Zipper Zipping and Stair Walking

Totally unrelated, but I thought I'd share a few pics from this week. The first is one day when Rebekah taught Joshua how to use the zipper on the bottom of her Pottery Barn Kids chair. Since then Joshua has had fun using the zipper.


In addition, Rebekah has finally figured out how to start the zipper on her sweatshirt jacket. Woo-hoo! That can be a challenge to me sometimes, so I'm really proud that she did it by herself for the first time yesterday.

After Joshua's nap yesterday he was super cranky. He didn't go to sleep until 2:30 and woke up around 4:00. He cried and cried, so I finally just got him up. Nothing would comfort him but to go outside, and it was a beautiful afternoon, so out we went. Rebekah is terrified the neighbor's dogs are going to come over (which is a complaint all on its own because they are not secured at their home), so she has not wanted to play in the yard for a while now, I hate to say.

I took the opportunity to take some pictures of Joshua. He is going up and down the front steps really well now. Since we do not have stairs in our home this is the only opportunity he gets to practice. I've been really impressed with how he is doing. He is so proud of himself too.

Evaluations

This week each of the children had some sort of evaluation. Joshua had a full evaluation with Early Intervention on Monday. It had been a year since his last one that qualified him for physical therapy. I had actually requested the eval for my own peace of mind. I wanted to be sure Joshua was not only on target for gross motor but for speech as well. He not only is on target for everything, but he is even ahead in some things because he is able to sort things that are red. He is also beginning to make 3-word sentences saying, "I want ________."

Rebekah had a speech and language evaluation today. A little over a year ago Rebekah was evaluated and determined to be about 6 months behind. Suggestions to put her in preschool as well as to do some things with her at home were made to help her overcome some of her obstacles. Most recently hearing, speech, and language screenings were offered at Rebekah's preschool. Since there were some concerns with her speech we opted to have a full evaluation done. She is actually showing ahead in her receptive language at a 5-year level due to the fact that she knows her letters and can do simple addition and subtraction. However, she is slightly behind in her expressive language due to her /l/ sounds. Generally, children have the /l/ sound down pat by age 4 1/2, which is not far off for Rebekah. She actually pronounces it much like /n/, which I've noticed for a while now. I have been given some very specific things to help her correct this problem. So, on average Rebekah's speech/language combined are actually pretty much on target. We'll have her rechecked in about six months to see how she is progressing and to determine if she may need a couple of therapy sessions, but for now we can work on a few things at home.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Joshua!!!

Can it be that our baby is already two years old?!?!

On Tuesday, February 20 I had a regularly scheduled OB appointment at 35 weeks, 4 days. I had been having some swelling in my feet and ankles, and most recently the swelling had moved up my legs to half-way up my thighs. I also had variable high blood pressure. When I went in for my appointment it was the highest it had ever been. I discussed these issues with my OB Dr. Brody. He was sure at this point that I had pre-eclampsia.

After looking at me he said, "It looks like we are going to have a February 20 baby." I thought for a second and said, "Wait! That's today!" I was sure that he was teasing because Dr. Brody has a dry sense of humor. He told me no, but I wasn't convinced. His nurse was smirking. I looked at her and said, "He's kidding, isn't he?" She told me no. I knew at that point he was for real.

After a moment I lost it. We were not prepared to have a baby that day. We still had things at home to do, and I had yet to pack my bags. I had hoped to make it until early March at least. I was scheduled to have maternity pictures, and I really wanted to make it to 38 weeks. Joshua was not due until March 23.

Dr. Brody explained to me the importance of getting the baby out, and that he was safer outside of me than inside. Following my appointment he immediately sent me to the hospital. Fortunately, Rebekah was at my mom's, so I knew she was well taken care of. I called Darrin on the way out and he left his half-eaten lunch to meet me at the hospital.

