Talk tools

This is just a quick post to provide some information about what's new with Kevin's therapy.  The therapist has been using and recommending a variety of things to strengthen Kevin's mouth and cheek muscles.  Some of these include:  sipping applesauce through a "crazy straw," sipping through coffee stirrers (those tiny straws), bubble blowing, whistles, gumming down on popsicle sticks, etc.  

The popsicle stick was interesting.  After Kevin pursed his lips onto a popsicle stick and said "Mmmmm!" for just a minute or so, he was immediately able to pronounce words that begin with the letter M.  Amazing!  

I feel like he is definitely taking great strides forward.  Although he still tends to communicate a lot through gestures, he's a lot more open now to the idea of communicating verbally.  He's even started to try out new words spontaneously, words that we have not practiced with him.  

Occasionally he still refuses to say anything.  I'm learning tricks to help him, though.  For example, I will pull out photos of our Disney trip or a souvenir photo book and he will eagerly point out attractions that we saw and will try to name them!  After doing that for a few minutes, he kind of "warms up" and is willing to say more words.  Sometimes I'll try to get him to "warm up" before his speech therapy in order to ensure that he will have a good session with the therapist.  

It's a real joy to see my son being able to express himself to some degree with others.  I see how his little face lights up when he is able to be understood.  

Here's a blog that I came across when I first started looking into apraxia.  The little boy reminded me of Kevin, both with his speech and his appearance!  There are some videos posted of the boy's progress along with some interesting information about apraxia.  You might find it interesting to take a look at it.  

http://jenkrause.com/blog/

With time and lots of patience, we can and will overcome this Apraxia of Speech!

Prayers

I'd thought I'd share a couple of quotes from Sarah today.

One of her prayers this week:
"Jehovah God, please help me to stop screaming and please help Kevin to stop drooling."

A conversation in the car today:
Sarah:  "Mommy, does it tickle your belly when someone has a baby in their belly?"
Me:  "I guess it does sometimes, when the baby kicks."
Sarah:  "Well, tonight when I say my prayers, I'm going to ask Jehovah to put a baby in my belly so I can be a mommy."
Me:  "You have to be big to have a baby in your belly."
Sarah:  "Big?  Like 5 years old?"
Me:  "No. Big like Mommy."
Sarah:  "Oh, ok.  So when I pray tonight, I'm going to ask Jehovah if he can first of all make me big like you so that he can put a baby in my belly."

I just don't think she gets it.

It's back by popular demand!

It has been forever and a day since I've posted anything new on this blog.  However, I've had several people asking me lately about when I'd be updating it.  So, here we go!

We've been very busy lately.  Last month we had an absolutely wonderful time in Disney World!  We were gone almost two weeks, which is the longest trip that we have taken yet with the kids.  Since we drove to Florida, which was about a 16 hour drive, we expected to have some rough spots.  But, the whole trip was everything that we could have hoped for, and more!  We stayed on Disney property, which made it even more special.  

One moment that I'll always remember was when Sarah met her first princess, Belle.  It's as if she was transported to some other world.  She had stars in her eyes and was completely awestruck by being in the presence of such royalty!  It was adorable.  We were able to ride almost all of the rides and see many of the shows, since the lines were not long at all.  Sarah got a stomach bug halfway through the trip and was down and out for almost 2 days.  Because of that, we decided to stay an extra day.  

Basically, it was a top notch vacation!  We've already started talking about trying to start up a fund to go again one of these years.

Next up was a garage sale, which took a lot of time and effort to prepare for.  We sold so much stuff!  More than even the money, though, I feel a huge relief of having all of those items out of my life.  I find that I'm a lot less stressed when I have very little clutter.  

On to Kevin's speech, which is actually supposed to be the focus of this blog, isn't it?  We've been in speech almost 6 months now.  It's hard to believe!  He's made so much progress.  I'll give you some examples.

