As the girls approach the age of 3 (less than two months!!!), they will age out of the wonderful CDSA (early intervention program). The state still generously provides options for kids who still require extended services that will help prepare them to succeed in school.
This involves a meeting and evaluation with the Durham Public School system therapists: speech, physical therapy, occupational therapy and the psychologist who administers the cognitive tests. It takes several hours and involves a battery of tests disguised as play to see where the child is developmentally.
The girls did very well. I have to give kudos to our therapists, Elizabeth and Lindsay, who prepared them so well. For the most part, tested at average or above average on most tests. (I will have full details in a month or so). The only area they fell short in was speech, which was expected and actually desired. I really wanted them to be able to qualify for speech therapy, and was concerned they would be delayed, but not delayed enough. Their comprehension and vocabulary were fine, but their articulation is very poor. It's often very hard to understand them.
We get more details at the recap meeting in a month, but for now we can look forward to speech therapy in the fall. Soon we will be able to understand all the funny little things they say!
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Baby Jail
Have no fear...no more broken bones for us!
We've had our crib tents for a week or two and the girls love them. Their favorite storybook is Farmyard Tales which takes place on "Apple Tree Farm" about "Poppy, Sam and a dog called Rusty" . (turn the pages and you can look inside the book!)
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Farmyard-Tales-Usbourne/dp/0794509029#reader_0794509029
There is one story about Poppy and Sam, the children who live on the farm, which involves them camping in a tent. So, I told the girls we were getting tents like Poppy and Sam. They completely bought into it and now they love to "camp out" like Apple Tree Farm. One day, we will bring out the real tent and have a camp out in the back yard. Natalie and Abby will love it!
The most important thing, of course, is that Natalie and Abby are now safe and sound. It also means we can keep them in their cribs until they literally don't fit anymore. And, Mommy loves that!
We've had our crib tents for a week or two and the girls love them. Their favorite storybook is Farmyard Tales which takes place on "Apple Tree Farm" about "Poppy, Sam and a dog called Rusty" . (turn the pages and you can look inside the book!)
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Book-Farmyard-Tales-Usbourne/dp/0794509029#reader_0794509029
There is one story about Poppy and Sam, the children who live on the farm, which involves them camping in a tent. So, I told the girls we were getting tents like Poppy and Sam. They completely bought into it and now they love to "camp out" like Apple Tree Farm. One day, we will bring out the real tent and have a camp out in the back yard. Natalie and Abby will love it!
The most important thing, of course, is that Natalie and Abby are now safe and sound. It also means we can keep them in their cribs until they literally don't fit anymore. And, Mommy loves that!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Just heard snuggling in bed...
Scene: Natalie and Abby in Mommy's bed
out of nowhere, and actually moments after Abby was annoying Natalie by putting her feet on Natalie...
Abby: I love you Nannie
Natalie: (leans down and lays on Abby) I love you too, Abby
Abby: I love you, Nannie
Natalie: I love you too Abby
Abby: I love you Nannie
Natalie: I love you too Abby
Mommy's heart melts a little:-)
out of nowhere, and actually moments after Abby was annoying Natalie by putting her feet on Natalie...
Abby: I love you Nannie
Natalie: (leans down and lays on Abby) I love you too, Abby
Abby: I love you, Nannie
Natalie: I love you too Abby
Abby: I love you Nannie
Natalie: I love you too Abby
Mommy's heart melts a little:-)
Friday, March 5, 2010
Things We Say
Natalie and Abby say the cutest things. They have a few phrases they repeat a lot.
I'm sorry - I'm not really sure why they say this. I hear them saying it to their babies. Ex: "Here Baby Bean...I'm sorry..." I'm not sure they are actually apologizing for anything or just repeating a phrase they hear. They also say it to each other during their play. They are less enthusiastic about saying it to each other when they actually do something they need to apologize for!
I miss(ed) you (mommy, daddy, abby, nannie, baby bean, mouse, etc.) This is a new phrase - popping up in just the last few days. I'm not sure exactly where they picked this up. It seemed to start after they were at Ya-Ya's and Grandpa's last weekend. Perhaps they picked it up from hearing us tell them we missed them. Today, after PT, Abby took her car mouse, gave it a big hug and said, I missed you, Mouse.
