T.G.I.Friday!

Long, long week...Thankfully, it's ended on a positive note, but it's been a long one!

We spent last weekend launching Operation Room Switch - Beebee (Little Man's name for his big sister) is being moved into the office, Little Man is moving into Beebee's old room, and the office is being moved into the nursery off of our bedroom (along with becoming a closet).  It is time, however we have accumulated waaaaay too much crap - way too much.  We are blessed to have so many people who love and adore our children, who love to buy them stuff or give them stuff.  Hubby has made many trips to the Salvation Army drop off and we still could get a dumpster.  The downfall of having a small cape for a house, is that we don't have much of a staging area to hold the contents of the room while it's being cleaned and painted.  Thankfully, I have a very patient father who has helped us out with the painting process and a very patient husband to help me with moving stuff.  Oh, have I mentioned that I also went back to work this week to unpack into a brand new classroom?  Yes, Operation Room Switch should have happened earlier in the summer...poor planning on my part.

Anyway, I chose orange and yellow for Little Man's room, while Beebee picked a lovely pink and purple for her walls:

We are slowly getting there and tonight BeeBee is spending her first night in her room (that still needs decorations and organizing):

Mean while, tonight is Little Man's last night in his cribby - tomorrow we will be moving him to his big boy bed in his new room.  I think he understands what we're doing, but since he can't verbalize it, it's hard to know exactly what he knows of his "new room" and "new bed."  I was thinking of making a sticker chart for him for staying in his bed and having him earn a small fish tank in his room.  I don't know how much he can understand about that, but I'm curious if it will work.

We had a good week over all - Beebee got to spend two nights with Nana-bee so Little Man had some uninterrupted therapy times and I could get some unpacking done of at work and organizing done at home.  He worked really hard in therapy this week and starts his outside therapy tomorrow.  Here are some additional highlights of the week:

Buddy-Dog got upset that Little Man fell asleep and couldn't play.

Little man with his Big Dog and broom - some of his favorite things.

Beebee at the "tavern" after Daddy's soccer game, explaining to one of Daddy's single teammates all about how to be a mommy to a Bitty Baby...I'm sure he was thrilled.

My old school being torn down...it's a little sad, but I'm super excited for my new room and my new teaching team! :)

And my loves tonight...I've been feeling cruddy and I ended up canceling going out tonight to stay home and rest...these three made me smile tons though. :)

We have a busy week coming up - new therapist for Little Man, more unpacking and setting up at work, Little Man's 6 month Early Intervention evaluation, IFSP meeting, daycare meeting for Little Man, and continuing to set up the new bedrooms.  Happy last week of Summer Vacation! :)

Fantastic Friday...yeah, right!

So things are just going wonderfully...if you think this, then keep on drinking.

This week hasn't been so "Fantastic"...granted, we're all safe, healthy, and somewhat sane...but little things have added up to be more of a "Frustrating" Friday.

My anxiety is creeping up...going back to work always stirs things up...moving into a brand new building, changing grade levels, and not being able to go in early to set up my classroom will definitely set it off.  Thankfully from my trusty sidekick of sleeping pills, I've been able to get three nights of awesome sleep.  I hope that the construction on the new building will finish soon so I can get in and set up.

Big girl is doing well - she had a good week, however she will tell you that we didn't do anything fun.  She is suffering from typical 5 1/2 year old ready to go back to school syndrome. ;)  This is from the same girl, who on Sunday, swung on a trapeze.  Yup, hubby's idea and she loved it.  Something tells me that she may request trapeze lessons instead of dance lessons this fall.

Not a great picture, but yes, that is Big Girl swinging on the Trapeze!

Little Man is doing ok - this week's therapy sessions were sort of duds.  We are realizing that 8am sessions aren't good for him and our other session was a meeting of his SLP, Developmental Specialist and an OT to figure out an action plan to help him.  There were some ideas tossed around, many of which we are already doing at home.  Something I'm not too excited about is the change over from his Developmental Specialist being his contact person to the SLP.  I had to open my mouth and assert myself more by telling the SLP that she needs to push him more - he is way more capable of producing sounds with the Dev. Spec. than he is the SLP.  I feel bad telling someone how to do their job, but as a teacher, I know this - if you don't set a level of expectations, the student will not rise to the occasion.  If the bar is set low, you will get low; set the bar high, and you will be amazed.

I spent 3 hours of my "free" time this week on the phone trying to get outside speech services for little man.  No one has after school times, and if you want them, then you're on a waiting list that is 6 months long.  No thank you.  We finally were able to get him in with a clinical fellow who is working under a SLP who specializes in Apraxia - not exactly what I wanted for him, but since he will be followed by the specialist as well, it was the best option.  The good thing is that they have Saturday appointments, so I won't be rushing around another night after work for therapy.