Earlier today, he finished his milk.  When I asked him what he wanted, he responded with 2 words, "More, please!"  It was more like "Mo, pee!", but I understood.  He can pronounce all of his vowels and can say words with 1, 2, and 3 syllables.  He's putting 2 words together and verbally identifying many objects.  I still have to prompt him by saying, "Use your words," in order to encourage him to talk and not just to point.  He can name many of his favorite characters, such as Dora, Dumbo (Buh-bo), Donald Duck (Dah-duh-duh), etc.  I can ask him if he'd prefer water, milk, or juice and then understand his answer.  When we're playing a game, he can say "my turn!" (my tuh).  The therapist seems to feel that he's progressing well.  I believe that we should have a 6 month evaluation soon and can know how far he's progressed.

Here's a video.  Be sure to check out the serious photobombing that's going on by Sarah at the beginning of the video!

That's all for now.  I'll try to update this blog a little more frequently than I have been doing.  A great big hello to all of my followers!

3 little words

I heard something today that made so much sense that I just have to share it.  Children's attention span is so short that it's often limited to the time that it takes to say three words.  Think about it.  As parents, our entire day is spent speaking in three word sentences.

Don't do that!
Don't touch that!
Don't eat that!
Stop hitting Kevin!
I said NO!
Hey! Hey! Hey!
Where are you?
Stop that NOW!
Stop kicking Sarah!
Listen to me!
Just do it!
Quit licking me!
Where's my phone?
Quit interrupting me!
Eat your food!
I mean it!

Some days feel very long because, if I'm home alone with the kids, every conversation is rapid-fire and doesn't make a lot of sense.  Sometimes people ask me why we don't speak more Spanish at the house.  I answer them by saying that, honestly, I don't have time.  I don't have the time to translate things into Spanish, since everything that I say has to be done quickly and in three words or less.

That's my life.
It's pretty weird.
Loud and frantic.
All day long.
What's yours like?

Fish Oil

  Because this is supposed to officially be a blog to track Kevin's progress, I feel as if I need to mention the newest thing that I'm trying with him.  Two days ago, I started Kevin on fish oil supplements.

  It seems like when I research apraxia of speech online, I keep coming across the idea that fish oil supplements may help.  Basically, the idea is that fish oil is something that we all should include in our diet, but don't.  Or we don't include it enough.  Fish oil contains high concentrates of Omega 3 and Omega 6.  Some foods that have high amounts of this are fish, flaxseed, almonds, broccoli, and others.

  The Omega 3s and 6s basically add a little fatty deposit on the brain connections, insulating them.  I'm honestly not too sure of how this all works, but some people swear that it has helped their kids tremendously.  Others claim that it has made little or no difference at all.  Fish oil is supposed to be good for a variety of physical and neurological conditions.

  I would like to try to include more fish oil in our diet.  However, I personally don't like fish too much!  I'm going to try to do a little bit more of it, though!  Also, I've been sprinkling flaxseed on sandwiches, etc.  But, the main thing that I'm doing is giving Kevin a fish oil supplement every day.  Apparently the taste of fish oil is pretty nasty.  What I got for him is a kid's version of fish oil.  It's supposed to have a berry flavor.  He still won't take it straight, though.  But if I put it in his apple juice, he eventually gets it all down.  I've already talked to his therapist and told her what we will be trying.  Now we just have to wait and see if it makes any difference!

A quick update

  Life is so busy.  I often wish that I had more time to do extra things, such as updating a blog!  Usually, though, I find myself just trying to keep up with what things are absolutely necessary, such as the never-ending laundry pile, potty training adventures, mountains of dishes, and trying to teach my kids right from wrong.  However, I will take a few minutes tonight to give everyone a quick update on Kevin's speech.

  We've been in speech therapy for 3 months now.  The therapist feels that we'll be in speech therapy for probably another 3-4 years.  The homework that she's sending home is getting progressively more difficult.  We've been encouraging Kevin to attempt some 2 syllable words, along with some basic two word combinations.

