Pomp and Circumstance

Caleb graduated from preschool on Friday night.  It was an adorable program and he loved being with his friends.

 

After the ceremony, the daycare provided a spaghetti supper for the families.  At each table, there were 2 white balloons and a red balloon.  The parents wrote our hopes for our children on the white balloons.  The red balloons represented the kids. 

Then we tied the 3 balloons together and we went outside where the kids released them.  It was pretty sweet.

We have been so blessed to have Caleb’s pre-k teacher, Ms. Elizabeth, since he was started at CCCC when he was two.  Caleb loves her and we are so grateful that she has helped to prepare him for school and life!

 

Here’s our favorite graduate:

I Wanna Be Sedated

Oh, what a week this has been! 

Monday started at 7:40 with a trip to the endodontist, where I found out that I needed a root canal.  Caleb had graduation practice at 9:00.  Rudy had a doctor appointment at 9:30.  Nola’s language evaluation was at 1:00. 

On Tuesday, the boys went to Silver Dollar City.  Nola and I stayed home because it was so hot and there’s really not much that she can do there besides ride in the stroller.  I didn’t want her to be that hot without any chance to ride things that would help cool her off.  It would’ve just been miserable.  Caleb is big enough this year to ride all but 2 of the big rides.  He didn’t like the Powderkeg, but he did like the Thunderation.  He’s going to be a roller coaster rider, just like his Mama and Daddy.

Wednesday was my root canal day.  I was so nervous, but so ready to get it done and get the weeks of tooth pain over with!  My appointment was at 1:00 and that’s about the last thing I remember from that day.  I was knocked out from that point forward.  I do remember the numbing shot into the hard palate of my mouth that almost made me come out of my skin.  It’s still sore now as I write this 3 days later!  I slept the rest of the day, thanks to some ibuprofen and vicodin.

Thursday, I had my one work obligation of the summer.  The SLPs got together at Reagan for a day of professional development.  It was good to see everyone, but I don’t want to use my brain that much again until August 8th.  (Truth be told, I really don’t want to start using it again then either.)

Friday morning, I had an appointment for a gynecological procedure called Novasure.  (I won’t go into details about why I had it or what it does, but you can click the link if you really want to know.)  I was so nervous about it, but once I got my pre-procedure meds, I was ready to go.  It’s amazing what modern medicine can do.  Since then, I’ve spent the better part of 48 hours sleeping with the help of some pain meds.  The recovery hasn’t been too bad – just some cramping and I’m incredibly tired.  I hope to be back on my feet for most of tomorrow. 

Friday night was Caleb’s preschool graduation, which was a little bit of a stretch for me since I was coming off of sedatives.  It was great, though.  The next post will be all about little man’s cap and gown ceremony!

Nola’s Not Talking…Yet

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while or you know us personally, you know that Nola’s ears have been a source of difficulty for her (and us) since she was a tiny infant.  She had tubes put in when she was only 5 months old – the earliest our ENT would put them in.  Even after the tubes were put in, she continued to have infections and fluid.  Her ears drained fluid repeatedly throughout the fall, winter and spring.  For a while, we were at the ENT’s office to have them suctioned about every other week. 

As a speech path, I’ve been concerned about Nola’s speech and language development.  She doesn’t have enough words and she continues to rely on whining/yelling and pointing to get what she wants.  She’ll occasionally take our hands to show us things, but most often she either gets mad or just gives up.  We’ve taught her to sign “more”, but she has to be reminded after she starts whining.  She has always seemed to understand what we’re saying, but she just isn’t saying what she should be.  I told myself not to be too concerned until she got closer to 18 months, but that nagging feeling just kept telling me to be proactive. 

I had to take her to the doctor in June because she was tugging at her ears right before we were supposed to go to St. Louis.  Dr. Schaefer was out of town, so we saw Dr. Scherer.  He looked at her ears and told me that it wasn’t an ear problem, but she was teething instead.  Afterwards, I told him I was concerned about her speech development and asked if he would write a referral for a hearing and speech evaluation.  (I wanted the hearing eval to rule that out before we did the speech eval.)  He agreed and put the orders in her chart.  I immediately called the ENT’s office to schedule an evaluation with the audiologist and started the process of getting scheduled for evaluation at a therapy clinic. 

In the meantime, I decided to ramp up my at-home therapy.  We started making a greater effort to teach her words and “make” her say things instead of giving in to whining and yelling.  Everybody got on board – even Caleb.  It was so cute watching him try to get her to say things and trying to teach her words. 

