March Birthdays

Several of Austin's good friends have birthdays in March, & we attending the first party this past weekend! Austin's closest girlfriend is Sydney, and her party was at Let's Jump- one of our favorite places! The first hour the kids spent jumping/playing in the toddler room! It was really nice to be able to sit back and watch Austin- he's getting to the point where I feel like I can let him go and watch from afar (rather than hover.)

Big smile- can you tell he's having a good time? (for some reason this doesn't even look like himself to me!)


Climbing up the slide




Getting ready to slide down




Wheeeee!


After jumping, we headed to the party room to celebrate! The theme of Sydney's party was Elmo- and her mommy, Meredith, did a great job decorating! Apparently Austin was not finished jumping... as he did NOT want to sit and eat (not even Sesame Street cupcakes)- he just wanted to try and go back into the toddler jumping room & throw fits. So basically everyone else enjoyed Chick-fil-A nuggets & fruit, then Sydney opened gifts, and finally cake time! It was a great party & made me even more excited about Austin's birthday party next weekend!!!

The birthday girl, Sydney


Sitting at the table- very interested in his Capri Sun... and that's about it!


Opening presents


The cupcakes- so cute!


Sydney enjoying her big day

Cousins

One of my cousins, Serena, was in town from California this past week- so all of us cousins in the DFW area got together for dinner at La Hacienda Ranch! I had so much fun & can't remember the last time I laughed so hard! Good food & great company! I love these girls!

Me, Becky, Serena, Jalynn, & Amy

2 Kids... trial run

This past weekend we babysat my niece, Evie, while her parents attended a church retreat! I'll admit I was a little nervous about keeping a crawling 10 month old in addition to a wild toddler. I was worried about it scaring me into never wanting to have another child! Nothing against my sweet niece, but just the chaos of ANY two children!

Mat dropped Evie off on Saturday morning & they picked her up on Sunday afternoon, and honestly.... it went really well! Evie is a very easy baby, so the hardest part was just trying to coordinate their schedules (which never really happened). Basically when one was up, the other was napping- and it was like that the entire time. Another difficult part (for me) was how chaotic the house seemed all weekend- lots of "stuff" with 2 kids!

The most difficult part was getting ourselves and both of them ready & out the door for church on Saturday evening- and then feeding everyone when we got home. But we survived!

Evie did great & we look forward to the next time she stays with us!


Evie was very curious about the cats (since she does not have any pets at her house.) She especially liked petting Max & chasing Jack!


Notice Max's face- doesn't he look thrilled?


Aunt Whitney & Evie (please ignore the no makeup/workout clothes "look" I'm sporting.)


So am I a natural with 2 or what? :)


Austin was very curious about Evie's bottle


Pulling up


Big smile- she is always so happy


Chilling with Uncle Shane before her morning nap


I love when Austin snuggles up on the couch like this (especially with his daddy)


A few things I noticed & wanted to document about Austin this weekend:

*Austin was EXTREMELY entertained by Evie- always following her around & watching her. When she would make a noise, talk, or giggle... he thought that was the funniest thing ever! I especially noticed it in the car. He probably loved having someone back there to look at!

*He was very good about sharing his toys & kept bringing things over for Evie to play with.

*Austin was not jealous of me taking care of Evie- as I thought he would be. Did that make me a little sad? Yes.

*He kept wanting to do "baby" things that Evie was doing- like eat the foods she was eating, drink from a bottle, put on a bib, play with her toys, etc.

Now just because this weekend went well, don't all of you be hounding me about getting pregnant!!

ECI Evaluation

ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) came out and did Austin's evaluation on Monday & it went really well! Both a developmental specialist & a speech therapist came for the evaluation, and spent about 2 hours at our house. I really like that they do the entire program in homes- just makes it easier and more comfortable for the kids to be in the home environment. Anyway, most of the 2 hours was spent asking Shane & I VERY detailed question about things Austin is doing (milestones) & his routines. They spent a little time interacting with Austin & took his height (34 1/2 in) and weight (34 lbs), before we put him down for a nap.