  He still says "Bah," "Dah," "Wah," and "Lah" a lot.  However, we're gradually seeing some other sounds and words creeping into his vocabulary.  Off and on, he will say basic words that are understandable to me and his dad.

Some examples of some of his two syllable words are:
 "Tato" when he wants to play with Mr. Potato head
 "Wahwah" for water
"Tay-Tay" for Tee-tee (we're potty training, remember?)
"Weh-Wuh" for Sarah
"Mah-meh" for Mommy and "Dah-deh" for Daddy
"Dora!"--his celebrity crush
"PahPah" for iPod
"Dahdoo" for thank you
Etc.

You can see in this video that he's getting more fluent with putting syllables together.  Before starting speech, he would only make one syllable sounds.  His therapist started with one syllable words, then two, and now we're trying 3.  Even though he can't really pronounce the words yet, repeating the words over and over is ear training.  If you listen closely to the video, you can hear differences in his vowel sounds and some variations in the consonants.

Slow and steady, steady and slow.  That's the way we always go!

A Rant

A speech delay is not always an obvious condition.  Because of this, people find it hard to understand.  Honestly, I'd say that 50-75% of people who find out that Kevin is in therapy don't understand why or flat-out don't agree with it.  I'll give you an example.  This conversation occurred today.

Kevin told a lady "Wah!"  I explained to the lady that that's how Kevin says hi.  The lady asked if he was still in speech therapy.  When I said yes, she asked if he'd be in it for a couple more months.  I told her that he'll be in it for a few more years.

She replied that her nephew didn't talk until he was three or four years old.  When I tried to explain to her that Kevin has a special condition that he needs help to overcome, she started telling me how easy it is to spoil children, that giving them too much attention, such as therapy at such a young age, can actually harm them, instead of benefiting them.  Basically, she feels that I'm overreacting. She said, "He looks just fine!"

This is the way many people that I talk to feel about Kevin's therapy.  More often then not, people feel that all children learn at their own rate and that I have absolutely no reason for concern.  Personally, I find it hard not to take offense or feel hurt at some of the comments I hear.

I will honestly admit that I have trouble understanding all of the different conditions or delays that children can have.  For instance, when I go to speech therapy and hear other mothers talking about "sensory disorders," "food therapy," and things like that, I can't pretend that I really understand.  But what I do know is that these mothers love their children very much.  They see something in their children that may not be immediately obvious to the rest of us.  But just because at kid may be beautiful and appear to act normal, this doesn't mean that there may be an underlying issue that needs attention.  And as an outsider, we certainly don't have the right to tell other parents what's right or wrong for their kids.

There.  I've had my rant.  The good thing about ranting and raving out to cyberspace is that a computer screen just listens and doesn't interrupt!  And thanks to all of you loyal supporters out their who are encouraging us on this journey through Apraxia of Speech.

The diagnosis

This morning, after Kevin's therapy session, the therapist pulled me into her office.  She told me that, after having worked with Kevin for several months now, she feels that he does have Apraxia of Speech.

Apparently, she was hesitant to talk with me about this, since many mothers tend to freak out when they receive a diagnosis regarding their child.  Having already done my research, however, I was fully expecting to find out that Kevin has apraxia.

It's good to know exactly what's going on with Kevin so that I can find better ways to help him progress.  Realistically, though, having a name to Kevin's problem doesn't really make a difference in our lives.  We'd be going to speech therapy one way or the other!

What the therapist did tell me is that she feels that Kevin is progressing nicely so far.  She feels that he will learn to speak correctly.  Her guess is that by the time he goes to school, he'll be able to express himself nicely, although he'll probably still be in speech therapy at that point.

As a reminder to all of my readers (few that they may be!), Childhood Apraxia of Speech is a condition that is caused by, basically, a lack of coordination between the brain and the mouth.  Kevin understands everything that's said to him and knows what he wants to say.  However, he is not sure of how to move his mouth and tongue in order to produce the right sounds.

