What a Day!

...and on my birthday, no doubt!

This morning Joshua had an appointment to see his physical therapist, Mrs. Amanda, one last time in order to graduate from PT. I had planned to head out early to get my blood work done for my thyroid, but there was no way we could get out the door an extra hour early, so I decided to put it off until after lunch. Well, don't you know everything seemed to happen this morning while we got ready. Joshua grabs everything off the table these days, and the taller he gets and the longer his arms grow the more he is able to reach. Well, don't you know he got a hold of Rebekah's cup of juice off the table and spilled the rest of its contents onto the floor, but not after squeezing his yogurt cup all over himself at breakfast and then refusing to eat. Then, of course, it was like pulling teeth to get Rebekah to put her shoes and socks on to leave, and she wouldn't let me fix her hair. Boy, have mornings been a battle lately with her! Yesterday she made herself late for preschool because she wouldn't put her shoes and socks on. Life can be challenging in our household at times. I'm guessing this is normal, but it sure makes me feel better to hear that other kids struggle with this also. Please tell me I'm not alone!

So, we finally got out the door and Rebekah to my mom's then off to Joshua's last PT appointment. Amanda passed him with flying colors. She saw him running up and down the hallway as we were waiting for her. During his check-up she watched to see how he stepped over objects and to see how his walking and running was going. She noticed that he walks on his toes some for balance, but it's not so much that she is worried about it. It is just something to watch for and to make sure it doesn't become a habit that will have to be broken later.

After lunch at my mom's I headed over to my endo's office to have my blood work done to check my thyroid. There I saw one of the office staff, Carolyn, who is just the nicest lady! She's always so friendly, and I was glad to see her this afternoon. She thinks I look like I've lost weight since my last appointment and told me that I can get the results of my lab work either tomorrow or by Friday morning for sure. In a way I'd like it to be my thyroid just so that I can take a little pill and feel better, but in a way I don't want it to be my thyroid because that means my body isn't functioning properly. I may just be doing too much and not getting enough sleep, but at least I'll have some answers very soon.

This afternoon we got home, and although I had promised Rebekah we would make a gingerbread house this afternoon it just didn't happen. The kitchen floor was dirty and needed mopping anyway, but after the stickiness all over the floor from Joshua's spill it had to be done. I didn't even finish mopping when Joshua woke from his nap (a short nap, no less), so we're going to make the house tomorrow. I just felt so worn out by this afternoon. I was so glad to see Darrin when he got home (and with roses, I might add)! I about lost it, though. I've just been stressed today from all that needs to be done at home and the fatigue I've had. I don't have the energy to keep the house clean like I need it. Oh, a housekeeper would have been a great birthday present today!

Although the day was rough I had a really nice evening. We all went out to dinner with my parents to Provino's Italian Restaurant. It is one of my favorite places to eat, especially for a romantic dinner. They also give you a free meal on your birthday with ID. We had an unusually long wait for our meal, but we're not sure if it was because they were busy or if the food my parents ordered was unique and required more time. Provino's is usually busy, though, so it may have been the food. Joshua got particularly antsy, and after 3 rolls I nearly got him out of his high chair to stretch his legs when the food arrived. Here are a few pics at the restaurant.

Rebekah sits with her Granddaddy as we wait for our table


Me and my sweet boy


Joshua and Granddaddy


Rebekah wanted to sit between my parents at the table


Darrin and I rarely get our pic made together, especially just the two of us.


What a precious face!


Snuggle-face with Grandmommy


We finally got our food, and mmmmm! was it good! Joshua was so hungry, even after 3 garlic rolls, that he kept fussing for another bite of lasagna. And to my surprise, after getting a free meal I also got a free dish of ice cream with a cookie and a candle. I let Rebekah help me blow out the candle. (The girl LOVES birthdays!)


After dinner we went to my parents' to open gifts. My mom made me an apple pie - thanks, Momma! - but we didn't eat any because we were so full from dinner. My dad's birthday is exactly a week before mine, so we gave him our gift to him and I opened my gifts.

I got a sewing basket and kit and some cash from my parents, and Darrin and the kids got me a new camera. Now, I have a nice DSLR for most things which I LOVE, but I got this little camera, a Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS to throw in the diaper bag or my purse when I don't want to lug my Rebel around.

