Major Milestones

I am in the process of a major milestone in my own life in that I am leaving the field of ABA, stepping away from working with children, and embarking on a career in real estate.

Here's my official announcement:

I am so excited to make this change

My last day at the Emerald Coast Autism Center will be this coming Friday.  It is hard to say goodbye to such a wonderful organization, and I will stay actively involved in its fundraising as well as volunteer opportunities, but the time has come for my mama energy to be spent on my own high energy toddler.

I have been balancing both jobs for the past three weeks, throwing in a double ear infection and stomach bug for Xander during that time, all while Daniel is away with work (the end is in sight!  He should be coming home fairly soon!!!).  It has been a lot, and yet, I have felt more excited than anxious throughout.  I feel like this is confirmation that I am making the right move.  It helps tremendously that I am joining an incredibly strong and well-established team, with a friend and neighbor I have known for years, Paula Sherman.

 

Alexander continues to amaze me as he approaches a year and a half.

He knows so many animals by either name or sound:

name- puppy and turtle

sound- elephant, cow, horse, pig, duck, cat, dinosaur and lion (both roar, of course), sheep and goat (the angriest bleat you've ever heard!), monkey, and crocodile (there are no gators in this house!).  I'm sure I'm missing some.  He loves to read books with animals and make all the sounds

He likes trucks and cars, but is all about animals

He has jumped with both feet off the ground at least four times that I have seen

At work with me on a Sunday.  Let's make an offer!

He is starting to have some two syllable words beyond cracker, like thank you (sounds like tissue), Leaha ('eeee-ah') and muffin ('muh-no')

He has become super snuggly which I absolutely love.  He was never this way as an infant, but he loves hugs and sitting in laps to read books

Snuggles with Lydia at Finest on the Emerald Coast

He still loves school so much, and walks around the school looking for his Aunt Leaha, making sure everyone knows that she is part of his inner circle.  The other day they had to write an incident report that read, "ran into door frame while looking at Ms. Leaha, bruised forehead."

He and Zoey are great friends now, though they do still antagonize each other on occasion.  

They play soccer together a lot, and he is getting better about gentle petting and not falling on her for hugs.  She still barks in his face and jumps on his crib every time we go in to get him from sleeping.

I am so blessed to spend Mother's Day with this boy and my princess puppy!!