With both kids we have always had to weigh the pros on cons of various therapies. Which ones help, which ones don't and which ones are just because someone told us we should have x y or z. Our newest therapy has been Hippotherapy. We have both kids going, Suzie to help with her balance, coordination and weakness on her right side, and Zachy for low tone (hypotonia) and scoliosis. We heard great things about hippo but we weren't really sure how much it would help. Since the kids loved it we figure it was worth it. 

Since we started hippo Zach has been able to feel pain, he talks more and he is walking. Suzie runs smoother, doesn't seem to clench her right hand as much and isn't quite as scared of animals. We also received concrete proof that hippo does really help with scoliosis. The first time we took Zach to determine his degree of scoliosis he had a 22.56 curve. Today at his 3 month recheck it was down to 17. It amazed the Dr! So needless to say, hippo is here to stay!! 

I have also discovered that having a walking Zachy makes a dirty Zachy. We have been taking the kids outside a lot since the weather is cooler. Zach seems to be on a one man mission to touch everything he possibly can. He is also learning that if he does a bear crawl he can fit under parts of Daddy's truck. Hopefully this was a one time fluke (yeah right). 

Tonight was my first night putting the kids to bed totally on my own, with baths and everything, since my surgery. Being the idiot that I am I took Z's diaper off and let him walk into the bathroom on his own. All was well and good until Suzie informed me "Oh No! No Zachy! Mommy! Zachy had an accident! He peepeed all over himself!!!" Stuck them both in the tub so I could clean up the mess - Suzie continued to scold Zachy for having an accident. It sort of bother's me that she thinks it is naughty to have an accident. We have never scolded her for having an accident because they are ummm accidents? So no idea where this is coming from. 

I think one of the highlights of my night was a conversation I had with Suzie. "Mommy? That is a very nice purse. I like the pattern and the flowers." "Mommy? Did you make it yourself? No? Oh. Did your friend make it for you? Oh. Well it is very pretty"  I have no idea where this came from but it was so sincere and just melted me. 

So we are trying to cut back on expenses. One thing we have been debating about doing away with is our home phone. We never talk on it - we occasionally use it to send a fax. It seems silly to pay $25 a month for the ability to send 2 or 3 faxes. So we got rid of it. Now we are down to $125 for internet/cable. It isn't much of a cut but it is a start! Getting better at meal planning is also going to help. I just need to be more creative with my menu. I am a decent cook - but I have a pretty limited menu. Time to break out the cookbooks.

We have decided to get a membership to the Children's Museum. We need to be able to take Zachy somewhere that allows him to really roam and try new things. He is so crazy and so busy that I don't feel comfortable taking him to any play place that is not designed for busy kids. The Short Pump CMoR is suppose to have a great toddler area. I am looking forward to seeing how the kids enjoy it.

Suzie is really turning into a little person. She has several things that she has declared to be "her job". If one of us dares to do these jobs a breakdown (with tears) is sure to follow. Most of the time it isn't a big deal but some things are so second nature that it is hard to remember to wait for her. Reminding us to put on our seat belt - her job. If we 'remember' all on our own she loses it. She has also decided that it is her job to put clothes into the washer. She doesn't know that the dryer is not the same machine as the washing machine. Just now when I went to put clothes into the dryer I found a pair of her dirty socks. I vaguely remember Suzie saying something about having dirty or wet socks but I wasn't really paying attention. Whoops. I know this is the age that she begins to want to do things on her own - I just wish it wasn't so emotional.

Zachy is also coming into his own. He is starting to really follow simple, one step commands. It is so great seeing him "give it to Daddy" or "get your bottle". His walking is also really coming along. He still looks like a pot bellied penguin when he walks but he is doing great on a variety of terrains.

Tomorrow starts a new week - can't wait to see what it brings!

Here is Suzie steering her pirate ship!

Not much to say today. Amanda came and watch the kids for a few hours while David and I did some junk. Well actually, David had a craptastic work meeting and I had some alone time at Starbucks and Target. Target/Starbucks without hubby and kids was SO nice!! Not that I don't love them - I just don't always want to be able to hear and see them.  :)

David took Suzie to pick up her new glasses and while he was gone I took Zach outside and had him walking around on various surfaces. He did SO much better than I thought he would! One of the goals we have for Zachy is for him to be able to get up from a sitting to standing position and then walk. By having him outside on the sidewalk and the driveway with the rough surfaces it made it MUCH easier to encourage him not to crawl.

David and Suzie got back from their adventure and Suzie had some scooter time. She has some residual weakness/lack of coordination on her left side and anything that encourages her to balance it very beneficial.

The past few weeks the kids have been really playing well together and I was able to catch a few pictures of their 'bonding'.

Can you tell it is pre-bedtime Dora time?

Peek-a-boo... Where's Zachy??

Showing some love - or wrestling moves... 

Love this

I think she put him in a headlock shortly after this one. 

And finally - a few days ago we had a visitor on one of our posts on the front porch.

