Nicholas and Jolie

Here's Nicholas on Rufus during his Hippo Therapy. It took several tries before he would actually get on the horse, but now he loves it! He works on speech while he rides. I don't know how it works, but it is magic. Nicholas has been talking a lot more. I thought we'd be using sign language less, but he has really developed his own sign language and often uses it while he talks. It is very effective to help us figure out what he is talking about. Nicholas can recognize all the letters in the alphabet and knows the ASL alphabet. Jordan, our sign language teacher, suggested we teach him the ASL alphabet by handing him a letter block and then showing him the sign for it and I am so glad he did. Nicholas may not be able to talk like a typical almost four year old, but he can spell and read several words.

Nicholas' new obsessions is light bulbs. He points to lights and says, "Wite Bobs!" He likes to help Adrian change light bulbs and wants to do it all the time. He is still obsessed with Fun World, which blows my mind since he's only been there a few times and it was a long time ago. Every time, and I mean every time we load up in the car, Nicholas asks, "Fun World?" We are planning to celebrate his fourth birthday there and I can hardly wait to load up the car and finally say "YES!" when he asks his question.

Nicholas is also going potty every morning when he wakes up. He stays dry all night! It is the only time I can convince him to go and he fights me on the issue, but he's usually too tired to run away so he just does it. Afterwards he says, "Did it!" and he gets an M&M. I am starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel that I will be free of diaper duty one day soon. Mollie was 18 months old when Nicholas was born, so I've been changing diapers every day for 5 years. I wonder what I'll do with the extra money we'll be saving?


Jolie played the role of the detective in "Clue the Musical" last week at the White County High School. This is her 7th year she has been involved and performed with the Mainstage Players. Here is a scene where she is questioning Professor Plum played by Nick Mitchell.