Of course, everyone’s response is always, “Well, she’s the baby.  Everyone probably talks for her.  She doesn’t have to talk.”  That just burns me up.  I’m smarter than that.  We don’t talk for her and we don’t let anyone else talk for her.  Granted – as the 2nd child, we haven’t been able to spend as much one-on-one time with her, playing and reading every single day like we did with Caleb.  But…it’s not like we’ve neglected her.  It’s not like we don’t talk to her or talk about everything we’re doing all the time.  I talk to her just like I talked to Caleb.  “Look, Nola, there’s an apple.  Yummy apples.  The apple is red.  Can you say apple?”  “Oh, my goodness.  I see cows.  Cows say ‘moo’.  Those cows are big and little.  They are eating grass.”  Sometimes it’s exhausting how much I talk to her about everything – just trying to teach her language.

Nola’s hearing evaluation was on July 15th.  She did amazing!  The audiologist, Lori, said that her right tube is still in and working perfectly.  Her left tube is probably coming out, but her ear function is still good.  She passed the tympanogram with no problems.  We went into the booth for the sound field testing and she knocked that out of the park too.  She responded to every single sound.  Just to be on the safe side, Lori did an OAE and there were no problems there either.  The verdict:  Nola can hear.  Hallelujah!

The next step was one that I’m much more familiar with.  I made an appointment for her language evaluation at Imagine Pediatric Therapies.  I chose Imagine because I have heard nothing but good things about it and I have known some wonderful therapists who have worked there.  We went in on Monday afternoon (7/18) to meet with Mrs. Andrea.  She was so welcoming and Nola took to her immediately.  We spent a long time talking and she asked me lots and lots of questions from the Receptive-Expressive Emergent Language Test and we worked through the Preschool Language Scale together.  Nola was much more interested in emptying out my purse and her diaper bag, playing with all of the toys and exploring the room than anything else.

 

She did what was asked of her, though, and I think we got a good picture of her communication skills.  Her scores are very split between the tests.  She scored very high on the PLS and much, much lower on the REEL.   I know the scores don’t mean much to anyone but me and any other SLP who might read this, but here they are:  PLS Receptive = 91, PLS Expressive = 92, REEL Receptive 88, REEL Expressive = 76.  That 76 put a major lump in my throat.  I never dreamed it would be that low.  Actually, the 88 was a little heartbreaking too.  I really thought her receptive skills were at or above age expectancy.  Andrea wants to do one more test, but Nola definitely qualifies for therapy. 

I’m not sure when therapy will start.  It will definitely be as soon as possible.  I’m ready to see if someone other than her family can convince her that talking really is beneficial.  A lot of people have asked why I don’t just do her therapy myself.  The honest answer is that when things are hard for kids, they tend to learn better from other people than they do from their parents.  I’ve tried all of my therapy tricks and they haven’t worked.  It’s time to turn this over to someone who specializes in younger kids. 

It took a while for this to sink in.  My sweet baby girl is delayed.  I never dreamed I’d be typing those words.  I never dreamed I’d have a child who didn’t talk.  I mean, seriously…what are the chances of that?  And, now, I worry about what we’re looking at.  Is it simply a language delay because of her chronic ear problems or is it something more?  I worry about apraxia and I worry that it could be a part of a bigger problem that I don’t even have a name for.  However, I know that no matter what comes our way, we’ll handle it just fine.  God won’t give us more than we can handle – even if He trusts us more than we trust ourselves.  And, I know this for sure…this little bundle of sass and sweetness will get her point across, regardless of how she has to do it.

Spiro

After church on Sunday, we went to Spiro for a little visit with Grandma and Grandpa Morris.  Janice was there as well and we were glad to see her too.  We had pizza and homemade apple pie and had a great visit. 

Friends with Boats

We’ve been really fortunate to be invited to go out on Beaver Lake with friends twice this summer.  The first time was with my friend Kerrie and her family.  This past Saturday (7/16), we went out with the Adlers.  We’ve known Josh and Stephanie since college and recently reconnected with them through Rudy’s fraternity reunions.  They have a son who is Caleb’s age, another who is a little older and a brand new baby.  We had a great time on Saturday, boating, watching the kids ride the tube and kneeboard and swimming in the lake.  Nola particularly liked floating in her life jacket and eating animal crackers on the boat.  She is such a water baby!  After we boated, we went back to their house for dinner on their deck, overlooking the lake.  It was enough to give Rudy boat fever and get him talking about “someday” when we can go out there with our own boat.  I say, why have a boat when you have friends with boats???

Sticky Icky Week

Monday (7/11) was a busy day for us. Caleb went to Sticky Icky camp in the morning at Imagine Studios. Nola and I picked him up at 11:30 and met Stacy and her kids at Mellow Mushroom for lunch.  (My review:  thumbs way down.)  After lunch, we made a quick Target trip & came home for Nola’s nap.  While Nola was napping, Caleb and I made lemonade popsicles and Shrinky Dinks.  Caleb was fascinated by both, but then decided to try on my rainboots with this swimsuit & goggles.  That was, um, interesting...

