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Sunday, January 29, 2012

Landon Smiling!

 Landon has a lot of sensory issues with his mouth (oral aversion) so we've been working with him to desensitize him and hopefully get him on the track to eating.  The other night he was all about the electric toothbrush!  It's taken awhile to get to this far and I love that he enjoys it now!!


Saturday, January 28, 2012

Our little cheerleader!


Hailey started cheerleading at the YMCA last week and had her first game this morning!  She is THRILLED!!  Our super babysitter Jess is the coach and she first mentioned it to us...she's been such a blessing taking Hailey to and from practice each week!  Hailey gets some much needed big girl time!  She's got some practicing to do, but you can see her excitement on her face!  :)

 

She's on the far left side of the video :)

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

2 Year Adjusted Birthday!

Now that they're chronologically 2, the docs and therapists don't take their adjusted age into account, but we do!   If the crew would've gone full term, they should've been born today!


Happy 2nd Birthday (Adjusted)!!  

I think technically at their last assessment they were 2yr (20 months adjusted) and Brooke was at 22months, Brennan was between 15-17 months and Landon was at 6-9 months.  Regardless, we're incredibly proud of their progress!!  More on Landon tomorrow (pictures of his new equipment) but I wanted to get this up on the special day! 

I found this really comprehensive developmental checklist from University of Michigan's website.  By 2 years of age does your child:

Motor Skills

  • drink from a straw (Brooke!)
  • feed himself with a spoon (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • help in washing hands (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • put arms in sleeves with help (Brooke & Brennan!)
  • build a tower of 3-4 blocks (Brooke & Brennan!)
  • toss or roll a large ball (Brooke!)
  • open cabinets, drawers, boxes (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • operate a mechanical toy (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • bend over to pick up a toy and not fall (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • walk up steps with help (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • take steps backward (Brennan & Brooke!)

Sensory and Thinking Skills

  • like to take things apart (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • explore surroundings (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • point to 5-6 parts of a doll when asked (Brooke!)

Language and Social Skills

  • have a vocabulary of several hundred words (Brooke-ish)
  • use 2-3 word sentences (Brooke's really close!)
  • say names of toys (Brooke)
  • ask for information about an object (asks, "Shoe?" while pointing to shoe box) (Brooke!)
  • hum or try to sing (Brooke!)
  • listen to short rhymes (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • like to imitate parents (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • sometimes get angry and have temper tantrums (Brennan, Brooke & Landon - EVERYONE has this down! :)
  • act shy around strangers (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • comfort a distressed friend or parent (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • take turns in play with other children (does any 2yr old?!  We're working on it!)
  • treat a doll or stuffed animal as though it were alive (Brooke!)
  • apply pretend action to others (as in pretending to feed a doll) (Brooke, Brennan with help!)
  • show awareness of parental approval or disapproval for her actions (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • refer to self by name and use "me" and "mine" (Brooke!)
  • verbalize his desires and feelings ("I want cookie") (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • laugh at silly labeling of objects and events (as in calling a nose an ear) (Brooke!)
  • enjoy looking at one book over and over (Brennan & Brooke!)
  • point to eyes, ears, or nose when you ask (Brooke!) 

Monday, January 16, 2012

Jammin' Babies!

We have so serious dancing talent in our house! Everytime the music starts, they can't help themselves! And they have pretty good moves!



It's incredible how far they've come! I just couldn't get the image of them so small just 2 years ago out of my mind when they were dancing! Now they're moving all around, understanding and expressing themselves!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Playing in the snow!

Two weeks ago it was snowy but kinda warm so we took Hailey, Brooke & Brennan outside to play! It was Brooke & Brennan's first time all bundled up and they had no idea what we were planning! Brooke and Hailey had so much fun but Brennan got cold real fast and had to go in. He also wouldn't keep his gloves on!
Can't wait for more warm snowy days!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Christmas in January? Yep...I'm behind

WOW, I've had this post started for 3 weeks! This year Christmas was so much fun! Hailey did her big sister job preparing Brennan, Landon & Brooke for Christmas! :)

Christmas with Grandpa, Grandma, Nana & Papa! Brooke is in LOVE with babies now! She sings them to sleep, feeds them, pushes in a stroller - I love it! She's such a spitfire but has a real sweet side when she wants to! Brennan's new love is books! He's usually bouncing all over but will sit still and read a book for an hour! I love this picture of Grandpa and Brennan reading :) Landon opened his present too! He's starting to get the concept of holding onto something and pushing buttons, making progress! Hailey was a big help too - reading everyone's name and passing out presents. She gets bigger everyday!

Christmas at home! Hailey woke up first again so we were able to have time with her opening presents. I love having that one on one time with her, she's handling having to share the attention really well but I miss spending so much time with her! Brooke & Brennan were up next and really got the concept of opening presents! This was really big for Brennan - he's working so hard on his fine motor skills! Landon got up last and wasn't in a very good mood...the others were more than willing to open his presents!!

Our usual tradition on Christmas is to go out in search of eggnog ingredients. We switch back and forth, who goes in the store/gas station and we see how far we have to drive to get all the ingredients and make homemade eggnog. We had some pretty worn out kids so didn't attempt it this year, but my parents came down and brought some! There's nothing better than homemade eggnog! We did venture out for dinner, found a restaurant/truck stop open and had a really good time! It took forever to get our food, but the kids were really well behaved and just had fun! To top it off, a lady came over to say hi, compliment us on the kids (can you believe it!!) and ended up paying for our meal! We wished we would've known when she was there so we could've thanked her! Nich & I figured when our kids are old and grown, we'll have Christmas on another day and do the same thing for a family. It was such a blessing!