Glasses and Strawberries

Kailyn got out to get her new reading glasses today. She was really nervous and still is. I have never had glasses so I am not sure what the nerves are about? 

I think she looks cute.

 Keira sucking on a strawberry. Trying to hydrate her

Just because she is so darn cute.

I happened to run into a pair of new, returned, double runner ice skates at Target before Christmas. They were size 10 and $5.23 on clearance.  I want both my niece and nephew to learn to love to skate like my kids are. I called Nanie to see if I should make the purchase and she confirmed that Kyleigh was a 10 and go ahead. This was at 10pm, well past my sisters bedtime. We have an outside rink about a mile from us. It is a fun and free activity in Maine. Today was Kyleigh's first day at it and she did great. She seemed to have fun. She really wanted to wear a pretty ice skating dress and do twirls and tricks, but begrudgingly put on the get up that Aunt Didi put her in.(She would have ferociously protested with her Mom) She had been over to play before we went and got some clothing wet. She happily hopped in the car and the rest is history. Kyleigh is now an ice skater :)

Skating into her mother's arms like a princess

 

 Working on it.

 The Ice Skating Gang- Minus Nancy Kerrigan (aka Kelly)

 ALL DONE

Next Up! Graham!! :)



Something I thought I might never see.

Three years and four months ago Sam was diagnosed with Moderate Autism. He could barely talk, play or socialize. He also threw tantrums about routines and small things, lined things up and had stims.  We knew there was hope, but did not know if he would respond to ABA therapy. Thoughts of him living with us plagued our minds back then. He still throws the tantrums for us and is on the high end of the spectrum, but is thriving in school.  Tonight I put him in his room because of poor behavior and had to sit by the door to make sure he did not come out. He is beyond tired lately and routine changes are not helping. He kept pushing out these notes. One he tried to sound out "I am sorry", but this one just melted my heart. (SamLooMomm) "Sam Love Momma".  This is his very first sentence. It may be one long one, but he did it. This was the only area on his report card that he did not meet the standard at all. Now I need to send this to his teacher and his reading teacher so they grade him accordingly ;)

Ear Piercing: Take two

Kailyn got her ears pierced for the second time today. She did it before, but took them out 7 months after to put a different pair in and that pair infected one of her ears. They said for sensitive ears too!! That ear closed up. She apparently has sensitive ears and I told her she can take the new ones out when she is ten. She did not have any problems until she took them out. 

It was a big treat this time though because her and her cousin Kyleigh schemed together to get it done. My sister did not think Kyleigh would do it, but both girls got it done with barely flinching.  The ear piercing lady really had it easy this time.  We have gone in to kids screaming bloody murder. Keira will get them when she asks for them too, but since she can't talk, nor cares for earrings (unless she can pull them off of other people) that will be a while. Kailyn got them when she was 6, Kyleigh will be 5 in May. Kailyn is so much older now compared to then. Here are pictures of them. You are not allowed to take pictures while they are getting them done. They both got April, which is a (fake) diamond.

Kailyn went first.

All done. Pro.

So Excited!

So Adorable.



Ice skating 2011 Fun Fun Fun

Sam is a wild man. He tries to go as fast as he can, but can't stop. So he falls to stop or crashes into snowbanks. Kailyn has come a long way too.  Very confident on the ice. She falls, but brushes it off and gets up again. Seth, really needs his skates sharpened and so do I. My feet were frozen by the end of two hours so I need to do something about that too.  They LOVE it though. I mean really really love it. Just like I did when I was a kid, but I had a pond in my backyard. No need to drive and parents were no where to be seen. Grammie is setting them up with hockey sticks and we have two pucks. Sam watches the big boys intently and you can tell he longs to get in on the pick up hockey games. (You need to learn how to stop first Sam) His friend Patrick joined us.  Seth and the kids tried the day before and were unsuccessful. I did not go with them. Kailyn fell to a Blood Glucose level of 46 and while Seth was tending to her Sam fell and then wet himself. Saturday was a MUCH more successful day. The baby stayed with her grandparents safe and warm in their house until we got back. Seth did have to do a run to go and feed her via the G-tube so the kids could stay longer.

See, she is happy. She claimed she would not smile.

Sam smiling while Dad skates the other way

Wild Man

Not smiling because she claims to be too cool.

What NOT to say to the parent of a Type 1 Diabetic

Keira does not like to eat yogurt

BUT, she had a blast playing with it at lunch time today. Rubbing it in her hair, on the high chair etc..  We are giving her food at each meal to "play with" in hopes that some lands in her stomach. The first step in trying to wean a child off of a G-Tube is to let them see how fun food is. (At least this is what the Feeding team and Speech Therapist say) I can't decide if I should wash her hair every time she eats or only when we leave the house? She flattened it down pretty well with the yogurt today. Had a bath 3 hours earlier.  It has been over a month since we have seen a seizure, except for when she had a fever of 103.9.  She is also medication free. She had an Upper GI and they gave the go ahead to start the feeding process. We were told it is going to take a long time to get her off the tube, but it was well worth it to get her back to a healthy 14 month old. She continues to learn new things every day. Language is her strength. Eating and lower body physical movement, not so much. We have everyone we can working on it though. Two speech therapists and a feeding team.
Here she is after playing with yogurt and flattening her big head of hair down. If you listen closely you can hear her saying all done at the end.

Keira's words (First post of the new year)

ah doh (all done)
hi
momma
dadda
it da (what's that)
grrr (growling at the dog)
itsy
ider (spider)
ruff ruff (dog)
clicks her mouth to gain attention
Mmm mmm  (vroom vroom)
Duck
quack
doggy

She also shakes her hand "no no", tries to imitate the movements of itsy bitsy spider, gives the best kisses on demand, claps yay and tries to dance when we are playing the wii while sitting. :) (among other things I have probably forgotten) ;)