Hannah's speech update

Hannah has started speech therapy so I thought I would give a little update (as my title so creatively implies). Mostly, this is for my own record so that *hopefully* I can look back at her progress with happiness and satisfaction because it is slooooow going and (if I am being completely honest) kinda frustrating (for both of us). But before I get to the update, OH MY GOODNESS...test time is definitely imminent. Like just a little over 48 hours away. How do I know?

Because, as Joe likes to say, the wheels have come off! We are falling apart right before my eyes. It started last night at about 10pm (as I was getting into bed), Charlotte woke burning up with a fever. At the same time Joe was in bed with a stomach ache so Charlotte and I camped out on the couch (and watched a lovely PBS documentary about the Amish) until midnight. Then I put Charlotte to bed (or so I thought). The night went a little something like this...12:30 AM Charlotte wakes up crying. I stumble into her room and settle her back to sleep. 1 AM Charlotte wakes up crying. I stumble into her room and settle her back to sleep. 1:30 AM Charlotte wakes up crying. I stumble into her room and settle her back to sleep. That nasty cycle continued until 3 AM when I brought her into our bed. She slept great. Joe and I hardly slept. No surprise there. So I brought her back to her bed. More crying and comforting. At 5 AM I finally realized I could (and SHOULD) give the poor child more Tylenol. Medicine administered and I stumble back to my bed and I foolishly tell Joe that I am SO thankful that Hannah has not woken once during this hub bub. Famous last words! Five minutes later, Charlotte has a potty accident, Isaiah wakes up from a bad dream and Hannah is crying in her crib from all the commotion. Eventually we got the girls settled (Isaiah was up for the day!) and crawl back into bed just as Joe's alarm was going off. GOOD MORNING to us! We chose to ignore it. It was a snooze button kind of morning. At 6 AM Charlotte (who was snugly between us in our bed) asks for her water bottle, I stumbled into her room waking Hannah in the process, only to remember the water bottle is in MY bed with Charlotte! Isaiah chose this moment to run into our room announcing he saw a snake under his bed which causes Hannah to cry louder! There was NO snake. It's at this point we give up on sleep and the boys head out to shovel the driveway because as luck would have it we got dumped on during the night. Good morning indeed.

our snowy abode today

my sick girl

 

So speech? It's happening. 

Once a week for an hour a speech therapist comes to our home (which I LOVE) and works with Hannah. It's play therapy. So mostly it's fun. Or at least Hannah thinks so for the first 15-20 minutes. Then she gets frustrated because Ms. Julie makes her use her words before she gets to play. And Hannah is a girl of few words. She's much more accustomed to loudly repeating "eeh, eeh, eeh" and getting what she wants/needs. A lot of times she will just outright ignore Ms. Julie when frustrated. Sometimes she looks to me for support. She gives me this look like "This lady is crazy mom. Can you help me?"  Cracks me up every time! Lastly, when she is very frustrated she will pull at her hair (or her sister's if she is within reach). 

But progress has been made. And for documentation purposes, here are Hannah's current words:

Signing (with prompting):

Please

More

Thank you

Help

Go

Open

Speaking:

Mama

Dada

Yaya (for Isaiah & Charlotte)

Ba or ba-ba (for ball, bear, bye and baby)

Yea (for yes)

Uh oh

Aye (for eye)

Hi

Papa

She also now barks like a dog and meows like a cat when asked about animal noises. 

So that's 8 more words than when she was referred to speech. Which in some ways feels like a HUGE improvement and at the same time feels like nothing at all. Charlotte has been Hannah's biggest cheerleader, role model and teacher...

 

At the end of her last session Ms. Julie told me she thinks Hannah is doing great. But she hasn't yet made the association between making sounds/words and communication. Basically Hannah sees no point in learning to talk because she doesn't need to. She already knows how to get what she wants/needs by screaming or grunting. Which of course means, I have been/am her biggest enabler in not learning to talk. Oops! 

So I have been trying to ignore the grunts and screams and only respond to signing or attempts at talking. But it's so hard. It's hard for me and its hard for Hannah. But we keep trying. Baby steps.

