Progress

I just had to share our progress with Ethan.  The kid refuses to talk, sign, look at people, or provide any form of communication whatsoever other than growling or screaming for the most part.  Recently he has begun repeating sounds - progress #1.  We have signing videos for little kids called Baby Signing Time that Brenden loved and Nolan was obsessed with.  Ethan has always wanted nothing to do with any form of tv (which I am generally fine with), but today he came to me, handed me the remote and signed "baby time."  He has never signed that before, so that is progress #2.  Ethan has also had a problem with his hearing aids for quite some time now and removes them often.  We have even taped them to his head.  As soon as I put in Baby Signing Time, Ethan watched the opening credits and then ran off.  I was ready to turn it off, assuming he had lost interest already when I noticed he had run off to get his hearing aids - progress #3!  

*Please note: Ethan was only NOT wearing his hearing aids because he was dressed and ready for bed with his teeth brushed.

We spent our day digging trenches through snow and ice in order to direct the water caused by the melting snow away from our house.  Doug also attempted a re-wiring job that was unsuccessful (not on account of Doug's inability to wire - he is quite capable, but due to the power required by the item we were trying to run).  Doug and I also trudged, property survey in hand, through knee high snow around the edge of our wooded yard in hopes of agreeing on the fencing situation.  No compromise has been reached.