After nap, we met my friend Becky and her son Ethan for some pool time, then came home for dinner.  After dinner, we made shaving cream bags (ziploc bag with shaving cream and food coloring).  That activity didn’t last long, so I decided to make a bean tub for the kids to play in.  I put 2 bags of dry pinto beans in a plastic tub, buried some small toys and let the kids dig around in it.  They played for 30 minutes without a fuss, then played some more. 

Tuesday (7/12) was not a very good day.  It started off okay.  Caleb went to camp.  Nola and I ran some errands.  That’s when it turned sour.  I needed to run one last quick errand before we picked Caleb up, so we dashed into Gordman’s, looking for a swim shirt for Caleb.  He has been asking for one for weeks.  Nola was tired of running errands and getting pretty grumpy.  I tried putting her in the shopping cart seat and she screamed like I was killing her, so I carried her for a while.  When I stopped to look at something, I sat her down in the basket part of the cart and told her to sit down.  I turned my head for a split second and felt the cart move.  When I turned back around, she was bent over the end of the cart and flipped out, landing on her head on the concrete floor.  It probably took me half a second to scoop her up.  I checked her over and didn’t find any blood or obvious injury.  She was screaming at the top of her lungs, of course.  I carried her back out to the car and got her somewhat calmed down.  I drove (very shakily) to get Caleb.  When we got there, one of the other moms that I know was picking up her daughter.  I told her what had happened and she helped me reason that I needed to call the pediatrician’s office to find out what to do.  When we got out to the car, I called and the nurse told me I needed to take her to the ER.  Panicked, I left Rudy a message to call me and headed for the hospital.  After we checked in, I noticed that Rudy had called, so I called him back.  I told him what had happened and that I’d let him know when we were finished.  We were taken back to a room and I had to tell the story multiple times, feeling guiltier and guiltier about my huge mistake every time.  Caleb made certain to let the staff know it was my fault, which he had heard me tell Rudy on the phone.  The nurse and the nurse practitioner looked Nola over carefully, asked me lots of questions and then told me that she was going to be just fine.  She showed no signs of concussion or other brain injury.  I was instructed to take her home and watch her closely for 24 hours.  As we left the hospital, I praised God for her safety and knew that I had learned a lesson that I’ll never forget – use the seatbelts in the shopping cart, even if the child doesn’t like it. 
After lunch, I turned a movie on for Caleb and we spent the afternoon recuperating from our terrifying morning.  Poor Caleb was bored out of his mind, but he was patient and did a good job entertaining himself for the most part.

Wednesday (7/13) was a much better day.  Caleb had camp.  When Nola and I picked him up, we took him to get a haircut and then went to lunch.  It was raining for the first time in a long time, so the temperatures were bearable.  After lunch, we had a rainy day inside – watching movies & being lazy.  Wednesday night, we had dinner at Catfish Hole with the band camp staff.

Thursday (7/14), Nola and I went to Gymboree before we picked up Caleb. 

Rudy had a short day on Friday and knew that I needed some time to get some things done by myself, so he took the kids for the afternoon.  That morning, I had taken Nola for a hearing evaluation (a separate post about that to come).  In the afternoon, I went to Hobby Lobby to get some things I needed for some projects I’ve been working on and then came home to work on the projects.  I got some things framed and even did some scrapbooking.  Rudy took the kids to Tanyard Creek to splash and play.  The report I got was that Caleb became an expert crawdad catcher and Nola picked up every rock in the creek.  They brought home pizza and we played outside for a while before bedtime.  Once the kids were in bed, I worked some more on scrapbooking.  I got all of 2009 finished, closing out another album!  Now, I’m only a year and a half behind.  Yikes!

Post Vacation Post

We came home from St. Louis on Wednesday (7/6).  On Thursday, Nola and I started going to Gymboree.  Caleb and I went when he was a toddler and I really wanted a chance for Nola and I to have that time together too.  She seems to really like it.  She’s definitely a mover and shaker.  I am worn out by the time it’s finished.  She is on the move the whole time we’re there – climbing and crawling and throwing balls all over the place. 

On Friday morning, Rudy and I went to a funeral.  We managed a last minute babysitter so that we could go pay our respects to Janet and her family.  That evening, we made our first ever trip to Beaver Lake.  My friend and colleague, Kerrie and her family had us over for BBQ and boating.  Caleb LOVED getting to ride on the tube with Kerrie’s son, Luke.  He and Rudy also rode the waverunner.  Nola really enjoys being in the water.  She’s pretty fearless.  After we boated, everyone (except for me) swam for a while and then we went inside for dessert and the boys played Rock Band.  It was a great night with a wonderful family!