She/he/it's so cute - This especially comes from Abby. I think this is a combination of me saying things are cute and the Wonder Pets. There are a few episodes, particularly the "Save the Kitten" episode where one of them says, "she's so cute..."
"mommy, mommy" - this is not actually about me - but what one animal (the baby) says to another (the mommy). If they have a pair of animals (two sheep, two pigs, two cows, etc), one is also a mommy and one is a baby. Natalie likes to take her kitties and play mommy and baby. She has one large mommy black and white stuffed cat (Abby has a gray one) and then several little stuffed kitties. She also has a larger "mommy Elmo" (a plush Elmo from Grammy) and a Daddy Elmo (A tickle-me-elmo from Aunt Joyce) and then the two plush Elmo's I bought for them serve as the babies.
Come on Mommy/Daddy/Abby - This is usually from Natalie. She will hold out her hand and say, "come on mommy" and want to take me to see something or do something. She says it to Abby a lot too. The response she gets is Okay, I'm coming Nannie.
I love you, too or even just I love you - Hearing your child say this to you is the most amazing thing in the world. They are starting to say it more and more and very often in response to us saying it to them.
What's that, Mommy - *sigh* this is said nearly every other minute. It's their version of "why?" They even say what's that to things they can easily identify. I think they are just saying it out of habit at this point.
Abby, are you okay - Natalie is so incredibly concerned about Abby. If she coughs, she'll ask, are you okay, Abby. Abby will say, yes, or I'm okay. Natalie will then say, ok. Abby sometimes checks on Natalie, but usually it's Natalie to Abby. Today, during a diaper change I was just wiping the tinkle off of Abby while she was standing. She was fussing about it and Natalie came over and said, it's okay, Abby, I hold you - and she held her hands while I did it. She is such the caretaker.
Excuse me, Abby/Nannie/Mommy/Daddy - manners are just so cute coming from little people. They use this quite appropriately too. When they want you to move or get past you, they sweetly say, excuse me please...
Bless you - again - cute little manners - if someone sneezes, they'll say bless you mommy. Once I heard Abby sneeze and then to herself she said, bless me :-)
please (pease), thank you (tank you), and no thank you- the girls use these phrases all the time and appropriately. They direct them to us, each other and to grandparents, aunts, etc. We are actually pretty proud of this.
Last (that I can think of), but not the least important, by any means...
more Wonder Pets, I want Wonder Pets, Wooooonder Peeeeets... sadly, this becomes the refrain if they watch one or two episodes and we then turn it off. This, we are NOT so proud of. They are far too addicted to Wonder Pets. We are ashamed. But, I have to say, it does have its merits. They are learning to identify a number of animals. If they see an animal seen on Wonder Pets they will say, wonder pets save the baby .... So, we then test their memory and talk about how they saved the animal, etc. They remember quite a bit. It also enhances their imaginative play. They take their little animals, like a large stuffed kitty and a smaller stuffed kitty, and have the mommy say, thank you wonder pets for saving my baby or I missed you baby. It's really fun to watch and listen to them play.
These are just a few of the most repeated phrases. They are both talking more and more. Natalie has especially come out of her shell. She talks all.the.time. She narrates what she is doing a lot and describes what she sees. She also speaks in really complex, long sentences. For instance, the other day she saw a picture of a dolphin and she said, the Wonder Pets save the baby dolphin in the water in the net. The problem is, I can't always understand what she is saying. Sometimes, I can piece a few words together or use context clues, but sometimes - not. Abby is a little easier to understand, but not always. Obviously, their diction is the focus of their speech therapy. In fact, we are trying to get an extra day each week added so they will have it twice a week.
I keep trying to capture some of this cuteness on video, but it's really hard. By then time I grab the camera, they've stopped or gone on to something else. I'll keep trying though!
I'm sorry - I'm not really sure why they say this. I hear them saying it to their babies. Ex: "Here Baby Bean...I'm sorry..." I'm not sure they are actually apologizing for anything or just repeating a phrase they hear. They also say it to each other during their play. They are less enthusiastic about saying it to each other when they actually do something they need to apologize for!
