We were sent some really interesting results after Makena's speech evaluation at Early Start two weeks ago. They knew our only concern was her articulation, but explained that the program assesses every level of development. They added up everything and gave us her scores based on the Battelle Developmental Inventory 2nd Edition, then marked the age level she's performing at. Note that she was 31 months old when the evaluation was done-
Physical
Gross Motor (Large movement)
Makena demonstrates or is reported to do the following skills...
-Maintains or corrects balance when moving from a standing position to other, non-vertical positions
-Runs 10 feet without falling
-Kicks a ball without falling
-Walks up and down stairs without assistance
-Walks backwards 5 feet
-Throws a ball forward with direction
-Jumps forward with both feet together
Gross Motor score: 28 months (10% below age level, within normal limits)
Fine Motor (Small movement)
In fine motor skills, Makena demonstrates or is reported to demonstrate the following skills...
-Picks up a raisin (neat pincer grasp)
-Extends a toy to a person and releases it from her grasp
-Intentionally propels or throws an object
-Removes forms from a form board
-Extends or points with index finger independently of the thumb or other fingers
-Scribbles linear and/or circular patterns spontaneously
-Scribbles randomly with crayons
-Uses pads of fingertips to grasp pencil
-Holds a crayon in a fisted grasp
-Strings 4 large beads
-Holds paper with one hand while drawing or writing with the other hand
-Copies a cross
-Imitates vertical and horizontal markings
-Imitates circular markings
-Stacks 8 cubes vertically
Fine motor score: 36 months
Perceptual motor score: 41+ months
Adaptive/Self-Help (Sleeping, eating, dressing, toileting, etc.)
Family reports Makena to have the following skills...
-Removes shoes without assistance
-Drinks from a cup with little spilling
-Feeds herself with a spoon or fork without assistance
-Distinguishes between food substances and non-food substances
-Removes clothing unassisted
-Is beginning to blow nose without assistance
-Accurately responds "yes" or "no" when asked if she has to use the toilet
-Expressed need to use the toilet
-Controls bowel movements regularly
-Asks for food at the table
-Washes and dries hands without assistance
-Plays independently, requires minimal supervision
-Understands hot is dangerous
-Puts toys away when asked
-Shows car when handling an infant or small animal
-Indicates or describes and illness or ailment to an adult
-Demonstrates caution and avoids common dangers
Self-Care score: 33 months
Personal Responsibility score: 35 months
Cognitive (Responsiveness to environment, thinking skills, problem solving)
Makena demonstrates the following skills...
-Visually attends to a light source moving in an 180 degree arc and in a vertical direction
-Turns eye towards a light source
-Shows anticipatory excitement
-Visually attends to an object for 5 or more seconds
-Follows auditory and visual stimulus
-Attends to an ongoing sound or activity for more than 15 seconds
-Occupies self for 5 minutes
-Attends to a game of peek-a-boo for 1 minute
-Uncovers a hidden toy
-Plays well independently at home for periods of time more than 10 minutes
-Searches for removed object
-Looks at, points to, touches pictures in a book
-Finds objects under one of two cups
-Selects the hand hiding the toy
-Recognizes self as the cause of events happening
-Experiments with variations of casual behavior
-Reaches around barrier to obtain a toy
-Nests 5 cups
-Matches colors
-Shows awareness of new situations
-Physically explores and investigates surroundings
-Imitates simple facial gestures
-Completes simple foam board
-Matches a circle, square, and triangle.
Attention & Memory score: 31 months
Reasoning & Academic score: 36 months
Perception & Concepts score: 36 months
Communication (Language and speech)
Receptive (Understanding)
Makena demonstrated the following receptive language skills...
-Associates words with common objects or actions
-Identifies family members when named by looking and or pointing to them
-Responds to verbal commands paired with a gesture
-Looks at or points to an object across the rool when it is names
-Follows three or more familiar verbal commands
-Responds to simple prepositions (out, in, on)
-Understands simple possessives (my, your)
-Responds to different adverbs and adjectives appropriately
During the assessment Makena was observed to follow a variety of one and two step directions without difficulties. She was able to identify many items in pictures upon request and demonstrated a basic understanding of prepositions, adverbs, and adjectives (e.g. in, on, under, loudly, softly, various colors and sizes). Her parents reported that she understands everything that is said to her and they are not concerned with this area of development.
Score: 40 months
Expressive (Making sounds, gestures, signing, talking)
Makena demonstrated the following expressive language skills...
-Uses greater than 100 words to communicate in 2-6 word phrases
-Dialogues in a back and forth manner
-Uses words to get needs met 90% of the time
-Uses pronouns "you" and "me" in conversation
-Uses words to relate information about other people, their actions, or their experiences
-Responds to "yes" and "no" questions appropriately
-Communicates very effectively using sounds and a few words as well as a full range of non-verbal means (body language, eye gaze, facial expressions, and typical gestures including pointing).