 

 

As promised (though no one actually asked for it) here is my little "how the kids and I learned embroidery together" post.  It all started with the book "See & Sew" by Tina Davis....a sewing book for children. My friend found the book at Goodwill. And I was intrigued. So I did what I always do...I requested a copy from the library! Less than a week later I had it in my hands. Isaiah immediately looked through the entire book. My boy loves crafts:) Just like his mama! After some deliberation, he chose embroidery as his first project.

 

Now admittedly, Isaiah has a lot of "projects" he wants to create with my help. Most of these projects never come to fruition because....well...because I am lazy. But as luck would have it, I knew Monday was going to be yet another snow day so this time I was motivated to find a way to occupy our time inside. The kids and I zipped right on over to our nearest craft supply store and bought our supplies (before the cold front hit).

 

 

Here's the breakdown of what we purchased:

Two - 4" embroidery hoops - $1.49/each

36 pack of embroidery floss - $4.99

 

The fabric is scraps I already owned (from an old duvet cover) and the needles I owned as well. They were part of a multi-needle pack and handily enough were labeled "embroidery". Basically I think any large needle with a large eye will work. But what do I know? I thought the small hoops would be good for the kids. Later my mom informed me bigger would have been better, easier to handle with more work space. So maybe splurge and get the 8" hoop for $1.99! Oh and if the pack of floss is too much for the ole' budget, individual packs of floss are CHEAP. Like forty cents cheap. I went crazy this time and jumped in with both feet and I don't regret it one bit. The kids LOVE having so many colors to choose from.

 

 

That is the what. Moving right along to the how. Not much to say here. Basically the kids and I looked at the illustrations in the book and gave it a whirl. Isaiah picked it up after I showed him two stitches (stem stitches to be exact). While Charlotte....well she got the concept but couldn't execute it quite as precisely. Regardless, they both had a blast! Seriously they sat quietly working on their embroidery for most of the morning! It was wonderful!! I got some dishes done and was only interrupted to re-thread their needles from time to time. The book is excellent. Easy illustrations to follow.

 

 

Hannah also liked embroidery because it meant she got free reign of the entire house without her brother or sister bossing her around!

In the end Charlotte created a chick, albeit unintentionally. She was a free-style embroiderer while Isaiah had a plan and executed it. As is obvious in the finished product pictures, I helped Charlotte with her creation. She needed a little guidance:) Isaiah on the other hand, only needed me to do the first stitch or two of each kind and then he was able to take off. His scene was created using the following stitches: stem, cross, chain, and blanket. Nearly all the stitches in the book!

Both finished products are now framed and proudly displayed in the kids' rooms.

 

Who knew my kids would enjoy embroidery so much? Certainly not I. But that was a pleasant surprise! We will definitely be doing more embroidery around here.

It's official.

I am the worst mom ever.

Or at the very least a bad one:(

On Thursday afternoons Isaiah takes an hour and fifteen minute art class ("Clay Creations") at the rec center. Typically the girls and I stay in the rec center and play (at the indoor playground). Sometimes we go to the grocery store a mile down the road. 

Today (for the first time) we went to a friend's house and hung out during Isaiah's class. My girls played & snacked while us moms chatted and I got to hold my friend's baby. It was lovely. 

After an hour of socializing I loaded up the girls to go get Isaiah. That is when I saw it. A voicemail from the rec center left on my phone 45 minutes prior. Isaiah was complaining of a stomach ache and wanted to go home. 

I hate to admit it but my initial thought was that he was crying wolf. I already had my lecture planned about the inappropriateness of claiming illness in order to get out of participating in an activity. But in the back of my mind I also felt HORRIBLE for missing that call. I already felt like the worst mother!

I pulled up to the rec center (a minute or two late!) to find NO close parking spots. So I made the hasty decision to park (illegally) in the fire lane near the entrance. I turned off the van and left the girls buckled in their seats and dashed into the building. (His class is right by the front entrance...in my defense.) 

I met his teacher in the hall and apologized profusely. She was gracious and told me, "it happens to every mom". She then pointed me to the men's bathroom as Isaiah had been in there "for a while". Uh oh. No good. 

