Saturday, December 3, 2011

Kids

I really should be better at blogging about my kids...

Josie
Josie is 2 days shy of being 3 years and 5 months old. Other than the occasional accident, she is fully potty-trained, and is even sleeping in undies at night! It's funny how awful the process was a few months ago. Looking back, it doesn't seem like such a big deal. ;0) I've also learned that it's better to reward the positive than punish the negative, at least for her. Now we keep a small container of marshmallows that I give to her when she goes in the toilet (that is, when she reminds me haha).

Josie is still seeing a speech therapist once a week. There has definitely been a lot of improvements, and she really likes Julia, her therapist. She's gotten much better at saying that she wants something instead of whining or having to show me and point to whatever it is that she wants. This would probably seem bratty for other kids to do, but Josie points to herself and emphatically says, "I want X." I know that this is her way of learning how to properly express her needs/wants, so it doesn't bother me at all. However, we are working on adding the word "please" to that sentence. She's also gotten better at making choices. One choice we give her a lot is: Do you want help or do you want to do it yourself? She has become a lot more independent, and very often says, "do it self!" We're also working on yes and no questions, as well as open-ended questions. The latter will take more time, which I'm okay with.

Josie's main issue is not her expression of language. She repeats things very well and generally speaks pretty clearly. She struggles with the comprehension of language. So, she doesn't exactly have a speech problem, but a language comprehension problem. I've had to emphasize to myself that she doesn't follow instructions because she's a bad/disobedient child, but because she just doesn't understand. She needs a lot more repetition, visual assistance and follow through than most children her age. 

In the next several weeks, Josie is going to be evaluated by a group of "experts" from the local schools in order to determine what is the next step in addressing her language delays. She'll be evaluated by a school psychologist, an early childhood teacher, a speech and language pathologist, and  social worker. Justin and I are planning on homeschooling the kids, and I really hope that I don't have to put Josie in school. I will if that's the BEST thing for her. I don't want to cause her to be delayed more than she already is. On the other hand, I would love to be able to homeschool AND receive help from the local schools. We'll see though.

Josie's speech therapist suggested that she needed more interaction with other children her age. Last Tuesday morning she had her first tumbling class. It was a parent and tot class, and I think she really enjoyed herself! There are only two other children, and they are both significantly younger than Josie, but I still think she is going to learn a lot. One thing that I think will improve is her ability to follow instructions. I also hope her physical abilities, especially jumping and standing on one foot, will improve.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it previously, but Josie got a new bad a while back. She is now sleeping on a twin bed. The first few nights were a little rough, just because it was so unfamiliar, but she has really gotten used to her big girl bed. Also, she has learned how to open her bedroom door. It's an old, tricky handle, but she's figured it out! It's only a matter of time before she learns how to operate the remote control and make her own breakfast...

Deuce
Deuce is almost 22 months old. It's hard to believe that in just a couple months, he's going to be 2 years old! He really is a sweet, sweet boy. He loves giving hugs and kisses, even to his sister! However, he has recently started utilizing some wrestling moves on Josie. I have yet to see any submission holds or much "ground and pound" action, but Josie seems to think it's pretty funny right now.

Deuce's vocabulary is definitely improving. I actually think he's a little delayed in his speech as well, but he seems to comprehend language a little better. He talks a lot, but most of what he says is a completely different language. I have yet to determine what that language is, though. haha But anyway, recently he's been labeling things a little better and even putting a couple words together. For example, he says, "Good job!" and "All done!" and "Uh oh spaghettios!" ("spaghettios" sounds more like "W") and "More milk? and "Thank you!""

I'm wondering if I should get ready to potty-train Deuce. He has seen his sister go many many times, and often sits on the little potty while she's on the toilet. And he has started informing me when his diaper needs to be changed, either by grabbing at it or saying, "poop." I think that I might need to start potty-training him soon. The bigger I get, the harder it's going to be. And after the baby is born, I'm just not going to be able to for awhile. I just need to pump myself up for it again.

The boy has definitely developed some questinable habits. For example, the very first thing he does in the morning is grab the TV remote and say, "watch watch watch?!" He also has been prone to a few more temper tantrums lately. He seems to get frustrated easily. I hope that isn't a trait that he takes into adulthood. I don't want my kids to be high strung!

Generally Josie and Deuce play well together, but they've begun fighting over their toys more. I've made a point not to emphasize what toys belong to whom, because I don't like the whole "mine!!" stage that kids go through. I rarely say, "That's Josie's toy." Instead I say something like, "Deuce, Josie is playing with that right now. You can play with it when she's done." And vise versa. Or I'll say, "Why don't you play with 'this' while you wait?" If that doesn't work, I usually end up taking the toy away entirely.

I've been working on my consistency with discipline lately. I've gotten pretty fed up with the whining, so if either of them are carrying on for more than 30 seconds, I say something like, "that's enough crying/whining. You need to be all done now." And if they don't stop, I say, "do you want to go to bed/your crib?" Or "Do you want a spanking?" Usually they'll shake their heads "no." If the fit doesn't immediately stop, I tell them they have until the count of 3 to knock it off or they get the consequence. The key is to actually follow through with the consequences.

Baby
I am about 22 1/2 weeks along. You'd never know that by looking at me, because I look much bigger than that! We had an ultrasound right around 19 weeks, and everything looked good. The baby is also measuring as expected. Oh yeah, we also found out the sex of the baby. We're having another girl! Justin was really pulling for a boy. He's not sure he can handle the stress of having more than one teenage girl. (In the words of our friend, Tim: "When you have a boy, you only have to worry about one penis. When you have a girl, you have to worry about all of them." lol) We've decided to name her Margaret, after my sister. It so happens that one of Justin's favorite aunts was also named Margaret. Her nickname will be Margo. We are not sure on the middle name yet. I have some ideas, but we'll see what we end up deciding on.

She's gotten a lot more active in recent weeks, and I just love that! She hasn't started abusing me internally like Deuce did, but I'm sure that will come in due time. Also, I have not had horrible acid reflux. I really really hope I don't have to deal with that!

We are planning on another homebirth. I really can't imagine doing this any other way. I have chosen a different midwife, and so far I like her a lot. My last midwife was very knowledgeable and good at what she does, but I want a different "bed-side manner" this time. My closest girlfriends will be there to support me, and I'm really looking forward to that. I know that Justin likes having others there to ease his stress a little bit. He is so supportive and wonderful during labor, but I know that inside he's a complete wreck. Believe it or not, I do like the process of giving birth. It's very hard, but exciting and so fulfilling! And of course, I'm really looking forward to meeting our little girl!

But anyway, now you have some updates. That should hold you over for another month or so. ;0)

2 comments:

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  2. I had a grammatical error above, so I had to erase and start over!!

    Even though I know everything about you and we talk pretty much every hour of every day, I really enjoy reading your posts! I'm excited for you to get back on FB too! Then I can stop explaining things TWICE. lol ...I always keep you in the loop though ;)

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