Learning to use a fork

I have given Logan a spoon a few times, but the other day, I gave him a fork and he really surprised me! I wasn't going to push using utensils just yet because I feel like he just learned how to feed himself with his hands. I am going to give him a fork and spoon from now on...he is one smart cookie!! I have to keep reminding myself that he knows more than I realize!
oh and...turn down your volume...I talk way to loud!! Sorry. I have to work on that...

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Q&A time...

I often answer questions privately through email, but maybe I should be sharing my answers with everyone. I always find answers to questions on other blogs very helpful. So now here's your chance. Anything you would like to know? Curious about...anything...leave a comment question and I will do my best to answer it for everyone.

Bloggy Makeover

The blog was well overdue for a new look. The super talented and creative Bethany made the beautiful header! Thanks Bethany!
We feel truly blessed to be Logan's parents. Logan has helped me slow down and appreciate the little things in life and opened my eyes to what matters most in life.

Happy Birthday Devin!!

Devin is 4 today! We celebrated his birthday Sunday at an indoor water park. (86 degrees was nice since it was -2 outside!) He had a blast with his cousins, godmother, uncle and Grandma. Also, Logan's godparents and their son came to celebrate their son's 2nd birthday. Devin said it was the perfect party! He is a BIG fan of water slides. He has no fear! I thought that we would never get him out of there, but he eventually got worn out enough that he was fine with leaving. Guess who did not want to leave?...LOGAN! When he cried all the way through lunch, I couldn't figure out what was wrong. He loves pizza, but he wasn't interested. We also thought he was getting tired, but as soon as he was back in the water, he was fine and all full of smiles again. I never saw so much smiling and clapping out of him and he also signed "more" constantly. He cried and signed more every time we took him out of the water. I think we will be making another trip there soon. Maybe we should move therapy there too, because he loves to walk around in the water (being held by his hands) and he stood up a lot in the water. I will see what his therapists think :) It was great to see him so motivated by the water. He is usually so easygoing and mellow that we don't know what he wants.

Here is the day in pictures:

Logan and his godfather, Rob.
Logan's expression here says it all!Logan's friend, Aaron, happened to be their with his family. It was fun to run into them and Logan got to play in the water with Aaron!

Splish Splash!

Logan LOVES water! (unfortunately even toilet water) Last weekend we all got to "relax" in Grandma and Grandpa's hot tub. Aubrey was so cute in a swimsuit for the first time.

Logan and Grandma.

Logan's Funny Face

Here is a cute video of Logan's "funny face"! He does it a few times briefly...so you have to watch closely. It is when he raises his eyebrows and opens his eyes wide. He can be such a goof! He finds himself to be very funny...I think so too.

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Crossing my fingers...

I know that I will probably regret this post later...but I am crossing my fingers. My kids have not been sick this winter. The last time Logan was sick was last June, when he had his last ear infection. We took him to the doctor just about every week last winter. It was one thing after the next. I had a little scare last week when Logan woke up in the middle of the night crying and stuffy a few nights in a row. It turned out it was caused by two more molars coming in. He has his four big molars now, but we are still missing the teeth in front of them. Motrin every 6-8 hours got us through. I guess this winter may make up for our rough winter last year. I don't know what I would do if Logan needed to go to the doctor as much as last year, or especially if he had to stay in the hospital again. I would want to be with Logan, but I also have a nursing newborn to be there for. We will continue to be thankful for each healthy day!

Birth to 3 Evaluation

Monday, Logan had his birth to 3 evaluation (happens every 6 months). Logan has changed A LOT in the last 6 months! So many milestones met! I got the results back from his physical therapist today, and I was taken back by his developmental age. I was thinking that it would be around 12 months, but it was found to be 8 months. His gross motor skills are at a basal age of 8 months (meaning all skills at the 8 month level are mastered) and a ceiling age of 9 months (meaning all skills are not mastered at the 9 month level). She did mention that he has some skills mastered at 9-11 months and he has two skills that are at a 13 month level, which are standing up in the middle of the room and climbing the stairs, but it was still disappointing. He is 20 months old. That's a whole year already. I often wonder how quickly the gap with grow. Today has brought back some of the feelings that I felt at the beginning when I was given his diagnosis. And now I sit here wondering if I have done everything possible to help him achieve the highest level possible. I feel pressure to do as much as possible for him NOW. I understand how crucial the first 3 years are for his future development, and sometimes this pressure is too great. Raising a child, in general, is challenging and full of pressure to do your best as a parent, but I feel like this is even harder. I feel even more responsible for his future because he is not going to thrive on his own without the best care and encouragement. I guess all I can do is continue to try to do the best I can. I will share his OT and SP results as I get them.