-Communicates with others for a variety of age-appropriate reasons (to greet others, to show something of interest to others, to comment on an object or action, to call attention for the purpose of starting an interaction, to respond to what others say, to refuse or protest something, and to get information about something).
Makena's parents expressed concerns in regard to her development in the expressive language area. Makena was observed to have a large and robust vocabulary that she uses for a variety of social functions (i.e. to greet, comment, request, protest, etc.) . During the assessment, Makena dialogued back and forth with the examiner using 2-6 word phrases. It should be noted that many of her words were not clear and she frequently left off the ends of words and/or omitted certain sounds. Her parents are very concerned with the clarity of her speech and they feel she is difficult to understand at times. Makena engaged well with the examiner using appropriate eye contact, gestures, and verbalization to call attention to herself, request more of an activity, and/or respond to simple commands. This are should be monitored as she grows and develops.
Score: 39 months
Social/Emotional (Relating to others)
Makena demonstrates or is reported to do the following skills...
-Greets familiar adults apontaneously
-Enjoys having someone read simple stories
-Helps with simple household tasks
-Responds positively when familiar adults or adults in authority initiate social contact
-Allows others to participate in her activities
-Initiates social contact with familiar adults
-Separates easily from the parent
-Uses adults other than her parents as resources
-Imitates the play activities of other children
-Responds differently to familiar and unfamiliar children
-Plays with a peer, using the same materials, without disturbing the other child's play
-Expresses affection or liking for a peer
-Shows sympathy or concern for others
-Follows direction related to her daily routine
-Appropriately communicates a range of positive and negative emotions
-Imitates others and changes her behaviors based on what others are doing
-Shows pride in accomplishments
-Expresses enthusiasm for work or play
-States her first name and age
-Uses objects in make-believe play
-Uses words for social contact
-Uses pronoun "me" to herself
Adult Interaction score: 31 months
Peer Interaction score: 28 months (10% below age level, within normal limits)
Self Concept & Social Role score: 31 months
Makena presented as an adorable and sweet little girl who initially was a bit shy with the unfamiliar examiners and testing environment. Within a few minutes, she easily transitioned into play and showed excitement when seeing all the toys available. She quickly moved through the structured testing items and transitioned well between each activity. Makena was eager to see what came next and responded well to both social and communicative interactions with excellent eye contact. She followed a variety of directions without difficulty, shared information about herself, and commented throughout the assessment using complex sentences with greater than four words.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
First Day of Preschool!
Makena's enrolled in this fabulous "preschool" where the kids attend one day a week, and it's only from 9-11:30, AND their parent attends with them. (That's why I put preschool in quotes!) It's located right by my old high school, which makes me very nostalgic because it's so "it's a small world"-y. The first 45 minutes is spent just playing indoors or out, or doing an art project or two. The parents check the bulletin board and read the assigned pages in our workbook, then write a response to the questions provided. Today our task was to observe how our child acts in the new surrounding, how they respond to the other children, and what emotions they (and we) were feeling on this first day.
I can't wait to read the whole journal at the end of the year!! It's extremely easy for me to write, especially in a school setting, but this wasn't to please anyone but myself. I ran out of room because I wanted to be as detailed as possible! The "homework" (quotes because we aren't meant to take it home) is also a chance for us to focus on something other than hovering over our child.
I had told Makena that when we go to school we get to wear a special yellow button with our name on it, and that her teacher will pin it on her shirt. During the parent orientation that was explained to us, and I wanted to give Makena an idea about something to expect. That morning Makena was beside herself with excitement. We ate a nice family breakfast and then she got up and grabbed her lunch box and said she was ready for school. So we took photos of her because that's just what you HAVE to do!! Such a fun milestone!
Before getting in the car she was getting impatient and we took about 20 photos, I think this last one is my favorite-
At the front gate. I loved how eager she was to go in. Not a bit nervous-
Then we walked into the classroom and the teacher greeted Makena by name. She was all smiles, and loved the name tag button.We said hello to our friends who were there, I'm so glad Makena has someone she knows in her class! Then she wanted to read a book with Pam. Pam took the morning off her own preschool job to attend class with us. How lucky is Makena?!
Next she did the art project and decorated a shirt. The glue was the best part.
And finally she was ready to go explore outside! I couldn't wait for her to see how awesome it is, she had the greatest time playing with everything. She loved the tire swing.
She pretty much just ran all over the place practically squealing with joy!
She loved the play house. At one point another kid came in and was playing with some dishes and Makena said "Noooo! I'm playing!!" but then we showed her there was plenty to share. Good ol' only child syndrome...