Other than that, we did have a good day at the beach the other day - Little Man even got into the water and enjoyed the waves.  Yesterday we visited my mom up at her beach house and we swam in the pool, went for a hike and played at the rock playground. 

Big Girl relaxing after swimming in the pool.

Rock Playground

Nana-Bee playing in the Rock Playground

This morning was tough - an hour and a half of non-stop crying, whining, whimpering or hysteria from Little Man - simply because we couldn't understand what he wanted.  Hubby gave him his iced tea (decaff) in a sippy and it became a nightmare - sippy was throw into the sink, new sippy came out and then was thrown.  Hubby held LM up to each cabinet to see what it was that he wanted, then he settled on eating Starbursts for breakfast.  I took the bag away and gave him 3 - then those were thrown.  Curious George came on, cries for it to go off ensued, hugs were demanded, then I was pushed away.  Cries for Daddy as he went off to work, hugs demanded again.  I put Curious George on again and despite cries for it to be turned off (by both kids), it has stayed on and entertained LM (who is now watching and eating trail mix the chocolate bits out of the trail mix for breakfast).  Thank goodness, we have some sanity for a little while. ;)

Fantastic Friday *a day late

We had a good week, super busy, but good!

We spent last weekend getting much needed errands and things done around the house. We decided to have a yard sale on Sunday, as we have a ton of kid crap that we need to get rid of...I'm actually excited for that! Sunday we went to the zoo and the kids had fun walking around and seeing the animals...little man even sat still for us to sit and watch the Birds of Prey show and he seemed to enjoy it.

Big Girl's Accomplishments- This week, Big Girl went to a 4 day cheer camp through our city's rec department. She loved it last year, and I think she did enjoy herself this year, but she was disappointed that she wasn't chosen to be a "flyer" (the girl on top of a stunt). She was chosen to be the holder...I had to break it to her that at 5.5 years old and 49 inches, she most likely never be a flyer because she is so tall. Don't get me wrong, she is a very slender girl, but she has extremely long legs and torso and is typically a head taller than her peers. So after a few tears, she went back to camp and held her head high and did a fantasic job holding the stunt...her partner and her held the other girl the highest out of all the groups. And after all that, big girl then showed me her "award" she was given...



Yup, Most Dedicated!

Little Man's Accomplishments- little man worked hard in therapy this week, he even got so mad/frustrated at one point he yelled at his therapist, "more pull!" when she went to put the stretchy ball away. Nana-Bee came over to watch the end of his session and was very impressed with how hard he is working...then after his last session for the week, Nana-Bee took little man for his first overnight up to the beach house she is staying at for the summer. It was a big deal for all of us. Of course he did wonderful, however he didn't go to sleep until 11:30pm...but he was content, played with his play dough, trucks, and enjoyed the long hikes on the trails near the house. Big Girl and I went up the next day and he was exhausted, but very happy. My mom said for the most part she could understand what he wanted/needed by his gesturing and pointing and a few vocalizations. He learned to say "Nah-nah" and she said that he would say it constantly if he needed or wanted her. :) When we got there, we swam at the pool, Little Man took a nap and after dinner we went for a walk in the trails and climbed a few trees...






And as we were walking, little man held my hand and I took this:



I hope he always wants to hold my hand!

Have a great week!

Fantastic Friday #2

A look at the positive things from our week!

On Saturday, we celebrated my dad's 65th birthday with a pig roast...Little Man's comment as soon as he saw the pig turning - "Uh-oh!"  It was 95 degrees out and our kids enjoyed playing on the slip and slide - here are a few pics my aunt took (and I had fun editing them in instagram):

 The only picture I know of with just my dad and my siblings.  I remember one from Easter in 1st grade, but I think it was just the girls in that one.  My mom even had t-shirts made up with my dad's picture for the occasion!

 Slip and slide fun!

 My Little Man

 Her new smile was a big hit!

 I love her eyes in this one!

He loved the whipped cream frosting on the cake!

My mom, being an artist and an art teacher, invited the kids and I to the Museum of Fine Arts with a former teacher of hers.  I was a little leery of taking both kids there - Big Girl has gone on many occasions - her first visit being when she was about 15 months old - I think she is one of the few 15 month olds who could point out who Napoleon was in a picture and say his name. ;)  I have to say, both kids behaved wonderfully - it was one of those days when I had to say to myself, "See, you're doing an awesome job!  Look how well they are behaving!"  I did resort to the stroller with Little Man and I let him out for periods of time when he wouldn't be able to destroy million dollar glass pieces, but he was very content and even napped towards the end of our visit.  Big Girl talked nonstop, which is no surprise.  My mom's friend found her hysterical and couldn't believe how one 5 1/2 year old could talk about art for almost 2 1/2 hours.  I have to say, I was pretty impressed too.

