Steps

HOLY COW!! Anderson took his 1st few steps with a walking toy this weekend!! On Sunday...November 25th!!

He did a GREAT job!! Way to go Anderson! We are so proud of you and your hard work!

Santa smarter

Kaitlyn asks : Mommy, who is smarter...Santa or Mommy and Daddys?

CUTE!

Purse

Okay, I am copying my friend's Kristen's blog on this one....she listed out what was in her purse a few months ago..I was laughing, thinking are you kidding me? UNTIL..I cleaned out my purse. This is what I found:

NO wallet
NO sunglasses
Kaitlyn's headband
a pen that barely works
empty ziploc bag
list of pediatricians from Children's Hospital
Anderson's shorts
pic of Ryan from Chuck E Cheese
hairbrush
toy car
lip gloss
sunglass case holder (still with no sunglasses)
Anderson's socks
hairtie x 2
Advil
toothpaste
tooth cleaner (for my braces)
hairclip
diaper
pic of a volunteer dog from Children's Hospital
empty raisin container
empty cracker wrapper
floss
lego man
toothbrush
more crackers
hairtie for me (opps, this now makes 3, I think)
Peanut Butter Crackers - crumbled to pieces (or actually powder)
2 more pens
My headband

** all of the above listed as found ;)

HA! Who knew this would all fit in my little purse (not a diaper bag, purse!)

Ryan Puke update

Okay...well, Ryan's no puking streak has come to an end. Today, Nov 26th at midnight...he had his 1st puke. He made it to our bathtub (yes, bathtub...but, hey, I'll take it...easy to wash down!) And, why am I complaining? My SWEET hubby handles the pukes while he is home b/c I puke right next to the kids while they are puking, I puke...can't handle it! I am hoping by the time they are...oh, lets say 18,I can handle it!

PS - Kaitlyn ended up with it too. The end weekend count was :Anderson 10 AM Saturday, Kaitlyn 1 AM Sunday, Ryan 12 AM Monday, oh yeah...and then Anderson again 5 AM Monday (not sure what that was about!)

SNOW IS WHITE

Everyday Kaitlyn dresses herself. I have to say, she does quite a great job. Sometimes it gets a little "wild", but for the most part, just great. Well, last week, she got dressed for school wearing a pink and white skirt, white shirt, white socks, etc. She wanted to wear her WHITE SHOES with the outfit. (For those not checking, it is WAY past Labor Day!) I tell her that white shoes are not meant to be worn in the winter, those shoes are Easter shoes, and we wear them in the Spring Time.....winter we wear black. Kaitlyn looks right at me ands says, "But Mom, SNOW is WHITE, I do not understand WHY I can't wear WHITE shoes in winter time".

Well, then Kaitlyn, you have made a very VALID point...go ahead, wear your WHITE shoes to school today ;)

Signing

This is incredible.....

We have been trying to teach Anderson sign language for about 6+ weeks now. The therapists want me to only give him a few pieces of food at 1 time so that he is forced to ask for "more". So we have been signing more with him. Last week, Char was in NY, the kids and I sat down for lunch together. I gave A only a few pieces of grilled cheese. RYAN actually noticed A's tray was empty. Ryan asked Anderson "Do you want more little buddy?" (As Ryan says this, Ryan is signing "more" to him). WOULD YOU BELIEVE that ANDERSON signed more RIGHT BACK TO RYAN?? Kaitlyn, Ryan and I were SCREAMING with delight. IT was wonderful. Makes me teary thinking back to that moment. It was terrific!

The following day, I was leaving Children's Hospital with Anderson. He had a sippy cup in hand. I had to take it to buckle him in the car seat. He started screaming. I said, "A, tell Mommy MORE". ( I DID NOT SIGN IT THIS TIME). Next thing I know, Anderson is signing more to me!! HOLY COW, I was THRILLED!!!

New Tricks

Anderson has SO many new tricks since I last wrote. I am going to try and remember them all and make a list:

1) Climbs on our child chairs in the playroom, stands up, turns to you, you say "1, 2, 3 JUMP" and he will jump to you

2) Saying "Da, Da"...very clear, loud (thru the grocery store), and 2 Das together

3) Points to a dog and says "D", "D", "D"

4) SIGNING MORE!!!! That is another blog entry to come!

5) "Walks" up the stairs while someone supports his trunk (he takes these BIG steps up ech stair)....always with a HUGE smile!

6) Tries to climp the ledge in our family room

7) Floats at swim lessons for more than 10 seconds (it is actually long time)...he screams while he does it, but he floats!

8) Turns pages in a book

9) Starting to "release" toys into a bucket

All I can think of now. Will add more later if I think of them.....But, LOTS of new things going on around here!

1st Pukes

Okay, I have been VERY behind on my blog. LOTS and LOTS of great stories to catch up on. The 1st for tonight is our day today. Whew. Poor little Anderson. His 1st stomach flu. Poor honey woke up from a morning nap with it all over his bed and himself. then, continued about 6-7 more times. Finally went back down for another nap, and woke up ready to go and ready to eat. Had to be careful what we fed him. Funny how a 16 mo does not understand that ;)

Note that Kaitlyn was over 3 before she had her first pukes. Ryan TO DATE has NEVER puked!! WHEW! LUCKY

Swim Lessons for A

A is doing GREAT at swim lessons. He has made such improvements over the past 4 sessions. Today, my friend, Bridgit, took K and R while anderson had swim. So, I was able to "observe" a little better. When the instructor says "Read, set, go"...A will close him mouth and go under. Then, he rolls on his back (with assistance) and floats. The instructor, Judy, said that A is holding up his head in the float all by himself....she is only assisting his back and doing so very little. She said the 1st day, she had to hold him down on her leg to get him on his back. He is doing GREAT!!! And Judy was excited he was holding his head up by himself b/c he is having to use all of those neck muscles/shoulder muscles that are weak to do that!! YAHOO!!!