We are now home, the kids are in bed, and Darrin's hitting the sack as well. I think I'll go join him. It's been a big day!

Near the End of Physical Therapy

Yesterday was Joshua's last official physical therapy session. Praise the Lord for what He has done and how He has helped Joshua overcome his obstacles due to low muscle tone! Joshua was walking 50% of the time, and even today he is walking more than that. He is making progress every day and desiring to be up on his feet more and more. He even walked through our sloped back yard for several yards before he took a fall!

In December Joshua will have a follow-up with PT to make sure he is continuing to progress normally. He will most likely always be late reaching milestones for a while because he was late walking, but he should reach them in a timely manner according to the time it took him to walk.

Joshua had a good therapy session yesterday with Mrs. Amanda. He spent a fair amount of time walking for her and playing on his feet. I took a few pics of his last day of therapy.


Bubbles have always been a favorite of Joshua's in PT. When he would get frustrated or upset they would help him to calm down and get back on track. He was also motivated to stand and take his first steps when the bubbles were out.



Joshua and Mrs. Amanda


Thanks so much, Mrs. Amanda, for your patience and guidance in helping Joshua overcome his struggles and fears due to low muscle tone. We are so thankful for you as you've worked with Joshua over the last 8 months!

Joshua is Walking!!!

After so many months of working with him through physical therapy and exercises at home, my prayers are being answered! Joshua started taking some steps last night and continued today. Knowing the struggles and insecurities that he has had makes this moment even more special. I'm so proud of my little guy!!! And you can tell in the video that he is proud of himself too.



Praise be to God that Joshua is finally taking those steps and learning to walk independently!

Joshua's Gross Motor Update

After taking a break from marked improvement in his gross motor development Joshua is making some significant progress again. He is taking a couple steps here and there from table to chair or to reach something he wants. Yesterday after watching Rebekah push her doll stroller around the house Joshua wanted to play with it too. I weighted the front of it with a heavy book so that it wouldn't tip over on him. Joshua had so much fun pushing the stroller around! When he wants to do so he is also walking while holding our hands. He won't let go of one hand to walk, but he used to let his legs go when we would hold his hands so that we had to pick him up, but now he will hold our hands and walk.

Today Joshua had physical therapy and showed Amanda what he could do. He also stood to play with bubbles then took several steps in a number of directions to reach for the bubbles. I have a feeling it won't be long before he's walking. Amanda is backing off PT to monthly now, and our next visit may be our last, depending on how well Joshua is doing by then.

Some Funnies, Not-So-Funnies, and In Betweens

Life has been busy around the Church household. Rebekah is loving preschool and getting used to a new group of kids this summer. She is one of the youngest in her class. Most of the children are either four years old or will be turning four this summer. Since Rebekah's birthday isn't until October 1 she is a few months younger than many of the kids. There is one other boy whose birthday isn't until December, so at least she isn't the very youngest. It has been interesting to see, however, how they have grouped the children in the class. Rebekah's best friend is Brock, a boy from her class from last spring. Rebekah was a life saver to Brock on the first day of summer preschool because he didn't know anyone in their new class either, and I believe that Rebekah felt more comfortable having another child in her class whom she knows. Last week Brock was out all week, probably due to vacation, so Rebekah was forced to play with some other children, and she seems to be doing really well.

Joshua is doing really well with his PT. He can stand from a seated position (as if he's sitting in a chair) without holding on, but his confidence is lacking. I can have him sit on my leg facing in between my legs with his feet tucked under my other leg, and he can stand up without extra support. I don't believe he realizes what he is doing because his mind is toward reaching for bubbles. He just lacks the confidence. Hopefully he'll feel more comfortable with practice.

Here's a funny little story about the kids. This week I was looking through the cereal aisle for something different to feed Joshua as a snack. He gets bored with plain Cheerios, and the Yogurt Bursted Cheerios caught my eye. Well, the ratio of yogurt Cheerios to plain Cheerios is something like 1:10. The yogurt Cheerios are pale pink, but both the kids go after them like they are going out of style. I gave Rebekah a bowl of the cereal, and she still had most of her Cheerios left (all plain) before asking for more pink ones. Joshua had eaten most of his Cheerios, so I poured a few more on his high chair tray. He immediately dove after the pink ones. It was so funny! After they were gone he started fussing at me. He wanted more pink Cheerios like Rebekah!