Talking art with Nana

Big girl had a big accomplishment - she saved up her $90 to get the new Bitty Baby Backpack kit.  I made a deal with her - I had told her that I wouldn't spend another dime in that store and if she wanted something, she had to pay for it herself.  Well, when I saw that it was only another $28 to get the doll included and knowing how much she plays with her "Ava" doll - I told her that I would get her a new doll.  On Wednesday after therapy, we drove 30 minutes away to our nearest American Girl Store and purchased "Jewel."  Big Girl will tell you that she came out of her belly - she even went as far as to have Little Man kiss her belly before going on our adventure.  According to the happy mother, "Jewel" weighed in at 6 lbs and has been nursing and sleeping like a champ.

Hanging with Buddy - Buddy loves him so much and often seeks Little Man out for cuddles

Little Man is growing more and more sure of himself as the summer progresses.  He really seems to be coming out of his shell more and more.  I just hope and pray that it continues when school starts.  He's been actively working with his therapists when they come to the house and he's making more sound noises than ever.  It rained a lot over the nights and on Monday during a walk when it was starting to drizzle, he noticed the puddles and then immediately pointed to the sky and urging me to look with him.  It was almost like he wanted to say, "I get it!  Rain falls from the sky and makes puddles!"  For the rest of the week, whenever he saw a puddle, he'd stop, point to the puddle and then to the sky and make noise and then I would verbalize it for him.  Tonight when hubby and I were putting him to bed, we were using the Peekaboo Barn app and when we came to the goat, he pointed at himself and said "Me!" and pointed to me and the goat again.  I said to him, "Did we see the goats today?" (we went to a farm) and he started nodding his head and pointing to the goat and himself.

He was loving the play dough this week!

Something I enjoyed watching this week is the way our two kids interact with each other.  Big Girl is definitely a help around here in helping Little Man learn new things.  I spent 15 minutes trying to get him to use his new motorized toothbrush (for sensory therapy reasons) and Big Girl just walked right in there and within a minute, she had him using it in his own mouth.  She never forgets to prompt him to say her name or to use words that we know he knows.  She congratulates every single milestone he does - she is his biggest cheerleader.  This week, she said to me, "Mom, I don't know if I should be learning my kindergarten stuff or speech pathology stuff to help Little Man.  What do you think is more important?"  I told her that everyone appreciates her help - however learning her K stuff was more important right now.

Shaving cream car wash!

So it has been a good week...next week we are even busier - Cheer Camp for Big Girl and Little Man will have his first overnight by himself up at the beach with my mom.  I'm a little nervous for him to go without one of us or Big Girl - but I know it will be good for him and my mom to spend time together.  :)

Fantasic Friday! #1

A recap of the good things from our week!

We were lucky to keep cool at the beach and friends' pools despite 90-100+ degree heat.

Hubby and I celebrated our 8th Anniversary on Tuesday!

We celebrated my dad's 65th birthday Wednesday night and we're looking forward to his Pig Roast Party tomorrow.

Funny comments from the Big Girl: she decided that she wants to grow out her hair and donate it to help children with cancer, like a friend of ours who passed away in April. While driving she turned to Little Man and said, "do you what to grow your hair to help kids like Alexander who had no hair? You could grow your hair to help Papa. He doesn't have hair on the top of his head, so you could grow yours to help him.". Yes, I pretty much had to hold my pee in on that one! Lol!

Accomplishments from the Big Girl: I noticed that one of her front bottom teeth was crooked on Wednesday. I asked her to come over and sure enough, I could wiggle it. Now I have dreams of losing my teeth during times of stress and so loose teeth skeeve me out...This morning she was wiggling it and it was bleeding...later she was eating a hot dog roll in the car (don't ask) and she lost her tooth.  She was so excited and talked nothing but how the Tooth Fairy was coming tonight.

Accomplishments from the Little Man: he worked hard this week in therapy. He has successfully said "mama" to get my attention without prompting. :) Yes, I'm super excited on that! We came up with a nickname for Big Girl "BeeBee" which he can say with prompting. The best way we were getting him to say it was the pool. She would sit on the steps and I would prompt him with, "Say, Go BeeBee!" and then prompt with " go" and "BeeBee" and sure enough he could do the "BeeBee". Yes, I have one very excited 5 year old as well.  We have both waited a 28 1/2 months to hear him call us something. :)  His EI specialist was very impressed with his skills this week and him building up on his previous skills.

Something new and absolutely hysterical  that Little Man will do is if I'm going to change his diaper or if I need him to sit still - he will crouch down and bend his knees, bend his elbows and quack like a duck.  I don't know where in the world he learned this - but it's pretty funny!

Here is to a great weekend and a new week! :)