She loved the gas station/mechanic shop, and especially the goggles and keyboard inside-
Pam took her on a wagon ride-
After the free-play it's time for circle time. We sang songs and marched around the room (Makena hates doing that for some reason, she always asks me to hold her.)
Then snack time!! She was so excited to sit down with her lunch box and eat her snacks. She unzipped it by herself and opened the container and we just were so proud of her. So fun! Another my-kid-is-awesome point- I didn't notice any other kid eating veggies. ;)
She ran outside to play again and had fun with her friend. A little boy started to play with the basket ball hoop she was using, and she got annoyed by him until Pam reminded her how to share and take turns. Then she ran off to play on the side and the boy followed her. Pam said, "Look, you made a new friend!" and Makena was just smitten. Another little girl climbed up on the play structure and Makena exclaimed, "Now me have TWO new friends!!" :)
Normally the last 30 minutes of class are when the parents go with the teacher to another room for a little adults only class. The kids stay at the preschool with whatever rotating parent helper is on duty and with the 2 classroom aides, one of which is me! So while I'm very thrilled with the reduced tuition fee in exchange for being an aide, I do hope to swap a few times so that Makena gets to experience me not being there. The teacher said I'm more than welcome to do so, especially if there is a class topic that particularly interests me. We'll see!
At bedtime Makena said her favorite parts were "making my new friend Jimmy" and "teacher Mindy said hi and bye to me!" She just beamed the whole time we were there, and asked to go back again the next day. I wish it was more than once a week! She went to bed tonight very excited that tomorrow is a school day!
I can't wait to read the whole journal at the end of the year!! It's extremely easy for me to write, especially in a school setting, but this wasn't to please anyone but myself. I ran out of room because I wanted to be as detailed as possible! The "homework" (quotes because we aren't meant to take it home) is also a chance for us to focus on something other than hovering over our child.
I had told Makena that when we go to school we get to wear a special yellow button with our name on it, and that her teacher will pin it on her shirt. During the parent orientation that was explained to us, and I wanted to give Makena an idea about something to expect. That morning Makena was beside herself with excitement. We ate a nice family breakfast and then she got up and grabbed her lunch box and said she was ready for school. So we took photos of her because that's just what you HAVE to do!! Such a fun milestone!
Before getting in the car she was getting impatient and we took about 20 photos, I think this last one is my favorite-
At the front gate. I loved how eager she was to go in. Not a bit nervous-
Then we walked into the classroom and the teacher greeted Makena by name. She was all smiles, and loved the name tag button.We said hello to our friends who were there, I'm so glad Makena has someone she knows in her class! Then she wanted to read a book with Pam. Pam took the morning off her own preschool job to attend class with us. How lucky is Makena?!
Next she did the art project and decorated a shirt. The glue was the best part.
And finally she was ready to go explore outside! I couldn't wait for her to see how awesome it is, she had the greatest time playing with everything. She loved the tire swing.
She pretty much just ran all over the place practically squealing with joy!
She loved the play house. At one point another kid came in and was playing with some dishes and Makena said "Noooo! I'm playing!!" but then we showed her there was plenty to share. Good ol' only child syndrome...
She loved the gas station/mechanic shop, and especially the goggles and keyboard inside-
Pam took her on a wagon ride-
She painted a picture... and I know I have full permission to brag, but out of all the paintings, hers was the only one that wasn't a scribble of paint. She drew a shape then proceeded to color it in, staying inside the lines and making sure to get every spot of white. The little hand washing station was fun too, full of warm bubbly water and a towel to dry hands on.
After the free-play it's time for circle time. We sang songs and marched around the room (Makena hates doing that for some reason, she always asks me to hold her.)
Then snack time!! She was so excited to sit down with her lunch box and eat her snacks. She unzipped it by herself and opened the container and we just were so proud of her. So fun! Another my-kid-is-awesome point- I didn't notice any other kid eating veggies. ;)
She ran outside to play again and had fun with her friend. A little boy started to play with the basket ball hoop she was using, and she got annoyed by him until Pam reminded her how to share and take turns. Then she ran off to play on the side and the boy followed her. Pam said, "Look, you made a new friend!" and Makena was just smitten. Another little girl climbed up on the play structure and Makena exclaimed, "Now me have TWO new friends!!" :)
Normally the last 30 minutes of class are when the parents go with the teacher to another room for a little adults only class. The kids stay at the preschool with whatever rotating parent helper is on duty and with the 2 classroom aides, one of which is me! So while I'm very thrilled with the reduced tuition fee in exchange for being an aide, I do hope to swap a few times so that Makena gets to experience me not being there. The teacher said I'm more than welcome to do so, especially if there is a class topic that particularly interests me. We'll see!