After we arrived and I was settled in my gown Dr. Brody came by and explained the process of induction. I encouraged Darrin to go home and pack his bag and get the digital and video cameras. I could get through the first part of labor better without him than later. Dr. Brody later came and broke my water, and the contractions began.

I was moved to another room where I would labor for a while. In the meantime, my mom had taken Rebekah home and she packed Joshua's and my bags. Darrin grabbed the things from home he needed and purchased a baby book for Joshua since we did not have one yet. Darrin arrived at the hospital about 25-30 minutes before the anesthesioligist arrived to give me my epidural. Before my epidural they turned off my pitocin, but after I received the epi, they decided to turn it on a very low setting. While I labored the nurse and Dr. Brody watched Joshua's and my heartbeats. I dilated from 2.5cm to 4cm during this time. It seemed that Joshua did best when I laid on my left side, but after some time he struggled through the labor. He was under some stress, so they lowered the epi in half.

I did not progress anymore, and Dr. Brody began to show concern over Joshua as his heartbeat peaks grew closer and closer. His heartbeat was still going, but it was looking closer to flatlining. Dr. Brody then decided it was necessary to do a C-section. I was so disappointed in this, and I cried over it, but we had to do what was necessary. Joshua was in a great deal of stress with each contraction and he was not improving. Darrin reminded me over and over that I was doing this for Joshua.

Everything seemed to happen very quickly after this. People came in and got to work. My epidural was increased to provide more numbness, and I was prepped for the surgery. I did not even get a quiet moment with Darrin before it all started. But, even though they moved quickly, it was a calm C-section, and the staff was able to do things without rushing through it.

During the surgery I hated the feeling of my legs being so numb that I could not even move them. I also felt like I couldn't breathe. One of the doctors encouraged me to hold my hand over my mouth so that I could feel myself breathe, thus telling my brain that I am breathing. This helped relax me a good bit, but I was still scared.

Shortly later I could hear my son crying. They showed him to me, cleaned him up, weighed him, and wrapped him up. I wanted to hold my baby so bad! I finally got to see him closer and kiss him. Once I was stitched up Darrin held him next to me and we were readied for recovery.

Although Joshua was born 4 1/2 weeks early he received a 9, 9 on the APGAR scale. He was so healthy! NICU was ready to take him if needed, but Joshua was just fine. He weighed 6 lbs., 1 oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long. At a month early he was larger than his sister when she was born only 3 days early!

We were so grateful to the Lord for our healthy baby and for the miracle that he was. He was truly a miracle in our eyes. So many things could have gone wrong, but God protected him, and he's a beautiful, healthy little boy.

In the past couple of years Joshua has overcome low muscle tone causing him to hit his gross motor milestone late, but he finally walked at 18 months and is doing wonderfully.

He is a little social guy as long as it is on his terms. If people approach him who he does not know well or at all he will play shy, but if people generally leave him alone many times he will approach them, talk to them, play with them, and even ask for them to pick him up! It is really cute to watch, but it scares me a little too. Joshua is just a big flirt! The ladies love it for sure! He's been known to give little girls kisses as well. What a loveable little guy! His kisses to me sure make my day!

Newborn



Age 1



Age 2



HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOSHUA!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

Computer Issues

Although it's only been a couple of days I feel like I've been gone from the internet world forever (except that Darrin was gracious enough to let me use his work computer to check email and such). Our computer is going through all kinds of craziness. About two weeks ago we got a horrible trojan on our PC. Darrin spent an entire day or so removing it. Later we continued to have problems, and Darrin had to invest more time into finding the source and getting rid of the virus. We purchased some better virus scan and protection software which allowed Darrin to discover that we had more problems. Poor guy! He had to strip our entire hard drive, reformat it, and reload everything back onto our hard drive. Thankfully, Darrin has created some great back-up systems so we didn't lose anything, but it was a TON of work! He spent all of Monday (his day off for President's Day) working on the computer.