To qualify for the program, the child must be at least 3 months delayed in any 1 of any of the 5 areas. I'll list the area & how Austin scored:

Social/Emotional- 18 mos
Cognitive- 17 mos
Adaptive/Self Help- 18 mos
Communication/Language (expressive & receptive)- 14 mos
Fine/Gross Motor Skills- 26 mos

Not surprising that he scored so behind in language... seeing as he says 2-3 words total & does not do things like make animal noises. On average, kids around 2 years of age use 50 words and begin putting words together. I was also not surprised that he scored high on his motor skills. Evidently that is normal to see children behind in one & ahead in the other (and especially this way for boys.) I've always known he was ahead in his motor skills from watching how much he does & how daring he can be with physical activities.

Anyway, ECI has decided to come out to the house 2 times/month to work with us. The will just integrate into play time (or whatever we are doing) & work with Austin. They will also work with me in helping give me suggestion on how to work with him on a daily basis. The speech therapist was very helpful & gave me a few things to start working on. Basically I need to be talking to him NON-STOP. She said "you should be tired of your own voice by the end of each day. And sing if you don't have anything to talk about." She also told me I need to "play dumb" with him more. Right now he can point & grunt enough to give me a general idea of what he wants- so he's getting his needs met without having to talk. So that needs to change. We're also going to get his hearing checked just to make sure there are no problems there.

The things she said I need to continue doing are 1) keep him involved is social activities such as The Little Gym, Preschool, play dates, church, etc, 2) continue learning/teaching him sign language, 3) only allow the paci during sleep time. So I feel like I was doing a pretty good job so far- just need to work on the playing dumb and talking more. I talk a lot, but not enough evidently. He is so good about playing by himself, but I need to make sure I'm constantly around him pointing out toys, giving him choices, making sounds, etc. So lots of work on both our part.

I'm definitely glad I called them, and wish I'd contacted them sooner. ECI will work with him until he's 3, and then he would move into the Keller schools program or private therapy (if necessary.) Overall I was very happy with the information/service they provided & am looking forwarded to soaking up this new information & helping Austin get to where he needs to be.

I'll keep you posted!

Destin 2010- Part 4

On Friday (the day before we left), we went to the park with Gigi & Nana! It was weird to be at a park with sand, but he loved it!

Going down the slide all by himself






Nothing like having 2 more Mamas


Looking for fish at the gazebo


Swinging with Gigi


He wasn't so sure about sitting on this branch (hopefully that means he won't be a tree climber)


Checking out the pine cones


Sliding down the pole picture sequence- HILARIOUS!

Destin 2010- Part 3

We ate lunch several times at Pompano Joe's (my favorite place to eat in town!) Their fresh tuna dip is WONDERFUL! Austin also loves it because the view is great!

Outside with Papa Jim & Gigi


The beach




Looking at the water


Gigi spoiling Austin with coke..... (don't worry, just a few sips!)


And cherries


Austin also loves counting- well not counting himself, but us counting and him pointing.


And this one is just funny- messy face after dinner!

Destin 2010- Part 2

This post is a bunch of random pictures from the week, and things I want to remember about the trip:

*Austin loved sitting in his highchair after dinner while my dad would hide from him. My parents' house is very open, so he could peek around the from the living room, kitchen, or hall- and it was funny to watch in anticipation to see where Papa Jim would pop up next!




*He was able to show Papa Jim & Gigi that he is not perfect & is officially in his terrible 2s. Several fits (one where Gigi had to spank him), & several moments of pouting. This is one of them.


*Our favorite cowboy


*Reading with Gigi- every time I walked in the room they were reading, coloring, or she was pulling him around the house in a wagon.


*Austin was terrified of my parents bedroom/bathroom and also their new front loading washer and dryer. By the end of the week he was playing in their room, taking baths in their bathtub, and fascinated with watching the clothes spin in the washer/drying (and helping Gigi do laundry.) He probably thinks our old machines are SO boring now.

*Visiting Papa Jim's office- everyone at the office loved seeing Austin & he enjoyed closing/opening the doors & running around the conference room table.


*Visiting Nana & Jim's new house (my parents best friends). Every time we went over he wanted to go out to the pool- so finally Nana took him out there! Nana is another one of his favorite people- he even called her Nana at church on Wednesday night. We were all in shock since he doesn't talk!