Change... Change... Change...

Man - I can't believe that it has been a month since I have blogged! So much has changed. 

Zachy started walking on August 23rd and has just taking off. He went from taking 5 to 6 steps on the 23rd to walking non-stop by the 30th. Now we are also having to contend with his climbing. There is NOTHING this child will not climb on! It is UNREAL how fast and how agile Zachy is. If there is anything under 2 feet he will climb it - if he can't climb it he will keep trying. If Suzie is around she things it is 'nice' to help him onto things. She gets SO proud of 'helping' him. As Zach gets into more and more things we are having to correct him and tell him 'No' more and more. He HATES this and he has started throwing massive temper tantrums. Oh the crying, the tears and the body flinging. It is very impressive. 

Tonight Zachy started using sign language for the first time - he signed "more". I don't think he really comprehends exactly how to use it, but he is really starting to comprehend. Lately his comprehension skills have really improved. It seems like once the walking 'clicked' other higher function skills are also coming into play. He has called David "David" several times. When we tell him "Give this to xx" he will take what we give him and give it to the person or put it in the correct basket. I tried some shoes on him last week. Once I put them on him, he sat down, pulled them off and then walked over and put them in the shoe basket. I was shocked! Such a HUGE achievement!! 

Watching Suzie and Zachy bonding is beyond wonderful. Suzie LOVES being told what a great big sister she is and she LOVES to teach Zachy new skills. When he masters the skills she is such a proud little girl! They both love to dance and we frequently hold dance parties. Sad to say, Zachy is already a MUCH better dancer than Suzie. 

This is my scary tiger daughter. Love this girl!!

Stuff

We had a speech eval yesterday for Zach. He babbles like crazy but he isn't really communicating like he should be doing. He is 18 months and still doesn't really use any word or sound on a regular basis. He is able to let us know what he wants, but it is through his actions instead of through verbal clues. I am also working on getting Zach tested for a firm diagnosis on sensory processing disorder. It seems so odd to WANT to have him have certain diagnosis but I have learned that having a black and white diagnosis enables you to get help that you may not be able to get otherwise. Not having a diagnosis doesn't make the issue goes away - it just makes it harder to get help when you need it.

Suzie is starting to act like a complete 3 year old. She is talking back, telling us no and telling fibs. I know fibs are lies but saying she is lying just seems harsh. Yesterday we told her she needed to put some toys back in the bag, she said "no, I am stil playing" told her again and she again told us no. So into time out she goes. You can imagine how tramatic it is for her to have to sit in the hallway - 12 feet away from us. Oh the drama! After the time out was over she, again, had to put the toys back. She was dawdling so I started counting to 3. Her response to me "No Mommy, stop counting!". She is SO serious when she says it and holds her hand out to make me stop. It is really hard to keep a straight face. I really think my mom and my daughter share the same personality.

My mom is coming to visit for a couple weeks and we pick her up at the airport tonight. I am so excited to see her! This will be the first Suzie birthday she will be here for and I can't wait! One nice thing about having guests visit, it makes you really clean. You can't hide the dead bodies in the guest room - you have to actually get rid of them.

Time for me to stop procrastinating and finish cleaning. Fun! 

frienimly

Growing up in a small town, most of my friends who had large extended families and many of their closest friends were relatives. I grew up with a small family and did not have extended family in the area. Many of my mom's friends were more like aunts to me rather than just my mom's friends.

Now that I am a mom, living in an area without a large extended family, I have learned exactly how much having friends who are like family, or frienimly, is precious.

While you can't choose your relatives, you can choose your friends. You can choose a friend who will be your rock when you need parenting advice. A friend who is single and remind you (fondly) of how much fun it can be to be single and carefree. A friend who is crazy, in a good way, and willing to go and do anything. Sometimes you can find one or two friends are are a bit of everything.

Last night I had 2 frienimlies over for apps and wine. I love when friends are familiar enough with your life that they can come in and just flow. You don't have to worry about anything being perfect, you can just relax and visit. I love my frienimly and I feel so blessed to have them in my life.

Good wine, good friends, good laughs. Does life get better?

Kitchen Improvements

David and I needed to get some work done in our kitchen. The faucet was leaking and needed to be replaced. Well we didn't want to put a pretty new faucet on an ugly old sink. We didn't want to put a pretty new sink and faucet on ugly counter tops. So we found a GREAT home maintenance contractor and we redid part of the kitchen!

Here are the before pictures:

And here are the during pictures

And the afters!

This little button is the neatest thing EVER - know what it is? A counter mounted garbage disposer switch! Our old switch was under the sink which wasn't great with kids.

So overall we LOVE the changes. Eventually we will need to get the entire kitchen upgraded but that it a few years off. 

Nakedness

The amount of nakedness in our house can be rather alarming at times. Suzie now dries herself off after a bath. She spreads the towel on the floor and rolls around on it. She also dries her hair herself.

Zachy has his own way of letting me know when he is done with bathtime. He simply climbs out of the tub. He is subtle like that.