At bedtime Makena said her favorite parts were "making my new friend Jimmy" and "teacher Mindy said hi and bye to me!" She just beamed the whole time we were there, and asked to go back again the next day. I wish it was more than once a week! She went to bed tonight very excited that tomorrow is a school day!
Monday, September 17, 2012
**Todd Parr book GIVEAWAY!**
Do you love Todd Parr??
Hopefully you know who Todd Parr is. But if you are suffering from an episode of mommy-brain I'll give you a hint... he's a super awesome children's book author and illustrator. His books are easily recognizable by their bright colors, adorably simple drawings, and hilarious/heartwarming text. The underlying message is always about acceptance- of others and yourself.
Perhaps you've seen this little book?
I bought The Best Friends Book at a garage sale while I was pregnant with Makena. We were in full baby planning mode, and one of the most important things I focused on was getting her shelves stocked with books. I remember looking at a few great books at that garage sale, but I put them all back in the bin based solely on their condition. Yes, that's right. I judged those books by their covers and pages that were stuck together with layers of drool. I wanted the baby friendly board books but they all seemed to have been gnawed on by 87 million children who ate steady diets of chocolate and lollipops. Then I saw The Best Friends Book. Clean cover! Pages intact! Small format! Fun to read! And as an added bonus it has a very sweet inscription on the front page from Stella (who signed her name with a star next to it) to her "very bestest friend in the whole world!" Alas. We all know how those grade school friendships go, so it's no surprise Stella's BFF eventually tossed the thoughtful gift into the unwanted pile.
All the better for me! I snatched it up and happily added it to Makena's new bookcase.
Two of my favorite classes I ever took were about children's literature. In one of those classes our final project was to work with a group to submit an annotated bibliography about the best children's books for three different ages, as determined by the criteria we'd learned about. One of the sections I had was books about diversity. I set to work researching books that included same-sex families, and quickly found The Family Book.
I knew I'd have to remember it for when Pam and I had a baby someday. By the time Makena was born we had gathered/been given a few books that portrayed our family. The Family Book remains one of our favorites, and there is only one page that mentions two moms! The rest of the book is just such a joy to read, it really captures the joy of families of all shapes and sizes. It makes me get teary sometimes when I read it and think about how lucky I am.
A few months ago our library was hosting a Todd Parr book signing, and Makena and I took along her copy of The Family Book. I explained to her that Todd is the person who wrote this book, and she loved watching him draw and talk. She especially loved taking home her signed book. For a couple weeks she wanted to read the "Todd book!!" each night before bed, and she'd open to the front and read "To Makena, love Todd! T-O-D-D spells Todd! A heart means love!" She feels so special when she sees her name and that he loves her. :)
We left the book signing with a new book! I didn't realize they would be handing out copies of It's Okay To Be Different.
At the back of each book there is an important message from Todd. Usually while reading these I start to choke up a bit and hold back tears. These are exactly the words I'd write in a book for my own child. Each message is touching and insightful:
If only every child had the chance to be told those powerful words. I have no doubt that Todd is planting seeds of acceptance and understanding with each book he writes, and then to wrap it all up with these affirmations is just icing on the cake.
So, NOW do you love Todd Parr??
Are you itching to get your hands on a book of his? First check the library, ours has many copies of his over 30 different books. We've recently read The I Love You Book and The Peace Book, both of which are winners of course! Could there possibly be better subjects than love and peace?! Just imagine what our world could be if every person knew the meanings of those two words.
You can also visit the website www.toddparr.com to take a look around and buy a book!
Todd sent me a copy of The Underwear Book his most recent book to review... and another copy to give to a blog reader of mine!
Aside from the cover, The Underwear Book is almost identical to the Underwear Do's and Dont's book, but that went out of print years ago and wasn't in this nice full-sized paperback format! It's full of practical yet silly advice. Anything about underwear is automatically hilarious to children, (and sometimes 30 year old moms too...) so it's pretty much a given your child will love this book!!
And now for the exciting part, one lucky person who leaves a comment will win a free copy of The Underwear Book!!* AND it's signed!! Todd Parr even loves YOU!!
To enter to win, leave a comment with your favorite Todd Parr book, and let me know if you own any! I'll pick a winner by either choosing whoever gives me the best answer or by selecting someone randomly if it's too hard to choose! I'm super curious how many people even read this blog, so go for it! Leave a comment now and enter to win! This is so fun! :) Winner will be selected on 9/24. That gives you a whole week, but why dilly-dally, just leave a comment right now!
*I'll ship this book anywhere within the US after contacting the winner and confirming their address. Please be sure to leave me a way to contact you in your comment!! (Unless you've received a Christmas card from me, because then I already know where you live. I'm actually standing outside your window right now. I can see you at your computer. Just kidding!! Did you turn around to check?!) Okay that was a creepy ending...
