It's been a while since I have written an update on Evan, so I thought I would take some time to do just that!

We got a great report on April 1 regarding his MRI. Tumor is all gone, and brain is looking great.
Evan has been completely off his medication for about a month now, and his vocabulary is expanding.

He went from saying a handful of words (literally, like 5) only when prompted or under stress or frustration... to saying about 20 words daily with little or no prompting!

Since his surgery in December...

• I remember there were days when Evan wouldn't say a single word.
• I remember when his teacher at school said she had never heard him talk.
• I remember feeling like nothing was working, and wondering if he would always be behind.
• I remember getting so frustrated because Evan seemed to lack the motivation to want to communicate with us... and I wondered if that would ever change.

But now... we have reached some major milestones!

• Just this week we have watched Evan line up toys in a row.
• He loves puzzles and books. Which is a huge deal. 5 months ago he could not stay engaged in even a short book, but now he asks to read (says BOOK, and MORE BOOK) over and over. We will read for 30 minutes at a time and he stays engaged. Same with puzzles. Mama tears flowing over here at the amazing progress I see in my baby.
• He requests for things with his words or signs instead of screaming at me and then having to play a guessing game for what he wants.
• He can walk (some places) by himself, without running off. Examples would be... from the car door to the school door and into his class. From the car door to the house door (as opposed to running into the street), and to the car door and then waiting by the car for me to open his door. Major progress!
• He points to communicate.
• And he talks every day!

Some of my favorite words he says are...

• Dinosaur!
• Book
• Banana
• Mama 😍
• Truck
• Bye bye
• Belly
• Please

He says a lot more... his favorite words are...

• Bup (UP)
• Balls
• Milk

Guys, we are so grateful. And so amazed at how far he has come in a (relatively) short time.
I look at the photo of how much of his brain was removed, and I am just in awe that he can fuction as well as he does.

Some things we are currently struggling with...

• Sleep. The poor kid (and I will go ahead and say parents) hasn't slept well since his surgery. He is up at least once a night and usually ends up in our bed. Sometimes kicking us for two hours... and then is up at insane hours in the morning (usually before 6 am). We would love for him to start sleeping in his own bed, through the night, and for 10 hours minimum. That seems reasonable, right?
• Hitting/Aggression. Not sure what happened, but my sweet boy who wouldn't hurt a fly has turned into an angry toddler. Prayers for this phase to pass quickly and for everyone to stay safe.
• Defiant behavior... I write all these things down, and it's just like... typical two year old behavior. But to me it seems harder to discipline a child who you wonder whether they are fully understanding what you are saying to them. But this is just like... climbing on things, spitting out his drinks, putting things in his mouth, knocking our pictures off the walls... over and over and over again. And not stopping when I aski him to stop or redirect him. Anyways, mom rant over.
• Clumsiness. Evan has taken three injuries to his head in the past 10 days... tripping, falling, and running into things... Not sure if this is brain related, but if it continues, I will be contacting his pediatrician to make sure we aren't missing anything.

That about sums it up... Thanks for keeping up with us!