Our computer is slowing down anyway, and even though we have more space and memory it hasn't helped much. We think it may just be the system. We've been shopping around (Darrin moreso than me), and we are trying to decide what to buy. We're strongly considering a Mac due to the lack of virus issues. The main cons we see with it are 1) it's quite a bit more expensive, especially since we'll need to replace programs to suit the Mac, 2) the screen is highly glossy, and 3) everything is all-in-one, so Darrin can't replace parts himself and the entire unit would have to be sent to repair it. A few pros are 1) great for graphics, which is good since I do a lot in PhotoShop and enjoy playing around with pics, 2) viruses are rare, and 3) is user-friendly (although I understand the basics of a PC).

I'd love to hear from any Mac or PC users. If you have used both please share your thoughts. At first I really didn't want a Mac, but our PC issues lately has made me really re-think the idea.

Joshua's Birthday Party

It's hard for me to believe, but our baby is almost two years old! It seems like he should still be this little tiny baby, or at least an infant, but he's already well into toddlerhood and growing up before our very eyes.

Joshua's birthday is not until Saturday, but since Carrie and Taylor were in town this past week and Daniel was coming to join them this weekend we decided to celebrate a week early. My parents will also be out of town the weekend of Joshua's birthday, so it worked out great. We opted to have one more little friend, Caleb, over to celebrate with us as well. It was much less stressful on me this time since the party was so intimate and I didn't have to plan any major games or activities.

The party was a John Deere theme. Joshua loves anything with wheels, and he really enjoys his tractors. It is also a favorite theme of Darrin's, so he really liked it as well. (Darrin would probably love it if Joshua's room was all John Deere, but that is not happening under my watch!) I was able to have a dairy-free cake made to match the theme, and I added a topper which included a tractor, fence, and a few trees to add to the trees the baker had already placed on the cake. It turned out cute!

Joshua wasn't really big into opening his presents at first. Rebekah was very eager and after much prodding with Joshua to no avail I finally let Rebekah start to open the first gift. Joshua then saw that there was a fun toy inside and decided to check it out. He still wasn't very interested in opening gifts, but with some help he finally showed interest.

All the gifts were a big hit! He got a wooden block train set from my parents (as well as some clothes he had already received). The blocks fit over pegs attached the the bottom of the train. This is actually really perfect for him because he has not been a big block or puzzle player. All the blocks fit all the pegs so that he won't get frustrated trying to make force them to fit. Hopefully this will spark more interest in playing with blocks and puzzles.

Tina and Caleb gave Joshua a couple of books. One is a Thomas the Tank book that plays 3 different whistle sounds with the push of a button. The other is a transportation book that identifies specific parts of different vehicles and methods of transportation. I'm going to learn a lot myself from this book!

Daniel, Carrie, and Taylor gave Joshua a Little Einsteins Rocket that moves to up to 20 programed moves. What a huge hit this toy was! It has about 6-8 different moves, and you can push the buttons up to 20 times before making it move. It will move in those directions consecutively. Joshua absolutely loves this toy!

Here are some pictures from the party. Enjoy!

Cousins

My sister Carrie and her daughter Taylor came in for the week while Carrie's husband painted the spare bedroom that will soon be Taylor's room. Thursday we decided to meet at the mall to let the kids play. Rebekah and Joshua had so much fun climbing and playing. Taylor was a bit hesitant, but once she got to playing with my kids in the toy car and after a number of children left the play area she branched out some.










It has been so interesting to see the kids' different personalities. Rebekah was always pretty shy, although she could be a bit of a flirt when she was a toddler. Taylor is extremely cautious. And then Joshua is a social butterfly once he is comfortable in a new environment. He was walking around to a couple of the dads talking to them and even holding his arms up to them to pick him up! It is really cute, but I'm going to have to watch this boy!

Valentine Fun!

Tuesday morning was Rebekah's preschool Valentine party. Since Joshua is a bit of a handful at these parties I opted to take him to my mom's to play while I went to Rebekah's party. I'm so glad I did! It was nice to be able to focus on her and not have to keep one eye on Joshua the whole time.