Now for another story, although this one isn't so funny. Well, I guess if you have a warped sense of humor you might think it's funny. Today I was nursing Joshua down for a nap and when I came out of his room I found Rebekah in the bathroom with the door closed. She had pooped in her panties, removed her shorts and panties, sat on the toilet and got poop all over the front of the toilet seat, and used the rest of the toilet paper as well as the remainder of her flushable wet wipes and put them all in the toilet. Part of me was not happy about the mess and the fact that I was going to have to clean it up and remove half of what was in the toilet in order to flush it. It would surely clog from all the wipes in there. On the other hand, I was proud that Rebekah made the effort to try to clean up herself after an accident. My question is this: Why is it that she has the sense enough to try to clean up herself following an accident, but she doesn't try to go to the potty before she has the accident???

I've started Rebekah's 4th year slideshow! Yes, her birthday is not for 3 1/2 more months, but I heard a song the other day that sparked me into looking into music for her next slideshow. I've selected most of the music and have chosen and placed the pictures for the first year into the slideshow. Boy, would this first portion be a great Father's Day gift! I'm using "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman, and I've gathered pictures of Rebekah dressed as Cinderella as well as pictures of Rebekah dancing with Darrin. Oh, it's going to be such a tear jerker! I nearly start crying just working on it!

By the way, if you haven't seen Rebekah's and Joshua's previous slideshows you can check them out in the sidebar to the right. Enjoy!

Minor Milestones

Joshua's naps are changing. He has been transitioned from two naps to one, and it generally falls right in the middle of the day. This makes PT days hard because he gets only about 30 minutes of a nap after lunch in the car on the way to PT, and once he gets frustrated it is hard to get him back to playing and working again. His limit is about 45 minutes of PT and then we have to stop.

Rebekah just started summer preschool yesterday, so we moved Joshua's PT to Tuesday mornings after I drop Rebekah off at preschool. This is working so much better! Joshua is still pretty fresh, so when he does get frustrated he will come back to playing and working again.

At one point he wanted to comfort nurse, so Mrs. Amanda took him out of the room for a little walk in the hall. She got him calmed down by taking him into the OT (Occupational Therapy) room with a large mirror. I stayed out of the room while Amanda worked with him. He did really great for her while I stayed out of sight, but fussed when he saw me, so I kept my distance and watched when he couldn't see me. I returned for the last few minutes of his session so she could show me what he can do and what to work on this week. Joshua took a couple steps while she held his waist! Also, she had him play with bubbles and got him to hold onto a bench with one hand and completely turn his body to reach for the bubbles behind him. I have been so amazed at all the little milestones and steps that a child must reach between the major milestones. I never knew there was so much involved until Joshua started PT, but with each minor milestone I celebrate. And on top of that, he spent nearly a whole hour in PT. I'm so proud of Joshua's progress! Now I just need to get his little push/ride-on car out of the basement again.

Way to go, Joshua!

Today Joshua had both Feeding/Speech and Physical Therapy. Part of me thought the feeding appointment might not be necessary, but I wanted the speech therapist to determine whether we needed to meet or not since she is the expert. Joshua ate as long as it was food he was familiar with and that which he wanted to eat. He shooed some food away, but he ate enough so that the therapist could see what was going on. Since 2 months ago when she first evaluated him he has gone from a 7-9 month level to a 12-14 month level. He has made amazing progress over the last 2-3 weeks in particular. Mary Jane gave me a list of recommended foods, servings sizes, and other tips and ideas to guide me in feeding him over the next month until we meet with her again. Joshua pushes stage 3 foods away a lot because he wants table food now. He enjoys self-feeding more, so it looks like the baby food days are nearly over.

Following the Speech Therapy we met with Amanda for Physical Therapy. Amanda had to step out of the room for a minute, so I set the larger tractor on the padded table, turned on the motor, and let it drive across the table. Joshua immediately started cruising after it. Once the tractor reached the end of the table I turned it around to go back to the other end, and Joshua continued to follow it while on his feet. He took about 4-5 steps each way, which was more than he has done at home. He spent a great deal of time on his feet playing, cruising, and even walking behind a push toy in PT. He is not confident enough to stand in mid-air yet, but he's doing really well with his cruising.