So, it looks like we'll be in speech therapy for the long haul!  I'll keep everyone posted as time goes on.

A dream

Last night, I dreamed that I had purchased a big dumpster to replace my laundry basket.  Seriously, I had THAT MUCH laundry in my dream!  Can you tell that I'm a little behind on laundry right now?

Quick Speech Update

It's been a little while since I've mentioned Kevin's speech.  I feel that he's made a nice improvement after only about 2 months of speech therapy.

He now calls me "Mama," not just "BahBah."  He says "Da-dey," instead of just "DaDa."  He can say a variety of words that use the O sound.  Also, he now notices how many syllables are in a word.  For instance, if he's trying to say butterfly, he'll make a word of 3 syllables, such as "luh-luh-lah."  Before starting speech therapy, he'd only say words of one syllable.  I know he still has a long ways to go, but it's good to see improvement!  There are some words that he now says extremely clearly, such as "Dora!"  Also, he will greet people when he sees them.  When he tries to say hi, it comes out more like "Why!"  But, before, he wouldn't take the initiative to greet people.  It's all small steps, but we're seeing a lot of small steps.

I'm happy!

And the results are in!

For those of you who read my last blog, you may be interested in the results of yesterday's potty party.  The party went really well.  Kevin had a great time.  We had decorations, games, presents, treats, party hats, etc.  The whole nine yards.  

I believe that the party taught him how to recognize if his underwear is wet or dry, that all waste goes in the potty, and that it's a really great thing for him to go in the potty.  I had hoped for him to poop in the potty during the course of the party, but that just didn't happen.  He did urinate many times, though, during the party.

This morning, I started him off in underwear, not pull-ups.  He stayed dry until about 12:30 or so, which is when he had his first accident.  For several hours today, he absolutely refused to go on the potty.  That was scary.  I think he felt that the pressure was on for him to perform.

So I started wracking my brain, trying to remember what worked for Sarah.  Aha!  I remembered the food coloring trick!  I explained to Kevin that if he'd go on the potty, I'd put a drop of food coloring in the water.  Sarah overheard this conversation and got excited.  She started begging to go first, which she did.  Of course, then Kevin got all excited about it.

So the upshot of it all is that Kevin once again started going on the potty.  He had many accidents today, but he also had many successes.  I'm using lots of treats and stickers, and I feel that it's having a good effect.  My goal is to have things basically under control by September, which is when we will be going on a family vacation.

Woohoo!!  Potty parties rule!

The decorations:

The morning session:  Playing games while potty training the baby doll.

Lots of things to drink:

The lunchtime party for the baby doll:

The evening congratulations party with the whole family:

We're having a party!

We're having a party on Friday.  A potty party, that is!  Have you not heard of these yet?  Let me explain.

When Sarah was two and half, she refused to use the bathroom on the potty.  I tried every trick that I could come up with, but without success.  Finally, one day I was in Walmart and saw a book by Teri Crane entitled "Potty Train Your Child in Just One Day." 

I thought it sounded crazily impossible.  But by this point, I was desperate, and splurged on the book.  Well, I am now a believer!  It worked for Sarah.  By the end of the day, she was basically potty trained.  It took about 3-4 more days to complete the process, but it was done.

So, on Friday, it'll be time for Kevin's potty party.  Here's the basic idea:

The house gets decorated with balloons, streamers, etc.  In the morning, the child teaches a doll how to go on the potty.  The doll has some success, some "accidents."  (I will wet the doll's diapers with a sponge when Kevin's not looking.  Also, I have chocolate pudding for bad accidents!)  The baby doll gets lots of treats for his efforts.  Finally, at lunch time, the baby doll gets a potty thrown for him, since he's now a big boy and doesn't need diapers!  There are noisemakers, toys for the doll, the whole nine yards.

