A beautiful Golden Retriever (and her owner) walked by our house last week. Ronan ran to meet her and as we stood there chatting I realized that our dog Xander would be 7 years old now, wow. (We had to put him to sleep 5 years ago due to uncontrollable epilepsy.) I don't generally miss having a dog. In fact I don't really think of myself as a dog person. But he was a really good, calm, sweet dog and I do miss him.

Ever since we met that dog I've had dogs on the brain. I've perused rescue sites and petfinder.com. I know it is completely crazy--at the very least we should wait until Ro is a bit older and we have more money. Heaven knows pets are expensive! And there are so many reasons that a dog is the last thing we need. But as one of my friends said, the decision to add a dog to the family is a bit like the decision to add a child--rarely based on the most logical and rational reasons.

Derek is holding pretty firm with a "No" vote right now. Thank goodness one of us hasn't lost their mind.

And, I might add, I am talking about getting a dog--not a puppy. I'm not quite that far off the deep end!

But, because I apparently am a glutton for punishment, I took Ronan to PetSmart today when we were running errands. The local humane society brings a few of their adoptable animals there on the weekends. Of course I fell in love with the 2-year-old gentle German Pointer who rested his head on my leg and let Ronan lay on him. I can't stop thinking about him and looking at his picture on their website.

Okay, maybe I am that far off the deep end.

*sigh*

Quick updates to yesterday's post:

Today Ronan was either naked or in underwear the entire time we were home and awake--about 3 hours in the morning and 4 in the afternoon/evening--and didn't have any accidents! He used a diaper when we were running errands, then he pooped in a diaper after nap but held his pee until he could sit on his potty after the diaper change. I am finding that he can go 2-3 hours between pees. Maybe he really is ready?!? Working on letting go of my reservations and really embracing this... 

Just please oh please, I don't want to do PLing twice like I did with Lily. Long story short--PLed and in undies for 2 mos, stubborn toddler decided to quit, back in diapers for 10 mos, then PLed again. Argh that was frustrating!

Also, Ronan started saying "a lot" and he says it very clearly. Woohoo for a new phrase! 

...just not sure whether it will be a short or long road this time!

Ronan is getting pretty good at using his potty first thing in the morning and after naps. He also wants to go after every diaper change (and doesn't want to put another diaper back on). If I let him run around naked he may go and use the potty, or we may sit there multiple times before he eventually leaves a puddle on the floor somewhere. Today he asked to go in the middle of the day and he actually went, and his diaper was dry. We are spending a lot of time in the bathroom right now!

I am not very good about relaxing during this process. Yesterday we actually left for a playgroup earlier than necessary, just so I could have the relief of putting a diaper on him for a while. I have put him in undies a few times to run around the house. He looks awfully cute in them but he doesn't really understand the point of them. He would rather be naked and have free access to his penis, LOL.

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On a completely unrelated note, a few people have asked how Ronan's speech therapy is going, so here's an update!

We were really lucky to get a friend and fellow member of our AP group as our SLP. She is wonderful and fun, my kids all love her, and I know she understands us. Now if Ronan starts asking for milk I don't have to pretend that he wants a glass of milk from the fridge. ;) She has been coming to our house every other week to work with Ronan (and us). It is going pretty well. He has started babbling more, is attempting a lot more words, and has added to his vocabulary a bit.

We are also working on signing so that Ronan has another way of communicating with us. He was not particularly interested in them as a baby, and he is still not using many, but he is beginning to get it. Sometimes he does kind of gibberish signing, where he waves his hands around randomly--aware that he can get things by signing, but not knowing the real sign to use!

Our speech therapist has helped us to see that they way he acquires language is unique to him. It is not necessarily the "normal" way or the way our other kids did. I was trying so hard to give him words for the things around him but he's not very interested in labeling things. He is much more into moving and going and how things work, so words like more, again, on, off, stop, and go are much more useful to him! It seems simple enough now, but it had never occurred to me. 

We are still a long way from the 25-50 words and two-word sentences that a lot of toddlers his age have. There are still only a handful of words/sounds that I would recognize without context. It was a little hard for me to realize that there are no exact answers out there... no one can tell me why Ronan's speech is delayed and no one can tell me when he will catch up. But I do feel like we are making progress, and that's something.