Behind the Scenes

Recently, I’ve found myself feeling envious that the lives of my friends seemed so much more carefree and positive than my own.  Was I doing something wrong?  I knew we were working our hardest, so what more could we do? 

Then I saw this meme floating around Facebook and it really struck me.  

It just helped me realize that everybody has bloopers just like my family and I do; they just may not choose to put it out there.  Which is, of course, their prerogative!  We all want to put our best foot forward, but just in case I’ve ever come across as everything is sunshine and light 24/7, behind the scenes, our crew is often trying to figure out which way is up and who is doing what, when, and just trying to keep the show moving!

Averie often has a snack before her real meal because it’s something she can get to and eat by herself so I can tend to other things first (the only silver lining here is thanks to her voracious appetite, she still has plenty of room for the healthy stuff).  

If we don’t have any errands to run (seldom as those days may be), you will likely find me in PJ’s at 3 PM.  My taste in fashion never adjusted to being a mom, and delicate and pretty clothes just don’t agree with parenting the Guinness World Record holder for the most spit-up ever produced in a day.  If I’m feeling fancy, I’ll bring out the yoga pants ;-). 

We eat dinner about the time some kids (not ours, LOL) are going to bed because Chris doesn’t get home ‘til then, due to both his new shift and the insane amount of overtime he is working.

Speaking of, Declan is still going to bed at midnight.  UGH.  Somehow he knows when we try to get to bed sooner, because those are the days he’ll decide to be up ‘til 1 or 2, so we’ve just accepted our fate.  He at least sleeps straight through ‘til 11 or so, which is great for him; not so great for those who don’t get to sleep so late (coughtheparentscough)! 

I have at least five other blog posts besides this one, ready to go, dating back to early September, just waiting for me to transfer pictures over from the camera, and I can’t seem to get my act together! 

But maybe now that I’ve put this out there, it will motivate me to do it today.  Or this week.  Maybe (add “world’s worst (best?) procrastinator” to the list).  Really though, I have some milestones that have passed and some coming up that need to be written down, so I’m really gonna do it.

Eventually ;-).

Happy Anniversary!

Is it possible that it’s already been eight years?  That we've gone from this:

We were so young!

To this?

This year, we gave ourselves something that cannot be bought in stores, but was still the most we have spent (which is saying something since we have celebrated previous years with vacations and jewelry)!  This year, our gift to each other was an extra, extra-large payment to our debt.  Reaching our goal of debt-free sooner will be the best gift of all.   

Before I met Chris, I always thought that the whirlwind relationships and marriages so common in Utah were a little naive.  How could one get to know another well enough in that time to commit for time and eternity?  Well, the Lord has a funny way of showing you that He is always the one in charge since that is exactly how Chris’ and my relationship played out.  We dated for such a short time before Chris proposed, but when you know, you know!

Even though we have had our ups and downs (and believe me, there have been plenty of downs!), I have never doubted my decision to choose Chris.  He shows me everyday how he values our children and me by working tirelessly both in- and outside the home.  He is a hopeless romantic and handyman rolled into one.  My spider-killing, toenail-painting, car-repairing, button-sewing hero.

How did I get so lucky?  Of course, Chris will argue that he got the better half.  And if that’s all we can find to argue about over the next 8, 18 and 80 years, I suppose we’ll both have to count ourselves lucky. 

Averie's Diagnosis

So if you don’t know about Averie’s speech delay yet, you must be new here ;-), but we finally have an official diagnosis: speech apraxia.

Apraxia is actually thought to be a neurological disorder because it is, basically, a problem with the brain communicating to the mouth how it should move to form words.  Kids with apraxia generally have much better receptive speech than expressive (that’s Averie), have severe expressive delays (yep, she’s in the 4^th percentile) and will often substitute their own “words” for real words because they can’t make the sounds correctly (also her).

We’ve had mixed feelings about the services we are receiving through early intervention lately and at our EI speech therapist’s urging, we enrolled Averie in private speech therapy.  

Oh my.  The price tag on that is…high, and because Averie’s delay is not caused by “injury, illness or autism spectrum disorder”, it is not covered by our (otherwise awesome) insurance.  But Averie has only been with Paige (her private therapist) for a month and we are already seeing HUGE progress so I know it is worth every penny.

I am so grateful that Chris is able to get so many extra hours right now and that we’re still able to live with my parents because otherwise, I don’t know if we could manage it and who knows how long it could take before Averie would talk, if ever, if we weren’t able to get help for her during this formative time.

So she’ll be in the private therapy for the foreseeable future and she will have an assessment done by the local school district a little closer to her 3^rd birthday.  If she still qualifies (which she should – progress with apraxia tends to be quite slow), she may either get additional speech therapy through the school district or be eligible to attend preschool and still get the speech therapy there.  We’re kind of hoping for the preschool – we socialize her as much as we can, but I think it would really be great for her.