After lunch, you explain to the child that now it'll be their turn.  If they also learn how to use the potty, they will get a party, too.   You put the child in underwear, not diapers.  Then you start giving the kid tons of fun things to drink.  I have silly straws, caprisuns, koolaid, Dr Pepper, juice, water, you name it.  You throw caution to the wind on potty party days when it comes to junk food.  The drinks give the kids lots of opportunities to use the bathroom.  If the child's underwear is dry, you make a huge deal out of it, using stickers on charts, treats, etc.  I will decorate a muffin tin and place a variety of small treats in each hole for him to chose from, such as M n Ms, chocolate chips, little crackers, etc.  Then, if the child goes in the potty, you scream, holler, dance around the room, act as if it's the greatest thing since sliced bread.

After all is said and done, you have a potty party.  Sarah and her dad

 will come back home for this aspect of things.  I have presents (for both kids), a cake mix, we can play games, etc.  As part of the party, Kevin will throw his pull-ups in the trash.  (I will still use something similar, however, for night time for a while.)  We will go out to eat at Chucky Cheese afterwards to continue the celebration.

This worked for Sarah.  She was refusing to go at all.  But during the potty party day, she went on the potty 7 times and then went to Chucky Cheese in underwear!  Kevin already goes on the potty several times a day.  However, he absolutely will not have a bowel movement in the potty.  I'm hoping that this party will encourage that.  I'm going to try to focus on that a little more, since he already can urinate in the potty.

It's a crazy way of doing it, but it does work!  At least, we're hoping it does!

http://www.tericrane.com/about_book.shtml

A visitor

This weekend, my sister came to visit.  Since she lives three and a half hours away, her visits are always special occasions.  This time was no exception!

This morning, we went to several garage sales.  My sister and I both bought some clothes.  Sarah brought her allowance with her in a ziplock bag.  She had almost $3 saved up.  At each garage sale, she ran up, hoping to find toys for sale.  Then she'd go up to the person running the garage sale, show them a toy, ask how much it was, and pay for it.  She's learning how things work!  Her best find was a remote control car that actually works.  She got it for a quarter!

In the afternoon, my sister and the kids played in the small kids pool we have on the patio.  She had brought several big water squirters as gifts for the kids.  I, however, had no desire to get wet.  So I stayed a safe distance away--inside the house!

A side point--I downloaded an app that is supposed to teach you how to draw cartoon characters.  My sister and I started out dubiously.  Amazingly, though, both of us were able to draw a recognizable Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny!  Fun!  When was the last time you sat down and attempted to draw?

The summertime blues

  Looking back on my childhood, summer was definitely the best time of year.  No school, no shoes, and no worries.  I want it to be that way for my kids, too.  Today I started to make a list of summer activities I can do with my kids that cost very little or are free.  If you have any ideas to add to my list, please let me know!  

the schools in town offer free lunches during the summer

story hour at the library

the theater shows movies for $1 several times a week

there is a splash pad that the kids can play in for free

library

park

a place where you can bounce on lots of "bouncy houses" for $4

a kid's museum that we have in town (also $4)

riding bikes

picking berries

playing in our little pool outside

hiking (when it's not too hot)

swimming in the lake near our house

baking cookies

help Sarah make a lemonade stand (she might be too little for this, still)

go to garage sales

play at the playground at Burger King

Notice that the sprinkler is NOT on this list.  (Refer back to my recent post on dirtiness.)

Do you have any other suggestions?

Why are my kids always so dirty?

  Before I had kids, I'd go to other people's houses and take a long look at their kids.  It seemed to me that every kid under the age of 5 always had boogers running down their nose, a grimy face, and yesterday's lollipop residue still on their hand.  I was critical of the parents of these kids, thinking that if I were to ever have a kid, sure, my kids would get grimy and sticky.  BUT, I'd be on top of things.  I'd clean up their messes quickly, before things got out of hand.  My kid would never be seen in public or around other people  in such raggedy condition.  After all, how hard could it be to keep a kid relatively clean?