Saturday (7/9), I got to spend the evening and night scrapbooking with my dear friend Stacy.  We love to go to the late night crops at Signed Sealed Delivered.  It’s such a productive moms’ night out!  We’re going back at the end of the month to a pajama party crop. 

Sunday (7/10) was the first day of U of A Jr High Music Camp.  Rudy was asked to conduct a band this year, so his time commitment wasn’t quite as much as previous years.  He still had to be there Sunday, though.  It was so crazy hot that the only thing I could do with the kids was put them in water.  I filled up the kiddie pool, turned on the sprinkler and turned them loose.  They had a great time splashing and playing and I got a little sun while we were out there. 

St. Louis 2011 ~ Sunday-Tuesday

After our late night at the Arch on Saturday, we had a lazy morning on Sunday.  Jerry and Sherry had offered to watch the kids while Rudy and I went out, so we decided to take them up on it.  (They might have disowned us if we hadn’t!)  We were going to go to dinner and a movie, but I suggested that we go to Six Flags.  We used to have season passes before Caleb was born and I hadn’t been since then.  After lunch, we hopped in the car and headed for Eureka.  We got a few minutes from the house and I realized that if we bought our tickets online we would save about $20, so we turned around and went back.  As I got on the computer to buy the tickets, Rudy was watching TV and saw a weather advisory for St. Louis County.  There were ugly storms brewing in the Eureka area, but he watched for a little while and determined that they would be gone by the time we got there.  I hit “purchase,” spent $100 and off we went.  The closer we got to Eureka, the darker the sky got.  We did a memory lane drive through Fenton to kill some time while the storm passed over.  When we got to Eureka, it was raining, but not pouring, so we went on in the park.  Those $100 tickets were nonrefundable after all.  It rained…and rained…and rained some more.  There was thunder and lightning and all of the rides were shut down.  We did manage to ride the carousel 3 times…because it was covered and out of the rain.  After a while, it became blatantly obvious that this storm was not going to pass over, clear up or plain ol’ quit.  We finally decided to tuck our tails, cut our losses and go out to dinner.  So…after 3 rides on the carousel at approximately $15 per person per ride, we left Six Flags.  Not our best adventure…

We went to dinner at one of our favorite local restaurants, Lazy River Grill.  Yum.  Deelicious!  We enjoyed being in familiar surroundings, visiting with each other (without wiping children’s mouths, taking anyone to the bathroom or reminding anyone to please be careful and lean over their plate).  After dinner, we decided to head on back to Florissant, pick up anyone interested and go get frozen custard.  That’s just what we did…and Fritz’s  was wonderful.

Monday was actually the 4th of July!  Rudy and I took the kids to the Mills (mall) for a while.  Both kids LOVED the aquarium at Cabela’s. 

Caleb tried out a bat at an electronic batting cage and then on this crazy trampoline thing…

We got both of the kids some new Crocs and had a late lunch at Chevy’s, which was supposed to be quick and just a snack, but it took them 45 minutes to bring our food.  Nola was exhausted, so Rudy ended up taking her out in the mall to walk and then I switched places with him. 

By the time we got back to Jerry and Sherry’s it was almost time to eat dinner.  The boys squeezed in a little fireless fireworks time in the driveway…

  

…and Little Miss Firecracker walked the runway for a few pictures.

After dinner, we went to the Florissant fireworks.  It was a great show! 

 

Caleb acting silly…

Our whole crew…

 

Jerry and Nola watching (and laughing at) fireworks…

Tuesday was our zoo day!  The temperatures dropped a little and we were able to enjoy a great day at the St. Louis Zoo!  The kids loved seeing the animals and our friend Jenny joined us to catch up on each others’ lives.

Click here to see Caleb grow up taking pictures with the frog statues at the children’s zoo:

Petting animals at the children’s zoo:

Caleb up close and personal with an elephant and a zebra:

Nola up close and personal with a chimp:

Jenny and Caleb petting stingrays:

Jenny and the kiddos:

After the zoo, we went back to the house to give Nola a chance to take a nap and everyone a chance to freshen up.  We had dinner at our all-time favorite restaurant, Cunetto House of Pasta.  Nola was a grump, so it was a little stressful.  Sherry graciously volunteered to take her outside to walk around so that Rudy and I could finish our meals in peace.  (Maybe next year we shouldn’t try to do the zoo and a nice dinner on the same day.)  Afterward, we spent some time outside of Cunetto, letting our dinners settle and playing with the kids. 

Sherry, Jerry, Rebecca & Jared with Nola and Caleb:

It was a great ending to yet another great trip!