A breakthrough weekend...

After a solid year of struggle, fret, and despair (mostly on my part), Nicholas walked into the bathroom on Saturday morning completely and totally of his own accord, climbed up onto the potty, and peed. No encouragement from me. No coaxing, no bribery, no M&M's to earn. He just did it. And he has done it every single time since then. Since 10AM Saturday morning, the boy has been 100% completely dry. Not a single accident....even completely dry overnight. What the hell? Where did this come from???

Nicholas has always reached every single developmental milestone in what we refer to as "Nicky time." When he turned two years old, he had not said a single word. He was not even babbling like babies typically do. We were more than a little concerned....especially since he and his sister were preemies. We were constantly on the lookout for developmental concerns. And since I dreamed almost nightly since I was pregnant with him about various devastating things being "wrong" with him, I was especially concerned. It did not help the matter that Sophie has always been verbal beyond her years. It is difficult for a parent of twins to refrain from constantly comparing the children. So when Nicky was not even babbling by two years of age, we got him into speech therapy. He was initially quiet in therapy. However, one day out of the blue, he just started talking...in complete sentences...like he had known how to do it all along and was just playing some sick, twisted game with his mommies. He went from NO language whatsoever to complete sentences with entire descriptive stories practically overnight. He has not stopped talking since. He talks more than any child I have ever met. Nicholas is like our own little auctioneer...we are willing to rent him our for cattle auctions if anyone needs him...just let us know.

Don't get me wrong, "Nicky time" does not always mean delayed. There are some things Nicholas has accomplished at breakneck speed. "Nicky time" simply refers to a sudden, abrupt accomplishment. For example, almost immediately after he began talking, we were more than a little surprised to find that Nicholas knew every single letter of the alphabet by sight....he knew both lower case and upper case letters. He also knew all of his colors and all of his shapes. This was nothing that we ever taught Nicholas. We were too concerned about the fact that he did not talk to even think about teaching him colors or numbers or letters. It's something he somehow just absorbed. Overnight, it seems, he was suddenly able to name them all.

I am excited to see what Nicholas will "suddenly" know or be able to accomplish next. Lucas is seven years old and cannot ride a bike without training wheels. Perhaps Nicholas will suddenly do that this summer. That would cause an uproar, I am sure. Or perhaps he will suddenly begin reading...he "pretends" to read constantly. He could conceivably suddenly begin speaking Spanish...he does watch a lot of Dora the Explorer. I always wanted a bilingual child. Or maybe he will begin doing algebra or calculus. Oohhh..perhaps he could do my taxes next year for me! Whatever he decides to do next, I am confident that Nicholas will accomplish any and every goal he sets his mind to. Maybe I can stop worrying about him now. Nawww...that's probably not going to happen. He is my baby, after all.