  Well, let me tell you something.  Kids are a mess.  They LOVE being dirty and gravitate towards grime.  If there is one mud puddle in the yard, they will immediately find it and jump in it over and over.  When they pick a lollipop, it will inevitably be blue.  And that blue will drip down their cute little chin and down onto the clothes right before you have to leave for the store.  Then, they will use their hands (which will be covered with blue lollipop grime), to pick up rocks in the parking lot.  When you tell them to stop, they will wipe their hands on their clothes.  It never ends.  None of this is an exaggeration.  No, this is really how life is with kids.

  Case in point:  This afternoon, the kids were bored.  Since it was warm and beautiful outside, I thought about our sprinkler.  I could put on their bathing suits and let them play in the water.  Of course, I immediately realized the fact that the sprinkler produces muddy ground.  So, I used my brain.  I got out a piece of tarp from the shed to put under the sprinkler.  That way, they could slide and jump on the tarp, while getting wet and avoiding muddy feet.  Boy, was I ever wrong.

  They completely avoided the tarp and focused on the mud that the sprinkler created right on the side of the tarp.  And I mean really focused.  They sat in the mud, jumped in it. threw it at each other, filled buckets with the stuff, and dumped it onto the tarp.  They were filthy, filthy, filthy.

  I actually brought a bar of soap outside and used the hose and soap to try to get the bulk of mud off of them while they were still outside.  Then I used towels to scoop up the kids and get them in the bathroom and into the tub.  It was awful.

  After this whole ordeal, I had to bathe two kids, wash the hair of two kids, run a load of laundry, clean the bathtub, clean the sink, and I still need to sweep and mop.  If I EVER EVER mention to anyone of you out their that I might get out the sprinkler and let the kids play in it on any given day, please refer me to this post. I think that my kids are still too young to play in the sprinkler.  Maybe I'll try again in a few years.

Babbling

I just thought I'd post an update about Kevin's speech.  He's been in speech therapy for a little over 3 weeks now.  He is making more sounds.  I've especially noticed an improvement in his vowels.  Also, he will say words with two syllables.  Examples:  bo-bo, wah-wah (water), Weh-Wuh (Sarah), Doh-uh (Dora), etc.  Also, he's begun to babble.  This is probably along the lines of what a 9 or 10 month old would do.  But, somehow it seems that Kevin kind of passed over that stage.  As soon as he started trying to talk, he'd say one syllable sounds.  Up to 3 weeks ago, those sounds were limited exclusively to "Bah, Dah, Wah, and Lah."  

This is a video of Kevin babbling happily.  That is, until a spoon accidentally gets dropped on his head!  My poor baby!  However, you can tell by the video that he is making marked improvement in his speech.  If you're curious, you can look back at the February 21st post entitled, "Trying to Get Appointments."  Although he still says his favorite 4 syllables often, we're hearing a bigger variety of words now.

Bath time

I am dedicating this post to two types of people:
1.  Childless people
2.  People whose children are now grown

If you fall into the first category, this is to give you a realistic idea of what life is like with kids.  Children are a wonderful, priceless gift from God, and we love them with a love deeper than you imagine is even possible.  HOWEVER, it's not all about ribbons and bows, deciding on what diaper bag is cuter, or watching a child take his first steps.

If you're in the second category, this may take you down Memory Lane.  (minus the technological parts, of course.)  While reading this, please let it stir up your compassion for those of us who are currently raising small children.  Please understand why we may often be late for things, consider that Spaghetti-Oh's may actually have a serving of vegetables, and have a drool spot on our shoulder.

So let's get to the point.  I'm going to describe how I managed to take a bath tonight, WHILE my kids were still awake, as opposed to after their bedtime.

First of all, I decided to let them watch a show to keep them calm.  Good idea, right?  I picked a "Go, Diego, Go!" episode on YouTube.  It was in Spanish, which I figured would be considered educational at the same time.  After putting in on, I quickly hopped into the bath.

Well, Sarah promptly fell out of her chair and came crying into the bathtub.  She was not injured in the least, in my opinion.  Whatever my opinion, however, I had to halfway get out of the tub in order to kiss the offended body part.  I settled back down to my bath.