Here, let's end with a photo of a cute kid instead! It's Makena, of course. I just spent 20 minutes scrolling through cute kid photos and realized I had a plethora to choose from in my own files. I love her. And she loves me. And Todd.
**UPDATE!** Out of a whopping 4 entries, we have a winner!! Congrats to Daxle, aka commenter #2! This is fitting because she once sent me a set of really amazing reusable produce bags, which we love to use! Oh how I love paying it forward! :)
Hopefully you know who Todd Parr is. But if you are suffering from an episode of mommy-brain I'll give you a hint... he's a super awesome children's book author and illustrator. His books are easily recognizable by their bright colors, adorably simple drawings, and hilarious/heartwarming text. The underlying message is always about acceptance- of others and yourself.
Perhaps you've seen this little book?
I bought The Best Friends Book at a garage sale while I was pregnant with Makena. We were in full baby planning mode, and one of the most important things I focused on was getting her shelves stocked with books. I remember looking at a few great books at that garage sale, but I put them all back in the bin based solely on their condition. Yes, that's right. I judged those books by their covers and pages that were stuck together with layers of drool. I wanted the baby friendly board books but they all seemed to have been gnawed on by 87 million children who ate steady diets of chocolate and lollipops. Then I saw The Best Friends Book. Clean cover! Pages intact! Small format! Fun to read! And as an added bonus it has a very sweet inscription on the front page from Stella (who signed her name with a star next to it) to her "very bestest friend in the whole world!" Alas. We all know how those grade school friendships go, so it's no surprise Stella's BFF eventually tossed the thoughtful gift into the unwanted pile.
All the better for me! I snatched it up and happily added it to Makena's new bookcase.
Two of my favorite classes I ever took were about children's literature. In one of those classes our final project was to work with a group to submit an annotated bibliography about the best children's books for three different ages, as determined by the criteria we'd learned about. One of the sections I had was books about diversity. I set to work researching books that included same-sex families, and quickly found The Family Book.
I knew I'd have to remember it for when Pam and I had a baby someday. By the time Makena was born we had gathered/been given a few books that portrayed our family. The Family Book remains one of our favorites, and there is only one page that mentions two moms! The rest of the book is just such a joy to read, it really captures the joy of families of all shapes and sizes. It makes me get teary sometimes when I read it and think about how lucky I am.
A few months ago our library was hosting a Todd Parr book signing, and Makena and I took along her copy of The Family Book. I explained to her that Todd is the person who wrote this book, and she loved watching him draw and talk. She especially loved taking home her signed book. For a couple weeks she wanted to read the "Todd book!!" each night before bed, and she'd open to the front and read "To Makena, love Todd! T-O-D-D spells Todd! A heart means love!" She feels so special when she sees her name and that he loves her. :)
We left the book signing with a new book! I didn't realize they would be handing out copies of It's Okay To Be Different.
At the back of each book there is an important message from Todd. Usually while reading these I start to choke up a bit and hold back tears. These are exactly the words I'd write in a book for my own child. Each message is touching and insightful:
If only every child had the chance to be told those powerful words. I have no doubt that Todd is planting seeds of acceptance and understanding with each book he writes, and then to wrap it all up with these affirmations is just icing on the cake.
So, NOW do you love Todd Parr??
Are you itching to get your hands on a book of his? First check the library, ours has many copies of his over 30 different books. We've recently read The I Love You Book and The Peace Book, both of which are winners of course! Could there possibly be better subjects than love and peace?! Just imagine what our world could be if every person knew the meanings of those two words.
You can also visit the website www.toddparr.com to take a look around and buy a book!
Todd sent me a copy of The Underwear Book his most recent book to review... and another copy to give to a blog reader of mine!
Aside from the cover, The Underwear Book is almost identical to the Underwear Do's and Dont's book, but that went out of print years ago and wasn't in this nice full-sized paperback format! It's full of practical yet silly advice. Anything about underwear is automatically hilarious to children, (and sometimes 30 year old moms too...) so it's pretty much a given your child will love this book!!
And now for the exciting part, one lucky person who leaves a comment will win a free copy of The Underwear Book!!* AND it's signed!! Todd Parr even loves YOU!!
To enter to win, leave a comment with your favorite Todd Parr book, and let me know if you own any! I'll pick a winner by either choosing whoever gives me the best answer or by selecting someone randomly if it's too hard to choose! I'm super curious how many people even read this blog, so go for it! Leave a comment now and enter to win! This is so fun! :) Winner will be selected on 9/24. That gives you a whole week, but why dilly-dally, just leave a comment right now!
*I'll ship this book anywhere within the US after contacting the winner and confirming their address. Please be sure to leave me a way to contact you in your comment!! (Unless you've received a Christmas card from me, because then I already know where you live. I'm actually standing outside your window right now. I can see you at your computer. Just kidding!! Did you turn around to check?!) Okay that was a creepy ending...