Joshua likes to play with tractors a lot in PT. In fact, he can spend an entire session playing with tractors of different sizes. Amanda surprised Joshua with a little tractor to take home. It looks very similar to the ones he plays with in PT. It was so sweet of her to think of him when she saw it and buy it for him.

Another exciting thing today is that Joshua cut tooth number six. He has now filled in the front teeth space.

Update on Joshua

With Joshua having an ear infection we decided to skip physical therapy last week. He missed the previous week as well because Amanda had a death in the family. Joshua has not been as progressive lately with his gross motor skills until yesterday. All of a sudden he decided to start pulling up quite a bit on the couch and take a step or two! Now, he has pulled up to a stand only a handful of times, but yesterday he did it with ease, then he tried to cruise, so this is huge.

I think part of the reason why he hasn't made as much effort lately is because he has just not felt like it. He's been a lot more cuddly lately. I took him to the pediatrician yesterday to see if his ear infection had cleared up. The antibiotic he has been on has given him a red bottom from diarrhea, and he was pulling on both ears and crying out of the blue Sunday evening. Come to find out the ear pain is not even an ear infection. It has cleared up completely. The pain is all teething. So that is why he was waking every 3 hours Saturday night! Well, don't you know, he's got a new tooth today! Not only is it a new tooth, but it's a fang! His teeth are coming in a weird order. Normally the front two teeth come in before the eye teeth. He has two front bottom teeth, but no top teeth, and an eye tooth on top has just started to cut today. The eye tooth on the other side is not far behind. I guess I'll have a cute little Dracula on my hands.

More progress!

Yesterday Joshua had his weekly PT. His nap schedule was off because he woke up an hour earlier than normal, so he wanted to adjust his nap schedule accordingly. This meant that he was very tired for his PT appointment, thus, lots of crying through all the hard work, but he showed progress. Joshua pulled to a stand from a sitting position several times (not on the floor, but as if he was sitting in a chair). I was amazed at the ease in which he pulled up. While standing he tends to favor bearing the majority of his weight on his right leg while playing with his left hand. Amanda challenged him by forcing him to shift his weight to his left leg. He didn't like it, but he did it. It is not even something he has a difficult time doing; he just prefers his right leg. Once we get over this hurdle he may start taking steps and cruising.

Rebekah has shown some progress lately as well. She has been waking in the morning with a dry diaper on several occasions. She doesn't usually pee in the potty, usually because she just doesn't want to sit on the potty, but this morning she was willing to do so. Her preschool teacher, Mrs. Amy, suggested trying panties at school. We did this a couple months ago but stopped because Rebekah was on an antibiotic that caused her to have diarrhea. I also didn't want to push panties at the time since she was not using the potty willingly at home. Well, this morning I told Rebekah that she could wear panties to school, but she needed to pee in the potty. Of course, she asked for Cinderella panties, and I told her that she could wear them if shee pee'd in the potty. Don't you know, it took only about 10 minutes of sitting, and she did it! In fact, Rebekah told me, "I did it." Sure enough! Of course, I am so proud and was so ecstatic. You could see that Rebekah was proud of herself too. And even moreso, she was happy to be wearing Cinderella panties. It's finally starting to click with her.

Joshua's standing with support!!!

Today in physical theraphy Amanda worked with Joshua on putting one leg up at a time while on his knees playing. He did really great balancing himself if the toys were not too high. The higher he had to hold on to the bench and the toys the less steady he was. He also seems to prefer putting his left foot up and balancing on his right knee.

After playing a while on his knees Amanda helped him to a standing position and he stood holding on to the bench and playing with toys for long increments of time. I was so impressed! Joshua had tried it last week, but he fell after a few short seconds. He stood for minutes at a time today.

I tell you, the boy blows me away every time we go to PT, and after practicing it over the next week he usually has it mastered. This week we are going to work more on his knees as well as standing.

Update on Joshua

Joshua is crawling on all 4's full-time now! Yay! On Saturday he was crawling about 80-90% of the time on his hands and knees and much less army crawling. His therapist told me last week that he probably wouldn't pull up on his feet until he was crawling on his knees more and shifting the weight back and forth in his hips more. Joshua is also pulling up on his knees a lot more as well. He is continuing to make great strides!