Next, Kevin turned up the volume of the show to 100 percent.  When this happened, I'm sure even our neighbors could hear Diego rescuing the dolphin!  At this point, both kids came crying into the bathroom with their hands over their ears.  Even though they both know how to turn down the volume, they refused since it hurt their ears to go into the living room. So I got out of the tub and wrapped up in a towel.  I traipsed across the house, leaving wet footprint marks over the floor that JUST GOT MOPPED this afternoon!  I turned the volume back to normal.  Back in the tub.

Less than 5 minutes later, both kids ran in upset again.  This time, Kevin had pushed the button on the wireless router, effectively turning off the internet.  Thus, no Diego.

This ended my bath.  I got out and got dressed.  Then I quickly wiped both kids down head to toe with a soapy towel and called that a bath, brushed their teeth, and put on their pajamas.  I chose a book to read to them that had a total of about 10 pages.  Then, night-night for them.

Whew!

This may help explain why we mothers of small children always wear our hair in ponytails.  We simply can't figure out how to get it washed!

Good night, everyone!

Stereotypical child behavior:  Sarah playing her baby doll and Kevin thrilled to find a bug!

a minute in the life of a 2 year old

And just for fun:

I just decided to turn on my camera and record Kevin for one minute.  This is just typical behavior of a 2 year old.  Nothing fancy or unusual.  You can see his little brain trying to think of interesting things to do.  Notice his Dora and Boots toys, as well as his Diego shoes.  He's completely hooked on those characters!

Messy habits

My children have developed 2 very messy habits these last few weeks.  The first is taking EVERY book off of their bookcases.  The second is taking EVERY toy out of their toybox.  Since we tend to accumulate both books and toys, this is a big problem.  I can't seem to make them stop doing this.  I try to get them to help pick things up afterwards.  They help to some degree.  But if you're a parent, you know how it is.  I plead and threaten until the kids until they start helping.  But, in the end, the bulk of the work falls upon me.  If I were to insist on them picking up all of the toys and books, it would take all day and would cause me even more frustration.  They do help somewhat, though.

Before having kids, I would have thought that a parent just "needs to teach their kids not to make such messes."  Also, I would have thought that the parent INSIST on the kids picking up every single toy.  Now that I'm a mother, I see things in a different light.  It's not easy to teach kids things.  They will do the same weird, silly, or disobedient thing 10 times before they finally obey once.  Also, sometimes parents just have to get things done, even if it involves jumping in there and doing it themselves.

On a different note, twice today, Kevin said the long "A" sound when practicing his vowels!  He'll be talking one day.  I just know it!

Sarah's room

Kevin's room

Chili Chili Chili

This afternoon, we had 29 people over for supper.  I was unsure of what to cook for so many people, and finally decided on chili.  (otherwise known as frito pie.)  It was very crowded--I and some others actually ate standing up.  Also, it was extremely loud.  There were at least 8 kids under the age of 12, at least 6 teenagers, and the rest were adults.  Even though it's a lot of work and some stress to have a houseful of company, I always really enjoy it.  When the kiddos got too loud, I mentioned the swingset.  You never saw kids run out of the door so quickly!  Sarah and Kevin always have the time of their lives when there are other kids to play with!

I cooked 10 pounds of ground beef, and then added the beans and tomatoes, etc. to that.  Well, it turns out that we had a fair amount of leftovers.  I sent some home with one of the families.  Tomorrow, I've invited my in-laws over for lunch so we can eat some of the leftovers with them.  Lots of fun!

Chili, anyone?

Pool fun

We went to a kindergarten graduation party/ pool party this afternoon.  There was a huge slide with a small pool at the bottom that had been rented especially for the occasion.  My kids were very hesitant at first and kept a good distance.    Then they tested the waters while getting out every five minutes or so.  Finally, get got right on in and made a glorious soaking, grimy mess of themselves!  You can see the progression in the photos. Lots of kids + lots of junk food + lots of water= lots of fun!