Here are a few pictures from the party.

The kids wait their turn to pass out valentines.


Rebekah digs into her bag.




The kids singing the prayer over their food.




Lately Rebekah has discovered winking. Here she is with one of her friends Brooklyn. Yes, Brooklyn is that tiny!


During story time Rebekah sat in my lap and Brooklyn sat next to me to be close to Rebekah. She wanted to hold Rebekah's hand for a while then she played with one of Rebekah's corkscrew curls hanging down over her shoulder. Brooklyn looked up at me and asked, "How did her hair get like that?" It's so cute to see Rebekah's peers in awe over her hair.

That evening was the Father/Daughter banquet at church. Girls have to be four years or older to attend, so this was Darrin's and Rebekah's first year. The theme this year was a Hawaiian/Luau theme. Attendees could either dress for the theme or they could dress up more formally. Some dads even go to the extent of wearing tuxes! Rebekah was so excited to dress up for the night!

Darrin came home with a coral rose for Rebekah. At first she wanted to take it with her, but I convinced her to put it in a bud vase so it wouldn't ruin. When they got to church they had their picture made and later had a Hawaiian themed meal - chicken and rice with pineapple - of which Rebekah did not eat because she claimed she didn't like it. (It was not really a kid-friendly meal.) After the meal they had a devotion. By this time it was 7:30 and Rebekah was crawling into Darrin's lap. They had a few little games at the end, but Darrin brought Rebekah home instead. He said all the girls Rebekah's age had a hard time due to their maturity level. They wanted to get up and play, and Rebekah wasn't sitting with her friends, so she was constantly up walking over to visit with them. I'm sure next year she will enjoy it more when she is a bit older.

I took a few pictures of Darrin and Rebekah before they left the house. Don't they look sharp?

More Snow Fun

Rebekah and I continued our snow unit for The Snowy Day this past week.

Wednesday I made some white play dough for Rebekah to pretend that it was snow. We made a snowman with it too.


Thursday the kids went “sledding” on a blanket. What fun that was for both of them!



Friday we read the book again and discussed some more of the story. We then read through a poem “White Fields” by James Stephens several times while identifying and writing sight words. Rebekah wrote a word, and then we read through the poem to find the word and Rebekah circled it. Each time we went through the poem she read the sight words, adding a new word in each reading.

Next I read The Snowy Day again and Rebekah acted out what Peter did in the story. She also used props to make snow out of crunched up paper, and we stuffed them in a pillowcase to make a snowman. Rebekah also organized the sequence cards in order using the book to guide her.

By this time Rebekah was ready for some messy fun! She played in shaving cream on the kitchen table, and we added some Little People for her to play with in the “snow”.


While I prepared lunch she colored and cut out a snowflake, and after lunch she did some ice cube painting. I froze a popsicle stick into an ice cube. I sprinkled some unsweetened Kook-Aid mix onto some white paper, and Rebekah rubbed the ice cube over top to create designs. I actually had thought Joshua might want to try these activities, but he didn’t like getting his fingers messy in the shaving cream, and he wasn’t interested in making an ice cube painting.

I also got a few books at the library that I read to Rebekah to go along with our snow unit:
Tracks in the Snow by Wong Herbert Yee
Mouse’s First Snow by Lauren Thompson
Snow is Falling by Franklyn M. Brandley
Snow by Manya Stojic

Throughout the weekend Rebekah colored and cut out her snowflakes to finish her lapbook. I was really amazed at how well she could cut! She got tired of it after a while, so I finished the cutting and let her paste them, but I really couldn’t get over how well she cut some of her snowflakes.

Lapbook cover


Inside - Rebekah cut out these snowflakes predominantly herself



Poem and sight words


Back of lapbook - I mostly cut out these snowflakes. I think she was tired of cutting by this point.