Anderson's new tricks

New list of tricks for this past week:

1) Pointed to his cup while out to dinner and made vocal sounds (communicating he wanted a drink)

2) Pointing his finger with his arm held up at 90 degree angel

3) Plays with big brothers "Lightning McQueen" car...shakes it up, places on the ground, and chases it

4) Starting to roll ball to me

5) Starting to put his hands on top of his head more, actually "rubbed his nose" with his hand, covers his ears with his hands

These new things are GREAT!! LOVE the progress he keeps making!

1st Baby

After we dropped Popo Larry off at the airport, Kaitlyn said, "Can I ask you a question". Char and I said of course. She continues with, "Who was the 1st BABY on earth? I mean, I know there is Jesus and God, but who was the VERY, VERY, VERY 1st baby on earth and WHO took care of the baby? Who made sure the baby was safe? The baby needs a Mommy, so where did she come from?" Char and I looked at ech other, our eyes bugging from our head and said "Can we get back to you on this one?" Kaitlyn says, "What, did you guys not go to school or something, WHY don't YOU know the answer to this question?" WHEW, she stumped us and she is not even 5 yet!!!!

Princess

Popo Larry was out to visit us last week. It was a blast. Everyone had a great time. We went out to dinner on Saturday night. On our drive, we were talking to Kaitlyn about being the only "princess".....Daddy's princess and Popo's princess. Kaitlyn says, "Popo, do not forget Mima Lois, she is your princess too!!" It was adorable!

Sweet Pea

Ohhhh....Kaitlyn is such our little sweet pea. Anderson started swim lessons last Thursday to help strengthen his muscles. The following morning, Anderson was playing with an empty box of wipes from Costco (for those who have seen it, it is a fairly large box). Anderson was banging on it, moving it, climbing on it, and then he picked it up. Kaitlyn yells, "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy...Anderson just picked up that box, I think the swim lessons are WORKING!!!" :)

Later that Friday, I took Kaitlyn out for a girls' afternoon. I had a sitter at the house with the boys while our new carpet was installed. We went to a place and checked it out for K's bday party, went to McDonald's for lunch, and we were going to the nail salon for manis/pedis. While at McD's...Kaitlyn looks at me and says "Mom, thanks for making this day so special for me"...her eyes twinkled and her smile as big as her face. It was ADORABLE!! I gave her the biggest hug ever!

Our little sweet pea.....

Doctor Today

Today Kaitlyn and Anderson had an appt with the ortho doc. Kaitlyn needs to break the "habit" of walking on her toes (according to the doc). So, she needs to have a "wedge" added tot he bottom of her shoe to help her. The doc told me to buy a pair of inexpensive shoes to be her "special walking shoes". Yes...broke down and bought her a pair of PRINCESS, LIGHT UP shoes. OH MY! I can't believe I okayed it, but we will do ANYTHING to get her to walk on her heels! Casting her just does not seem like an option right now! Kaitlyn is in heaven. She ran around the house tonight in her light up shoes ON HER HEELS!!! :)

In terms of the doc and Anderson....no new news. The ortho encouraged me and felt it necessary that A be evaluated by a neuro. So...just waiting until November 1st. It can't get here fast enough at this point. Prayers, prayers, prayers.

Although, Anderson continues to do new things and improve on the things he recently started...ALWAYS encouraging. Our little honey......

Popsicle

It is about 8:30 PM and all kids are in bed (well, so we thought). We are getting ready to watch the season premier of The Office. Charlie has a sinus infection and has lost his voice....so he has decided to have a popsicle. All of a sudden, Ryan comes downstairs (has been in bed for over 1/2 hour at this point) and says, "Daddy, you are NOT suppose to have popsicles on the couch. You need to sit on the HARDWOOD to have that popsicle". BUSTED!!!

New things

We continue to see Anderson do new things ever day. This past week has been great! Last week Anderson started to say "da", then the end of the week "da, da". Today, he said "da, da, smdnboiwent (random sounds), da". It was closer to babbling this AM! YAHOO!

Also, he is starting to point more "purposefully". If he says Chief or Princess, he will point and vocalize. Or, if the big ones are watching a show and a dog or cat comes on, A will point at the screen and vocalize!!

He is lifting his arms more!! Thank goodness. I have been working and working with him the past several days on it. In the past few days, he will actually lift his arms up when you put his high chair tray on the high chair (previously he would simply keep his arms down by his side, and you would have to lift them up on the tray for him). He lifts them to point (as I said b.4) and he is also just lifting them above his head in fun and smiling.

LOTS of GREAT improvements!
LOVE IT!!!

Talking to Jesus

I love picking the kiddos up from school. They always have the BEST stories RIGHT when they get into the car. Yesterday, I picked Ryan up from school and I was asking about his day, what he had for snack, who he played with, etc. He answers my questions then says...Mommy, today I talked to Jesus. I smiled and said, Oh what did you say to him? Ryan replied with..."Dear Jesus, Thank you for my Mommy and Daddy, my brother and my sister. AMEN." IT was ADORABLE!!!