front of Yosemite Valley






















We're exhausted, and so glad we got away to celebrate our 4th anniversary (yesterday). We'll try to post more later.

the latest

After a few weeks of therapy, we are seeing some good results. Lewis is consistently pushing himself up with the use of his step stool, and without our assistance. He has even tried standing without it, but it is still a little too difficult at this point. He is becoming much more vocal too. No true words, but he is willing to watch us talk now, which should help him learn to put his mouth in the right position to say different words.

Here's a video of him standing up with his stool, and very quickly I might add! It often takes a little while to maneuver his little body, so this is his best attempt to date. He is on his way to independence!


Lewis is going to get to spend some time with his grandparents next week, and so here are a couple of photos of his grandpas from the last couple of weeks that we forgot to post earlier. Lewis LOVES his grandpas. He loves their female counterparts as well, but he has a special affection for these two gentlemen that is precious.

Grandpa Shepherd:
















Grandpa Reitmeyer

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.

fifteen months

Today marks 15 months of Lewis' young life! He celebrated by eating some spicy black beans!

















He has been such a joy, and so much fun. We love him more and more each day. We wish we could say that he's progressing right on schedule for his age, but he is definitely behind in some areas. So, recently Justin and I made the tough decision to get some help and have Lewis evaluated by First Steps (part of WKU's early education dept.) to determine how to best help our boy move forward.

While Lewis scored right on target for adult interaction, he is in desperate need of some communication skills. If you've ever waved at Lewis, for example, and gotten no response, don't take it personally! He's never really waved at anyone. With the help of a speech therapist and a developmental interventionist, we are hoping to teach him how to communicate (both verbally and using signs and/or gestures) and to close the gaps in his mobility. Honestly, we're really curious to see what these professionals' approach will be. We feel like we've tried everything we can think of, so getting a fresh perspective should breath new life into our efforts.

Please pray for us in the coming months. Much of this therapy will be to train Justin and I to be "therapists" when the pros are not around. It is painful to see your child struggling, even when he is mostly unaware of it! We just want to give him every resource we can to help him succeed and catch up to where he needs to be. We hope to share a lot of breakthrough moments in future posts of how Lewis is developing, but we may have some setbacks along the way too. Next week we will meet with the rest of our "team," the two therapists and our initial contact through First Steps, to come up with a game plan with specific goals for Lewis. At that point we'll have a better idea of how all of this will work.

The good news is that Lewis is really liking his new "friends" so far. He has enjoyed all the visitors we've had at the house, and he's smiled and laughed through most of the evaluations which gives us a lot of hope for the coming sessions.

too much traveling!

Lewis and I made our all too familiar trek back to Louisville once again on Friday. This time, our visit was in honor of a family friend, and my former youth pastor, Greg Austen. He was visiting from New Jersey, and so we could not miss an opportunity to catch up with him since he was so close, relatively speaking. He works for an organization called the National Fatherhood Initiative which looks at the role of fathers in our society and how fatherhood (or the lack thereof) affects people and is at the core of many of our societal issues (poverty, drug abuse, crime, abortion etc.). Greg was speaking at a conference in Louisville over the weekend which didn't give us a long visit, but did catch us up on his family and their lives in N.J.

















Since this past week marked the 4th anniversary of my mom's passing, we stopped by the cemetery to let Lewis have a look around. Oddly enough, he liked the peaceful surroundings which made the experience much easier!
















If you've been keeping track, Lewis and I (and sometimes Justin) have been to Louisville 5 out of the last 6 weekends for some reason or another. Throw in a couple trips to Nashville and a quick visit to Glasgow, and we've logged too many miles and spent too much money on gas to keep this up! So while we love everyone, we will be sticking close to home in the coming weeks and saving our money. Should someone come down seriously ill, we will make an exception, but we are going to pray that doesn't happen. We are also looking forward to real fall weather and maybe even a few storms later in the week. Bowling Green is lovely in the fall.

yay fall!

The cooler temperatures this weekend were a welcome change! While fall is still a few days away, Lewis had to break out his windbreaker to take the edge off the chill on Saturday. Our friend, little Val, had his 3rd birthday party in Gallatin, Tn. Lewis was a little too young to participate in the organized activities, but enjoyed running around in the yard and exploring dirt and grass.
















Here's Lewis trying to figure out what that green stuff is, while the party continues in the background.






















Val opening his presents.

















Lewis watching the bigger kids running around.


















On Sunday, Lewis got to wear some of his new fall clothes. Peekaboo!! Finally, he has some jeans that don't cut off his circulation.






















Besides all of his social engagements, Lewis has been learning about magnets. His magnetic fridge farm has been a favorite toy for the last couple of months. Now he is discovering all of the things he can attach those magnets to around the house. Though he is disappointed often that magnets will not stick to wood (although our back door is magnetic, which seems odd!), he is delighted that they are not confined to the refrigerator. Here's a short video of Lewis in action:

makeover/sleepover

The last couple of days have been exhausting!! After watching too much HGTV, I encouraged my sister to spruce up her condo that she is hoping to sell right away so that she can move to a neighborhood nearby. Because she was feeling quite overwhelmed, Justin and I went up to help her paint and put in a new kitchen floor. In less than 24 hours, we got the job done! These photos are not going to give the total picture because we had to leave immediately when we got done to get Justin back to work, and before things had been put back where they belong.

BEFORE living room:































AFTER living room:

















BEFORE kitchen:































DURING:


















AFTER kitchen:





















These photos are not the best, but it gives you an idea of how much work we got done! It was exhausting, but actually kind of fun. We hope Ellen sells her home soon.

While we were doing all of that, Lewis had his first-ever night away from mom and dad with Justin's parents. It was great to know while we were slaving away in a not-so-kid-friendly environment that he was being well cared for (and doted on) in a safe place! We could not have gotten this job done with Lewis around, that is for sure, so we are grateful that he got to spend that time with the grandparents!! He was excited to be reunited with us, and we felt the same way. :)

happy haircut?
















Today Lewis had his first haircut at Bonita Jo's Barber Shop just off the square. It was a father-son bonding time. Here is the before picture:

















Here are Justin and Lewis after both of them got haircuts:





















Apparently Lewis did not enjoy the experience overall. Maybe Justin will post his first-hand comments on the matter. But I think this picture is the "Why did I have to get my hair cut?" look.

APPENDIX: Justin here... Yeah, Lewis was a little frightened at the barber shop, at least at first. I don't know if it was the absolute silence of the place, or the shiny hospital-esque floor, or the fact that the barber was a 250-lb. dude with a shaved head and many tattoos. But once Lewis had flailed and yelled for a while, I guess he got tired; once I started singing "ABCD" to him over and over, he just looked at the window--probably dreaming he was in some far-off land, a land with no scissors and no diapers, a land where he could watch Baby Einstein all day long (instead of the 30 min. a day we allow him), a land where he could fall and fall and never hit his head.

Well, his hair's cut! And he looks fabulous. 

--Justin