Right now, the things Averie can reliably say:

Wow

Uh-oh

Oh, no (sounds like Oh, doh)

Nom nom! (when she wants to eat what you have, this one makes me laugh)

Done

No.  I think this is one of those ones that we are supposed to dread but we were elated when she said it, and it’s hard not to laugh at the sly voice she says it when she’s being naughty!

Dah for Daddy and Deh for Declan 

Bye (sometimes; inconsistency is another problem with apraxia)

But the biggest one of all:

Mom!  She really, really means it this time.  Months and months ago, when she started saying “mama” we thought that was it, but it seems that was more the apraxia babble.  But now she actually says it for me, to me.  I love it.

Averie can make all but three alphabet letter sounds independently (J, Q and X) but struggles to combine them into any words, so even though she can say “pah” and “tee” separately, she can’t say “potty”, which we are trying to enforce now for potty training later.

What she lacks in verbal words, she makes up for in signs: milk, more, all done, please, thank you, I’m sorry, open, eat, drink, and down.   

We have a long road ahead but I know we will get there.

Declan -- 4 Month Stats

It's 11:15 PM but I better get this up before I forget since I'm already late!

Weight: 14 lbs, 11 oz (25th %tile)

Length: 27 inches (95th %tile)

Head: 44.4 cm (95th %tile)

PHOTOS!

We've always done mall studios for Averie's milestone pictures but we've seen a lot of our friends going to a place called FotoFly recently and we decided to check it out.  Our photographer was so energetic, took a TON of shots (which I loved, because sometimes that half-second difference between clicks can be the difference between a sour face or a smile on a little one!).  

These are only about half of all the ones we loved and ordered prints of, so I'll just say that I don't think we'll be going back to the mall anytime soon! 

Declan -- 4 Months!

So I was in a blogging funk for awhile there and didn’t get Declan’s 3-month post up.  A few tidbits that he did while he was 3 months:

Sleeping 10 hour stretches at night

Grew into his 3 month clothes (just as he was supposed to be growing out of them! :P)

Laughing! 

Rolled over from belly to back with no assistance

OK, now onto the 4 months!  

I’m still late even on that one, still kind of in the funk, but I can’t get even further behind than I am now!  

Declan now rolls from back to belly and his head control is SO much better, but I think sitting independently will still be a ways off because he is still a bit bobbly-headed when upright.

He is already babbling some.  Maybe this is the normal age, but Averie didn’t do it consistently until closer to 8 months, which now we realize may have been an early sign of her speech delay, but since she was our first and I don’t really keep up on the milestone charts, it seemed fine to us.  Anyway!

He is still a great sleeper.  What a relief, because I am absolutely worn out by the end of the day.  He falls asleep for his naps by himself now!  No tears, rocking, bottle!  Averie didn’t fall asleep by herself until she was past 6 months but with a noisy toddler in the house, we needed to figure out something for Declan sooner because Averie was always waking him up when he would finally drift off out here.  And I'm not comfortable with CIO (cry it out) this early so I was glad it didn't come to that.

This is the time we started rice cereal and other solids for Averie, but she had reflux which Declan does not, so I think we will wait a bit longer.  

Declan also got his first tooth!  I swear we didn’t even know it was coming yet – he’s been chewing on his hands and drooling like a faucet for weeks, but he wasn’t any fussier than usual, and then, that little tooth was just there!

He is in size 1 diapers and 0 to 3 month clothes.  His 0-3 month pants are too short, but the 6 month ones won’t stay up so I will just have to get over my hang-up about too-short pants!

Due to a scheduling delay at the pediatrician’s office, he won’t have his 4-month well-baby-visit for another week, so I will have to have a separate post for his stats.

OK, some more visual interest now! 

Sleepy

The cutest frown in the world

Obviously didn't last long

A little drunk

Grandpa pants!

Hmmmm...

Peace

Super baby

:)

4th of July

For the 4th, we headed down to Orem to visit and hang out with our old neighbors/still good friends.  It's been a scorcher of a week so we were pretty excited to hang out in the pool and cool off.  Unfortunately, the camera battery was dead so all I have of the evening are a couple mediocre phone pictures.

Averie hasn't been in a pool since our vacation last year and to say she was not a fan then would be an understatement.  This year though, she LOVED the pool!  She was jumping in off the edge, getting her face in the water and paddling and kicking like a natural!  We weren't planning to enroll Averie in swim lessons until next year, but after watching her yesterday, we're going to start her in them as soon as we can after her 3rd birthday (the parent-child classes for kids under 3 sound like they would be a little boring for her).  

Declan lounged in his pool float the whole time and drifted off to sleep despite all the splashing near him. 

Averie and Ethan became best buds while we lived in Orem, and it is so fun to see how they just pick right up where they left off when they get together again.  Ethan had a speech delay as well but is talking some now and pronounces Averie's name "wee-wee".  It. Is. Adorable (and hilarious :D).  I snapped this picture of them last night and I just can't get over his cute expression.

