His name is Joel.

A quick review of our progress with Joel.

He was our "baby C", and was severely wedged into my ribcage. This resulted in "Positional Plagiocephaly", or a flat head from birth. He suffered from prematurity the most (yep, even though he was only 5 weeks early!), and he's suffered from significant developmental delays.

Recently we have made some HUGE leaps and bounds forward. It's been so rewarding to hear him say, "Hi" with a corresponding wave. He also started growling, and meowing. Compared to the complete and total non-existence of verbal skills (early intervention tested him out at 4 month expressive communication when he was 16 months old) .... we are ecstatic. The Autism Center in Pittsburgh was supposed to see Joel this summer, but with the recent developments we have decided to hold off on a diagnoses until he's 2. He's receiving services anyway. More than likely Joel DOES have PDD-NOS, or pervasive developmental disorder; non-specific Autism, but I am not in a rush to label him if we are making headway on our own (with the HUGE help of early intervention services).

He is a happy, sweet, healthy little boy. His favorite thing is food, and he eats, and eats, and eats some more. His favorite sibling is Reagan, he worships her, and his best friend is Addison. When I get out the choo-choo wagon, 90% of the time the two of them climb into the first car together ...sitting side by side. It's very cute. :)

Joel loves to sleep, and he goes to bed easily. He still sleeps about 15 hours a day (including his 2-3 hour nap!), and seems to love life. He still gets crabby and bangs his head into the floor, but even that has started to subside. He's a BIG boy at 26 pounds (they are all 18 months old now)... and just cute as a button. He loves having his picture taken, and the camera loves him too!

So our update on Joel is pretty great! He's still extremely behind, but we are making headway, and I wanted to thank all of you who have kept him in your prayers. He's doing beautifully.