Here, let's end with a photo of a cute kid instead! It's Makena, of course. I just spent 20 minutes scrolling through cute kid photos and realized I had a plethora to choose from in my own files. I love her. And she loves me. And Todd.
**UPDATE!** Out of a whopping 4 entries, we have a winner!! Congrats to Daxle, aka commenter #2! This is fitting because she once sent me a set of really amazing reusable produce bags, which we love to use! Oh how I love paying it forward! :)
Friday, September 14, 2012
September!
I need to make this post quickly because we're already almost halfway through September and I've been slacking. And I have lots to report! I had really wanted to go to Raging Waters this summer, but we couldn't afford it. I was bummed out, but at least we did a lot of fun things on our summer list! The only other thing we couldn't do was the SF Academy of Sciences. But that doesn't have to be a summer thing, so we'll get there eventually. I really want Makena to see the butterflies, and Pam wants to see the earthquake exhibit.
But anyways, Raging Waters! I am a fan of their facebook page and they were posting contests all summer. I entered a few times but didn't win. Then they posted the final contest of the season and I knew for certain that I won. I was the first person to post the photo they asked for and name the ride. And then they said congrats to someone else, and I looked at the time stamps and my entry was in a good 7 minutes before the other guy. So I emailed them and mentioned that, and he said I was right, I should've won, and he gave me 2 free tickets! YAY! I was so excited. Makena gets in free so it was awesome to have a free day out! Well except for parking and food. The website said you can't bring food in, but we saw SO many people eating full picnics so next time we'll do that for sure. Besides, their pizza and garlic fries were not delicious.
We had a blast, Makena was having so much fun. She loved it, she loved the wave pool and the tubes on the lazy river and splashing in the water playgrounds. She was braver than I expected, she went down a slide that I thought she wouldn't! Then I wanted to go on the big wide slide with a tube, and I swear we saw other kids on laps, but we got to the top and they said she had to ride alone. She didn't want to, and we didn't want her to anyways, so we walked down again. She was super disappointed, especially because the tubes for that ride were painted like pink doughnuts with sprinkles, which she thought was way too cool.
Lately we've been getting used to our new schedules since Pam's started her preschool job again. She's also going to start working her Saturday soccer again soon and that's going to be a pain. It was so nice to have her home for the full weekend during the summer. We really had a great summer and as we move into the fall it's a tough transition. I've said it a million times, but sharing one car is really very difficult. I think we do exceptionally well, but it's hard on all of us. There are early morning wake ups to drive Pam to work so we can use the car to go to work later, and there's a lot of waiting around or making Pam wait after work. And a lot of driving, which is still difficult sometimes. Thankfully Makena is MUCH better in the car now but sometimes we lose our sanity a little. We do have the DVD player back there for her and sometimes we really rely on that to get us through a day with a lot of car rides. I'm looking forward to having our routine in place, I feel like I've been so busy recently! I miss the days of just sitting around at home with Makena and walking to the library/park. And with the new work schedules comes a smaller paycheck, and that's been an adjustment. Plus, now Pam is going to be attending a night class once a week. Lots of changes coming up!
At home we've been gearing up for a garage sale, so we've been going through boxes and the house is a mess. That always makes me feel anxious and disorganized. We have two boxes of papers and files that came from the filing cabinets when we moved, and instead of putting the files back into the cabinets we've been meaning to go through the papers to be sure we're only keeping things we need to. So we've been here for 4 months now, and the boxes haven't been touched yet. I'm determined to get this done by the end of the month!! The other day I couldn't find some medical paperwork I needed and I would love to have that squared away.
Speaking of that, we had Makena's speech evaluated today. I'd been slightly concerned about her speech for a while, I brought it up to her pediatrician a few times but he said she was fine, too young to worry about it. Our county offers a free assessment and services for children under 3, and I finally made the appointment. First I had to fill out an insane questionnaire that asked me to list every single work she says, and asked all sorts of strange things. I was getting annoyed because the questions seemed to beyond ridiculous, and it made me feel like we'd be wasting their time. "Can your child put two words together? Can they follow a one step direction?" But I sent the paperwork in and they called us to schedule an evaluation. We went in and signed stuff and answered questions with one lady while another lady played with Makena and took notes of what she was doing. She built a tower with blocks, matched shapes, identified everything in a book of pictures, blew bubbles, threw a ball, etc. Super simple stuff. They told us it would take 1-1.5 hours but we were done within 45 minutes. They said she wasn't eligible because her scores were off the charts, and she was the most advanced kid they've ever screened. So that was awesome! Makena does have articulation issues, she usually only says the first sound of a word, but they understood her and said articulation wasn't something to be concerned about until after age 5. We left feeling a little sheepish, but mostly proud. ;)
Last weekend we went to the Art & Wine Festival, and it was great to be able to walk over and not deal with parking! We were meeting my mom at the kids area, and as we waited Makena was fascinated by the bungee trampoline, so we spent the time watching people on it. Then she said she wanted to jump, and I thought she was way too young but we saw a few little kids jumping. I asked if there was an age or weight limit and the operator said nope, that yesterday they had a 15 month old do it. That seems crazy to me, but they adjust the harness and tension by weight. So when my mom arrived (didn't want her to miss it!) we shelled out $10 for a 3 minute session.