We did the responsible thing and skipped out on fireworks because of the recent fires in the area (plus, while I do generally enjoy seeing them, I didn't feel like figuratively setting hundreds of dollars on fire ;-)).  Plus, two kids in the pool = two exhausted parents at the end of the day!  Thanks, Allen and Morgan for an awesome celebration!

Kids on the Move, Round 2

A couple months ago, before Declan was born, we finally had KOTM out to the house to evaluate Averie again for her speech delay.  As with the first evaluation in July last year, she was on track for social development and motor skills, her receptive speech was at the advanced level (95th percentile), and her expressive speech was practically nil -- 4th percentile, which means she only speaks as much as or more than 4% of her kids her age.

Chris and I have been wondering in particular about the possibility of speech apraxia as the cause of her delay.  Apraxia is a neurological disorder where there is a disconnect between the brain and the muscles that move the mouth to form a word.  One of the hallmarks of it is advanced receptive speech, and severely delayed expressive speech, which fits Averie to a T.  We still haven't reached an official diagnosis, so it may be apraxia, a general articulation disorder or something else entirely.

We've been meeting with a developmental therapist twice a month since April, and we've just started meeting with a speech-language pathologist and we'll see her twice a month as well. 

Averie is doing well with imitating sounds and even though the sound/word she produced can be wildly different from what she is trying to say (another common sign of apraxia), at least she is trying.  That's more than we could say a couple months ago!  Maybe dropping the binky habit will help, too. 

At the very least, she'll continue in the KOTM program until she turns 3 years old, then she will be re-evaluated by the local school district.  If she still qualifies for services, she'll be eligible to attend their special preschool where she'll continue to receive therapy. 

Some days are quite discouraging, and I wonder if it will be months, or even years, before she can say "I love you, Mommy!" or tell me about all the places her imagination takes her.  Somebody smack me if, one day, I complain about her talking my ear off because I need to be reminded to not take those words for granted.

Bye-Bye, Binky!

We won't have any more pictures like this!

There is no greater love than that between Averie and her binky.  Or should I say, was. She has taken a pacifier since night one in the hospital and if you've seen the pictures I post of her, I'm sure you've noticed the ever-present binky leash clipped to her shirt.

But Saturday morning, after the ride home from her Little Gym class, Averie voluntarily handed over her pacifier.  Chris and I have lost count of the number of times we’ve tried and the number of plans we’ve come up with to wean her from it, so we silently jumped for joy and put it up out of sight to avoid temptation.

To our surprise, she only asked for her "beeeee" a few times during the remainder of the day and when we distracted her or told her she didn’t need it, that was it. 

We were dreading putting her to bed without it, but again, after tons (TONS) of reassurance, and tucking her in with all five of her bunnies, she drifted off without the binky, and slept all night without a peep!  One nap and one more bedtime later, I think it’s safe to say she is officially weaned off the pacifier!

This is one baby phase that I'm not sad to see go, but  it’s just another sign that my baby girl is growing up into a little girl!  I'm so proud of her for doing it by herself!

Declan -- 2 Months!

Declan is 2 months old (a week and a half ago) – finding a minute (or thirty) to post “on time” with two kids is kinda tough!

He is still holding his head up just barely during tummy time.  We spoke to the pediatrician about it and it seems Averie likely just had advanced head control, but none of us are worried about it because his head is pretty huge in relation to his body, and he does have good control when “sitting” or being held.   He started smiling at the end of May, but it took until just the other day to get one on camera.  I couldn’t choose just one, or even two....  How can you NOT grin back?

Declan outgrew his newborn clothes lengthwise a few weeks ago, but the 0 to 3 months things are still swimming on him.  At least we have already run the clothes gamut with Averie and know what brands work for our long, skinny kids.

We could fit two of him in there, but his toes are almost at the end already!

He is in size 1 diapers (still big on him!) and drinking 4.5 to 4.75 ounces (yes, it’s that precise!) of formula every 3ish hours, except at night when he sleeps 9 hours (woohoo!!!!).  I stopped pumping at the end of May also and my frozen milk stash just barely ran out!  He is doing great on just formula now, which is a big relief. 

Declan hates his car seat, loud noises and tummy time.  He loves bathtime, music, and being cuddled (to which we happily oblige).

We have been trying to move up his bedtime but it’s slow going.  We’ve made it to 11 PM a few times now that we know his “tricks” – swaddle, feed last bit of bottle, lay down, turn on seahorse.  A couple nights ago, he fell asleep all on his own (we put him in his bed drowsy but awake) without his pacifier, so hopefully weaning him from it won't be the fight that it is/has been with Averie. 

2 Month Stats

Weight: 11 lbs, 2 oz (10^th percentile)

Height: 24 ¼ inches (95^th percentile)

Head: 41 cm (95^th percentile)