Cautiously I opened the door and called for Isaiah. He was the only person in there so I charged in, only to find the most sad sick boy I had ever seen. (The coming-out-both-ends kind of sick). He thankfully had made it to the toilet in time to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately he threw up at the same time. Which resulted in his underwear and pants being FILLED with his vomit. And there he stood all alone in a vomit filled bathroom stall trying to clean it up himself. 

Worst mom ever!

My heart was so sad for him. But my brain was frenzied trying to figure out the logistics of this situation. Two girls unattended in the illegally parked van, one boy covered in vomit and just me to deal with it all! No change of clothes, no diaper bag, nothing. Hastily I cleaned up the floor. Removed Isaiah's underwear and threw them away! Then forced him back into the soggy pants and we shuffled out of there with more apologies to his teacher.

We were quite the sight. 

But we all made it home in one piece without any more vomit! Once home I got Isaiah in the tub and fed the girls dinner. And eventually everyone was changed into jammies and reading bedtime stories    in the living room. (I wanted to quarantine Isaiah in his room but he refused.)

It was then that I snuck away to the bathroom. Ya know, to go to the bathroom. Only to be interrupted by Isaiah, knocking on the door and announcing his imminent need to throw up again! I swung open the door to witness him heaving and throwing up ALL over the hallway. The carpeted hallway. Just a second too late. 

See? Worst mom ever. 

I got him cleaned up. And then set to work cleaning up the hallway. While scrubbing away, Hannah toddles over to me...drinking from Isaiah's Gatorade-filled water bottle. The one he was drinking from just minutes before he threw up. Ugh.

Its going to be a long weekend. I just know it.

This illness came right on time. As in one week before Joe's next test. Joe always claims we fall apart right before his tests thus preventing him from getting in good quality study time. Yep, right on time!

Learning & Living

Can I be perfectly honest here for a few minutes?

Ok. Thanks. 

Being married to a medical student isn't all that bad (or hard). Not really. Especially right now. Right now he is on his family practice rotation which is Monday - Friday 9-5 (with a few "late" days thrown in there for fun). Besides study time, we have Daddy home ALL weekend. We go to church together as a family. We eat most dinners together as a family. Heck, we even bang our heads against the walls together as a family - out of sheer boredom and cabin fever! Ok not really on the last one! But you know what I mean:)

And yet, lately I have been complaining a lot lately about "Joe's schedule" and doing everything on my own. Mostly this is an internal self dialogue. My own little "woe is me" pity party. I have been wishing Joe had never left his stable (albeit incredibly boring and unfulfilling)  job as a banker. I have been day dreaming about him being home every night for dinner and bedtime. I dream about having more help with the child rearing and disciplining. And when I get real greedy in my day dreams, he's even home in the morning to help me get the kids up and ready. (Who am I kidding?! I need him here to get ME up. The kids have no problem hopping to bright & early!) 

And then I was asked by an eager, go-getter, chomping at the bit girlfriend of a first year medical student, "which year is the hardest?" I immediately responded, "For my husband it was his first year (as he had to re-learn how to be a student) and for me it is this year (third year)." A much wiser wife of a medical student responded, "The worst year is whichever one you both think of yourself the most and don't communicate well."

BAM. 

Her words hit me like a ton of bricks! Lately I have been thinking of myself. A LOT. Too much in fact. Because you want to know what is hard?

Being a medical student. 

 

It's a rigorous schooling process with extremely high standards. And it's a competitive environment. One in which everyone is bright and an over-achiever. It's the best of the best trying find a way to excell and shine brighter than everyone else while trying to learn and internalize an astounding amount of complex information. 

See? That's hard. 

Being the wife? And being the mom? That's the easy part. Sure I make the meals and wash the dishes. I do the laundry. I tend to the children and their (never-ending & always changing) needs. I vacuum and I scrub the toilet. But I also get to do all the fun parts as well. I get to go to play dates and story time. I take the kids to the park and the beach (weather-permitting:). And I get to play and read stories with them. Heck I have time to sew with my friends and watch a TV program (on the rare occasion I want to). I can even take a bubble bath or a nap when the kids are napping/resting. I get to go visit family and friends (albeit mostly alone with three kids).