Little perfect bodies - they are so innocent and just sweet. Now put some clothes on! Oh but wait - Suzie will do it "all by myself" until she can't and then the world is ending.

I bought Suzie some new books, books that I have fond memories of when I was little. Tonight we read 'The Little Engine The Could". I told Suzie that it was from Daddy and she quickly declared it to be her favorite book EVER!!

We also put a child proof door knob cover on the bathroom door. Luckily it is one that Suzie can get into bit Zachy can't. Yea for Amazon!! 

Busy days!

It has been a busy couple of days in our life - but all good things!

Yesterday was our "Big Anniversary Date". I actually bought a new outfit, had a mani/pedi and wore almost full make-up. The new outfit ended up being a disaster. Although I washed it before I wore it, something was still in the fabric that I was allergic to. Total hives on every part of my body that came into contact with the clothing. Lovely. The mani/pedi was wonderful. They used a newish process on my nails called Shellac (http://www.cnd.com/Products/Color/shellac-hello.aspx) and it is awesome. My nails are all nice and shiny and they haven't chipped yet!!

We went to see Horrible Bosses and LOVED the movie. It was very lightweight but very funny.
"I was drag racing"
"In a Prius?"
"I don't win much"

After a great movie we went out for a DELICIOUS dinner at Maggiano's.

It was so so yummy and relaxing. I do not know the last time we have had such a nice night. It felt weird leaving the kids with an actual babysitter and not a family member, but I got over it quickly.

It probably wasn't the best planning to have a yard sale the day after date night but oh well. The garage sale went really well. Between Jen and I we made almost $350. I was amazed how much stuff David and I had to sell. This is all of our stuff:

Suzie did pretty well with seeing her toys going. The toy she is on in the picture is one of Jen's that we ended up buying. The item Suzie hated to part with the most were her flower rain boots. As soon as she saw them she wanted to wear them. We had some tears when she had to give them back.

This afternoon David had some cuddle/play time with the kids. He HATED it.

Zachy also has a couple new toys that will help him use different muscle groups.

Luckily Suzie has approved of both toys. Phew!!!

Torture

I think today should be officially called Torture Thursday.

First of all Suzie woke us up at 5:45am. Not that unusual but the volume this morning was unreal. It was like the chickie had just shotgunned a quart of 5 Hour Energy shots. Unreal. So imagine a hyper, loud, fully awake toddler in your face starting at 5:45 AM and talking non-stop.

Amanda and her friend (not sure what approval level I have to discuss her life and friends) were coming over so Suzie decided that she would wait outside for them. She found a great stick full of dead leaves and decided to remove all the leaves right outside the front door.

Seriously - I don't think she could have tortured Zach anymore if she had tried. Wait - was she trying? Is she so diabolical that she would torture her poor defenseless brother? Hmmmm

After Amanda arrived Suzie decided that she was terrified of Amanda's friend. She would not even look in friend's direction. She is so goofily scared/she of random things. I hope Suz eventually relaxed. I wouldn't know because *I* went out by myself!!

That's right - I went out to lunch with a girlfriend - with ZERO children!!! To prove I was wild and crazy I even ordered a drink - with alcohol in it!

Thankfully they were running late in the restaurant because I ordered my drink at 11:50 but did not get it until 12:02pm. Phew - I was almost trashy there for a moment! So I had a great time catching up with my friend and just being able to have a meal without any little finger around.

To end my alone time I decided to go to Walmart. As I was quickly trying to get some shopping done (I had 30 minutes to shop because I needed to get home before David left for work) I spotted the most divine item I have ever seen. I swear I heard angels singing...

This product was clearly designed with Zach in mind. Heck even the woman on the cover looks just like me! ;) Diapers without any tab for Zach to grab! I was able to put a diaper on him without wanting to duct tape his  hands to the changing table! They are just like Pull-Ups - only diapers. GENIUS!!!!

So now I wait for David to get home. My last bit of torture? Having to wait for him to get home before I can have a Magnum ice-cream bar.



(BTW - Amanda's friend was very nice! I was impressed by them!)

Happy!

First I would like to wish my wonderful husband a very happy anniversary. I would also like to thank Match.com for connecting me with such a wonderful man. I love you!!!

Zach had PT today and he is just crazy about his therapist. Whenever he sees Jennifer he crawls into her lap and crawls on her. He also likes to lean back on her and nuzzle her. Today he also put an arm around her neck while he nuzzled her hair. It was so cute!

While Zachy took a nap this morning I got the living room all picked up and the toys put into one area. Within 4 minutes of Zach getting up he had already destroyed a lot of my work.

I think he looks a little guilty here.

Zach is also really wanting to stand on his own from his chair.

Both kids crashed pretty quickly this evening - or so I thought. About 30 minutes after putting Suzie to bed she got up because she needed "1 more hug". She got her hug and went right back to bed. A few minutes later I heard a "Bless you mommy!" when I coughed. It was such a sweet little thing.