I wasn't sure Makena would actually go through with it. She can be timid around new people but she went up on the trampoline and let the guy strap her in and listened to his instructions. And she slowly started to bounce, then jump a little higher. We were laughing because she had zero expression on her face, she does that a lot on rides, and it's hilarious. It almost looks like she's bored and then at the end she talks happily about how fun it was. Then she started going higher and higher. I couldn't believe she was fine with going so high!
Her time went on for a few extra minutes, she had gathered quite a crowd of onlookers, and as we left the line had grown much longer! We joked with the guy that she was good for business and he said that's why she got extra time. Afterwards she kept talking about her "big big BIG" jumps and how brave she was. :) We bought some tickets and rode a few of the little carnival rides, then we got some garlic fries and frozen fruit dipped in chocolate. And we oohed and ahhed over the beautiful overpriced crafts for sale.
It was also grandparents day and we gave my mom a picture frame that we covered with puzzle pieces that Makena and I painted. Then we took a photo of Makena holding a sign that said, "Grandmo, I love you to pieces!" My mom loves puzzles so it was an extra cute idea.
The other day at work I was rocking C to sleep and Makena was sitting next to us in the chair. I was singing Baby Beluga and she started to sing along, then she asked for milk. I saw her reach over and hold his hand, and she was rubbing her thumb across it slowly in such a sweet little gesture. He fell asleep and for a moment she fell asleep too, but then she woke and I put him in the crib. Makena rarely naps these days. The great part is that she is ready for bed at 7pm on the dot and falls asleep super easily. A couple weeks ago she was tired and napped at 10am, for only 40 minutes... and she was up until 10:30 pm that night!! She's been showing some real kindness lately towards others. I think she definitely has a great dose of empathy. She will give hugs when a friend is crying or bring a toy over to cheer them up. I just really love her so much! She's getting older and less babyish and she's turning into this darling little girl who I always dreamed of. I'm so incredibly lucky!
Makena crane. ;) Haha.
She's thrilled that the sunflowers she and Pam planted have finally bloomed. That one broke, but the stem healed itself and it grew at an angle. Nature is pretty darn awesome!
This was a birthday cake that she built. (I helped a little.)
And this is her right at this minute. She asked to sleep on her crib tonight. Every once in a while she says that. Of course she ends up snuggled next to me during the night!
But anyways, Raging Waters! I am a fan of their facebook page and they were posting contests all summer. I entered a few times but didn't win. Then they posted the final contest of the season and I knew for certain that I won. I was the first person to post the photo they asked for and name the ride. And then they said congrats to someone else, and I looked at the time stamps and my entry was in a good 7 minutes before the other guy. So I emailed them and mentioned that, and he said I was right, I should've won, and he gave me 2 free tickets! YAY! I was so excited. Makena gets in free so it was awesome to have a free day out! Well except for parking and food. The website said you can't bring food in, but we saw SO many people eating full picnics so next time we'll do that for sure. Besides, their pizza and garlic fries were not delicious.
We had a blast, Makena was having so much fun. She loved it, she loved the wave pool and the tubes on the lazy river and splashing in the water playgrounds. She was braver than I expected, she went down a slide that I thought she wouldn't! Then I wanted to go on the big wide slide with a tube, and I swear we saw other kids on laps, but we got to the top and they said she had to ride alone. She didn't want to, and we didn't want her to anyways, so we walked down again. She was super disappointed, especially because the tubes for that ride were painted like pink doughnuts with sprinkles, which she thought was way too cool.
Lately we've been getting used to our new schedules since Pam's started her preschool job again. She's also going to start working her Saturday soccer again soon and that's going to be a pain. It was so nice to have her home for the full weekend during the summer. We really had a great summer and as we move into the fall it's a tough transition. I've said it a million times, but sharing one car is really very difficult. I think we do exceptionally well, but it's hard on all of us. There are early morning wake ups to drive Pam to work so we can use the car to go to work later, and there's a lot of waiting around or making Pam wait after work. And a lot of driving, which is still difficult sometimes. Thankfully Makena is MUCH better in the car now but sometimes we lose our sanity a little. We do have the DVD player back there for her and sometimes we really rely on that to get us through a day with a lot of car rides. I'm looking forward to having our routine in place, I feel like I've been so busy recently! I miss the days of just sitting around at home with Makena and walking to the library/park. And with the new work schedules comes a smaller paycheck, and that's been an adjustment. Plus, now Pam is going to be attending a night class once a week. Lots of changes coming up!