I even have time to blog:) 

Joe doesn't have the luxury of free time and hobbies these days. He is either "med student" or "dad". That's it. Not much else. No time with his friends. No watching a game on lazy Sunday afternoons. The poor guy didn't even realize that Super Bowl Sunday is only four days away!

And yet I complain. And day dream of a different life. A life I will never know. And probably don't want to. Because my husband would have been miserable and bored. He's happy as a medical student. He has found his calling in life. And by golly I need to learn to embrace this life. My life. Our life. 

Unmet expectations are the root of discontent. 

I need to adjust my expectations. Because this is our reality. And being the wife isn't all that bad:) I'd rather be the wife than the medical student any day! 

But may I for one teeny tiny little second complain about one thing?  

Ok. Thanks again. Changing rotations every 4-8 weeks and NEVER knowing my husband's schedule in advance? That's annoying! He starts pediatrics in a week and a half. And we have NO IDEA what his schedule will be like. Will he be in the clinic or in the hospital? Days? Nights? Weekends? Will he have call? And if so is it "in house"?!?  I always have such an "impending sense of doom" at the beginning of each new rotation. But if I expect the worst than I can be nothing but pleasantly surprised by the reality, right?

Rant over. 

Back to my regular schedule of poop, pee and sleep schedules ranting tomorrow. Thanks for listening. 

Motherly knowledge

This morning while playing a rousing game off "clean up the Cheerios smeared into the carpet" followed by a round of "find the poop" with (a bare-bottomed) Hannah, I had the thought, "before I was a mom I didn't even know that Cheerios could be smeared into the carpet." They can be and they leave quite the mark. Worse than poop actually. Take my word for it.  Which made me think about ALL the useful things I know now but didn't know before I was a mom. 

Like....

I didn't know that vomit left on fabric for an extended period of time would bleach the fabric. It does. 

Or...

That I could look at a boogery-faced kid and think they are the cutest kid alive. 

Or...

That a girl can be going potty on the toilet and still miss the toilet. In fact the pee might just spray up on an unsuspecting bystander. I wish I didn't know this one but I do...from experience:)

Or...

That my baby's poop is more appealing to me than other babies' poop. Weird. I know. (And by "appealing" I mean I would rather change my child's poopy pants than another child's. NO poop is actually appealing!)

Or...

That such a small being (or rather a collection of small beings) can be so frustrating and down right trying. That I am left wondering if I have any sanity left at all.

Or...

That washing a used (disposable) diaper in a load of laundry is surprisingly not very messy. Again, take my word on this one. 

What can I say?!  It has been one of those days. Enough pee, poop & vomit talk! 

Yesterday I posted this little nugget of a photo to Facebook:

Because I was a) shocked at how much my children liked embroidery and b) reveling in the peace and harmony it brought to my home (on yet another "snow day").  What I wasn't expecting was how many questions this picture garnered from other moms. Moms that wanted to know the how's & what's of embroidery with small children. 

So you know what that means, right?! A post about embroidering with small children coming soon! I know the excitement!!! I hope you can handle it:)

Ok. Ok. Only a couple moms were interested in embroidery. And no one asked for a post (besides my husband). But still I have so many cute pictures of my kids while doing embroidery. So a post is definitely forthcoming regardless of the very minimal demand for such a post! I apologize in advance. 

Lastly, why oh why do I always seem to find myself in poopy situations? Literally speaking of course. This morning's incident I blame on the Cheerios. The kids took a bath this morning. After toweling off Hannah, I left her (in her birthday suit) playing outside of the tub while I ran to grab her a diaper and clothes. It was then I discovered the smear(s) of Cheerios in the hallway. So I stopped my diaper & clothes retrieving mission to clean it up. Which in turn gave Hannah ample time to poop WITHOUT a diaper on. 

Moral of the story: get a new diaper before bath time! 

How have I not learned this yet?!?