I miss(ed) you (mommy, daddy, abby, nannie, baby bean, mouse, etc.) This is a new phrase - popping up in just the last few days. I'm not sure exactly where they picked this up. It seemed to start after they were at Ya-Ya's and Grandpa's last weekend. Perhaps they picked it up from hearing us tell them we missed them. Today, after PT, Abby took her car mouse, gave it a big hug and said, I missed you, Mouse.
She/he/it's so cute - This especially comes from Abby. I think this is a combination of me saying things are cute and the Wonder Pets. There are a few episodes, particularly the "Save the Kitten" episode where one of them says, "she's so cute..."
"mommy, mommy" - this is not actually about me - but what one animal (the baby) says to another (the mommy). If they have a pair of animals (two sheep, two pigs, two cows, etc), one is also a mommy and one is a baby. Natalie likes to take her kitties and play mommy and baby. She has one large mommy black and white stuffed cat (Abby has a gray one) and then several little stuffed kitties. She also has a larger "mommy Elmo" (a plush Elmo from Grammy) and a Daddy Elmo (A tickle-me-elmo from Aunt Joyce) and then the two plush Elmo's I bought for them serve as the babies.
Come on Mommy/Daddy/Abby - This is usually from Natalie. She will hold out her hand and say, "come on mommy" and want to take me to see something or do something. She says it to Abby a lot too. The response she gets is Okay, I'm coming Nannie.
I love you, too or even just I love you - Hearing your child say this to you is the most amazing thing in the world. They are starting to say it more and more and very often in response to us saying it to them.
What's that, Mommy - *sigh* this is said nearly every other minute. It's their version of "why?" They even say what's that to things they can easily identify. I think they are just saying it out of habit at this point.
Abby, are you okay - Natalie is so incredibly concerned about Abby. If she coughs, she'll ask, are you okay, Abby. Abby will say, yes, or I'm okay. Natalie will then say, ok. Abby sometimes checks on Natalie, but usually it's Natalie to Abby. Today, during a diaper change I was just wiping the tinkle off of Abby while she was standing. She was fussing about it and Natalie came over and said, it's okay, Abby, I hold you - and she held her hands while I did it. She is such the caretaker.
Excuse me, Abby/Nannie/Mommy/Daddy - manners are just so cute coming from little people. They use this quite appropriately too. When they want you to move or get past you, they sweetly say, excuse me please...
Bless you - again - cute little manners - if someone sneezes, they'll say bless you mommy. Once I heard Abby sneeze and then to herself she said, bless me :-)
please (pease), thank you (tank you), and no thank you- the girls use these phrases all the time and appropriately. They direct them to us, each other and to grandparents, aunts, etc. We are actually pretty proud of this.
Last (that I can think of), but not the least important, by any means...
more Wonder Pets, I want Wonder Pets, Wooooonder Peeeeets... sadly, this becomes the refrain if they watch one or two episodes and we then turn it off. This, we are NOT so proud of. They are far too addicted to Wonder Pets. We are ashamed. But, I have to say, it does have its merits. They are learning to identify a number of animals. If they see an animal seen on Wonder Pets they will say, wonder pets save the baby .... So, we then test their memory and talk about how they saved the animal, etc. They remember quite a bit. It also enhances their imaginative play. They take their little animals, like a large stuffed kitty and a smaller stuffed kitty, and have the mommy say, thank you wonder pets for saving my baby or I missed you baby. It's really fun to watch and listen to them play.
These are just a few of the most repeated phrases. They are both talking more and more. Natalie has especially come out of her shell. She talks all.the.time. She narrates what she is doing a lot and describes what she sees. She also speaks in really complex, long sentences. For instance, the other day she saw a picture of a dolphin and she said, the Wonder Pets save the baby dolphin in the water in the net. The problem is, I can't always understand what she is saying. Sometimes, I can piece a few words together or use context clues, but sometimes - not. Abby is a little easier to understand, but not always. Obviously, their diction is the focus of their speech therapy. In fact, we are trying to get an extra day each week added so they will have it twice a week.
I keep trying to capture some of this cuteness on video, but it's really hard. By then time I grab the camera, they've stopped or gone on to something else. I'll keep trying though!
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