At home we've been gearing up for a garage sale, so we've been going through boxes and the house is a mess. That always makes me feel anxious and disorganized. We have two boxes of papers and files that came from the filing cabinets when we moved, and instead of putting the files back into the cabinets we've been meaning to go through the papers to be sure we're only keeping things we need to. So we've been here for 4 months now, and the boxes haven't been touched yet. I'm determined to get this done by the end of the month!! The other day I couldn't find some medical paperwork I needed and I would love to have that squared away.
Speaking of that, we had Makena's speech evaluated today. I'd been slightly concerned about her speech for a while, I brought it up to her pediatrician a few times but he said she was fine, too young to worry about it. Our county offers a free assessment and services for children under 3, and I finally made the appointment. First I had to fill out an insane questionnaire that asked me to list every single work she says, and asked all sorts of strange things. I was getting annoyed because the questions seemed to beyond ridiculous, and it made me feel like we'd be wasting their time. "Can your child put two words together? Can they follow a one step direction?" But I sent the paperwork in and they called us to schedule an evaluation. We went in and signed stuff and answered questions with one lady while another lady played with Makena and took notes of what she was doing. She built a tower with blocks, matched shapes, identified everything in a book of pictures, blew bubbles, threw a ball, etc. Super simple stuff. They told us it would take 1-1.5 hours but we were done within 45 minutes. They said she wasn't eligible because her scores were off the charts, and she was the most advanced kid they've ever screened. So that was awesome! Makena does have articulation issues, she usually only says the first sound of a word, but they understood her and said articulation wasn't something to be concerned about until after age 5. We left feeling a little sheepish, but mostly proud. ;)
Last weekend we went to the Art & Wine Festival, and it was great to be able to walk over and not deal with parking! We were meeting my mom at the kids area, and as we waited Makena was fascinated by the bungee trampoline, so we spent the time watching people on it. Then she said she wanted to jump, and I thought she was way too young but we saw a few little kids jumping. I asked if there was an age or weight limit and the operator said nope, that yesterday they had a 15 month old do it. That seems crazy to me, but they adjust the harness and tension by weight. So when my mom arrived (didn't want her to miss it!) we shelled out $10 for a 3 minute session.
I wasn't sure Makena would actually go through with it. She can be timid around new people but she went up on the trampoline and let the guy strap her in and listened to his instructions. And she slowly started to bounce, then jump a little higher. We were laughing because she had zero expression on her face, she does that a lot on rides, and it's hilarious. It almost looks like she's bored and then at the end she talks happily about how fun it was. Then she started going higher and higher. I couldn't believe she was fine with going so high!
Her time went on for a few extra minutes, she had gathered quite a crowd of onlookers, and as we left the line had grown much longer! We joked with the guy that she was good for business and he said that's why she got extra time. Afterwards she kept talking about her "big big BIG" jumps and how brave she was. :) We bought some tickets and rode a few of the little carnival rides, then we got some garlic fries and frozen fruit dipped in chocolate. And we oohed and ahhed over the beautiful overpriced crafts for sale.
It was also grandparents day and we gave my mom a picture frame that we covered with puzzle pieces that Makena and I painted. Then we took a photo of Makena holding a sign that said, "Grandmo, I love you to pieces!" My mom loves puzzles so it was an extra cute idea.
The other day at work I was rocking C to sleep and Makena was sitting next to us in the chair. I was singing Baby Beluga and she started to sing along, then she asked for milk. I saw her reach over and hold his hand, and she was rubbing her thumb across it slowly in such a sweet little gesture. He fell asleep and for a moment she fell asleep too, but then she woke and I put him in the crib. Makena rarely naps these days. The great part is that she is ready for bed at 7pm on the dot and falls asleep super easily. A couple weeks ago she was tired and napped at 10am, for only 40 minutes... and she was up until 10:30 pm that night!! She's been showing some real kindness lately towards others. I think she definitely has a great dose of empathy. She will give hugs when a friend is crying or bring a toy over to cheer them up. I just really love her so much! She's getting older and less babyish and she's turning into this darling little girl who I always dreamed of. I'm so incredibly lucky!
Makena crane. ;) Haha.
She's thrilled that the sunflowers she and Pam planted have finally bloomed. That one broke, but the stem healed itself and it grew at an angle. Nature is pretty darn awesome!
This was a birthday cake that she built. (I helped a little.)
And this is her right at this minute. She asked to sleep on her crib tonight. Every once in a while she says that. Of course she ends up snuggled next to me during the night!
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