                               

     

                                          

Some improvement!

I just thought I'd post this video I took of Kevin practicing his speech therapy homework.  I'm showing him flashcards and he's attempting to say the words.  Considering that 2 1/2 weeks ago, all he said was "bah, dah, lah, and wah," I think we've seen nice improvement after just 5 sessions!  I'm so excited about this!

Yesterday, he stubbed his toe, and then came up to me.  He said, "Bo-Bo, toe!"  I was thrilled to hear him put two words together like that!  I think that his speech therapist must really know what she's doing.



In general, we're making more of an effort to expose Kevin to words.  I've started teaching him how to read some words.  I think just having more exposure to language in its various forms will be useful.




I'll try to keep taking videos and posting updates on his progress!

Language Development

Yesterday, Kevin had his fourth speech therapy session.  Already, we're seeing some small improvements in his speech.  For one thing, he is a little more vocal than before.  He goes around the house "singing" and tries to communicate with sounds instead of gestures.  He was doing these things before therapy started, but we're seeing an increase.

However, the biggest change so for is that he's already learned another vowel.  Until yesterday, he only would say one vowel sound--"AH."  The only times that he'd say another vowel was when saying the word "No."  Now, he's saying the "O" sound frequently.  Example:  This afternoon, while playing outside, he fell down, and came running to me saying "Boh Boh!"  Also, he has some shoes with Diego on them.  Until recently, he would have said, "DahDah" for Diego.  Today he said "DahDo."  These are just a few examples.   I know saying the letter "O" may seem like a small accomplishment, but we're pretty excited over here and praise Kevin often for his efforts.  I'm actually pretty surprised that we're seeing any improvement at all after only 4 sessions!  This is all going to be so good for my son!

As for Sarah, we've been working on trying to improve her Spanish lately.  While many of our friends are Hispanic and the kids hear Spanish spoken on several occasions during the week, we don't often speak it at home.  It's just so hard sometimes to keep up with everyday life with two kids that we honestly forget to speak in Spanish.  So, we're trying to incorporate Spanish just a little bit more at home.  What I've done a couple of times recently is keep a pocketful of change.  Anytime that Sarah speaks to me in Spanish she gets a penny or a nickle for her allowance savings.

The goal is that one day BOTH of our kids will be able to speak.  And hopefully, they'll be able to speak both English AND Spanish!  I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see how it all goes!

For some reason, I'm having trouble adding vidoes to this blog.  So I'm providing some links to some videos I uploaded today.  Enjoy!

Kevin after two weeks of speech therapy 

(Notice how he's gesturing when attempting the vowel sounds.  This is because the "turtle vowel" cards we've been using involve imitating gestures and sounds at the same time.)

Sarah learning Spanish

Sarah Learning Spanish 2

Gardening

This afternoon, we planted some flowers in front of our house and a few vegetable plants in pots in the back yard.  The kids were a huge help, as you can see from the pictures!

Kites!

Saturday was windy and slightly chilly.  We had a few free hours together as a family and wanted something interesting to do.  So we went to the Dollar Tree and bought a couple of kites.  Then headed out to the park.  I have to admit that the kites spent more time on the ground than they did in the air, but it was lots of fun!

Changing the subject:  Today Kevin had a speech therapy session.  The therapist gave us something to work on that's called "Turtle Vowels."  Basically, they're little construction paper turtles, each of which has a vowel on it.  We're supposed to say the vowel sound while positioning our arms like the turtle.  The goal is for Kevin to imitate us.  I'm not sure of the purpose of the arm movements.  Maybe it's just to make it more of a game.  The arm positions slightly resemble the shapes of the letters, though, so maybe they have a deeper meaning.  Whatever the case, the therapist told us that even though Kevin is not going to repeat the sounds correctly at this point, even just hearing the sounds and attempting to copy them is a good thing.  So here we go with speech games!

This section I'm just going to label:  "Good Times!"