Happy New Year!

Hope all our family and friends found a great way to ring in the New Year.  I thought I'd take a moment to share some key achievement's of this blog's namesake.  In 2012 Malcolm:

• Started saying some real words.  He says several words consistently (no, ya, bye-bye, more) and will say many others with prompting and encouragement.  We are continuing weekly speech therapy sessions.
• Moved to the senior preschool room at his daycare - the last stop before public school next year.  He gets along well with his classmates and learns a lot from being included with all the other kids.  He is surrounded by many great little role models!
• Moved to a big boy bed.  We kept him in his crib as long as possible but he kept rolling around and banging various body parts on the side so it seemed past time to move him.  He has been doing great - settles down well at night and usually stays in his bed all night (though seems to have developed a habit of waking once and wanting a parent to go tuck him in again...not sure how to break that particular habit...).
• Played his first organized sport - soccer.  Just like his big brother, Malcolm played Timbits soccer every week.  A bit hairy at first, he seemed to manage better the second half of the season.
• Discovered electronics in a big way.  Adept with the TV controls and able to manage well on his Daddy's old iPod, Malcolm got an iPad for Christmas and it is amazing how well he can navigate it on his own.  We've already downloaded several apps for him - some meant to be 'educational' and others just for fun!

Some other neat stuff that Malcolm does:

• Gives his stuffed bear and stuffed dog a goodnight hug and kiss before carefully laying them down (facefirst) on either side of his pillow before he flops down for the night.  It has become an engrained part of his nightly routine.
• Goes up and down the stairs on his own.  Our stairs are bare wood and a bit slippery so for a long time I was too paranoid to let him go up and down on his own but he is actually really good at it and is quite good to hold onto the railing.
• Runs and gets his stool if we are doing something interesting in the kitchen.  Malcolm likes to help and doesn't want to miss out on the action so more and more he is joining in when cooking and baking are going on.
• Last month when I went to pick him up he ran over to the drying rack to get his artwork out and show it to me - the first time he has ever done that.
• We also got a Wii for Christmas (it was a big electronics year) but it is a bit beyond Malcolm at the moment.  When Donovan starts to play it, Malcolm runs to the counter, gets his stool, grabs his iPad and brings it in instead.  Very independent.

I could go on but you get the picture - Malcolm advanced by leaps and bounds in 2012.  His best friend, role model and cheerleader continues to be big brother Donovan.  We look forward to much continued progress in 2013.

Happy New Year!

Mary Ellen