I won! And you can too!

Tara, over at Kidz, awarded me the weekly giveaway at her blog, a scrapbook stack, just for commenting! Kidz is an uplifting resource that celebrates the lives and lessons of children with special needs, but is also a site for parents of children without special needs who want to connect with other parents and learn from each other. You can be entered to win the weekly giveaway by simply reading and leaving a comment. Good luck and happy reading!

Picture Time Again!

I feel like it is always milestone time around here! Always time for more pictures. Devin will be FOUR next week, so he went in for 4 yr pictures and I took Aubrey in for the first time for her 3 month pictures. Enjoy!

Four year olds are great for pictures! He smiled and posed all on his own...it was so easy!
(Note: the trombone is his, the one that he got for Christmas, his most cherished possession)

Aubrey Pictures

Growing TOO fast...

I think that Aubrey is going to be the same size as Logan before we know it. Logan is growing, but not at the same rate as typical kids. The slow growth and small size is common for kids with DS. He was a chubby baby, but now he has been exactly the same weight for 1 year and he has grown only a few inches over the last year. His doctor is happy that he has slimmed down though. When he is around kids who are about 1 year old, he is very similar to their size. I guess that is ok. If he looks like a younger child, they don't expect him to act like his real age. He is the size of kids with similar abilities as him. If he was the size of a typical 20 month old, it sure would be much harder to carry him. I often wonder when Aubrey will catch up to Logan developmentally...and how I will feel about that...sad?...we'll see...one day at a time...

New Car Seats

The kids all got new car seats last week. I wish I would have done this sooner, but I decided to get by with what we had until now. When Devin was born, I wasn't aware of the car seats that are made to hold a child 5-100 lbs. Then when Logan was born, I knew about them but when I saw the price tag I decided to have Logan use Devin's car seats that he had grown out of. We have an infant seat with base that we have used for all of the kids and a convertible 5-40 lb car seat and a booster with 5 point harness. They were inexpensive, but I know now that it would have been cheaper in the long run and safer to have them in these bigger, better convertible car seats. So, I broke down and got Devin a new booster, the kind with the removable back.(he was too heavy for the booster with 5 point harness...I knew the harness seemed too tight lately...I have never checked out the weight limit either) Logan and Aubrey each got a First Years True Fit car seat. (Rated like the Britax, but almost half the cost. I looked into a britax, the True Fit has many more features I loved) They are huge, but have great features and can be used until the kids are out of a car seat. They don't go to 100lbs, only 65, but we can get a booster at the end if we need to. I got a great deal and am so glad I won't have to buy anymore car seats.

Logan got a grey one, but I decided to go against what I would normally do, and I got Aubrey a crazy, girly one! I am glad I got this one...it is more fun! The big head rest on top comes completely off to save space while she's small. I am jealous...it looks SO comfortable. Did you know the new recommendation is to keep kids rear facing until they are 40lbs! Logan's doctor wants him rear facing as long as possible due to his low muscle tone, especially in his neck. This was another reason for getting these car seats. They can support a child rear facing for a long time.

Possibility Playground

View the current issue of MetroParent Magazine online. The AWESOME Possibility Playground is featured. I hope to visit it someday. I wish it was closer to us. The playground is designed for children of all abilities and is located in Port Washington, WI. This playground is a dream come true for there community. It is a great example of people coming together to make our world a better place for differently-abled kids.

It's Show Time!

***Go to the Delurking post and leave a comment if you haven't done so already! I am enjoying seeing who's visiting and following some of you to your blogs!

Devin had Show Week this week at gymnastics. He had a great time showing off his skills that he learned over the past semester. His Grandparents even came to watch! (Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Baeten and Grandma Debbie!!) He did a great job performing his bars, beam and floor routines. His semester went well thanks to his wonderful instructor! The instructor was great about encouraging Devin, keeping him on task and of course he is fantastic at working with kids and making it fun!

My little gymnast! He was so proud.

Devin's teacher always commented about how strong he is...especially on the bars!

Beam routine...this is his favorite move...not sure what it is called??
Awards time! Everyone was a champion! (I love the small class sizes, yes, only 5!)

Devin and his favorite teacher.

Logan is 20 Months!

Two, here we come...
Two is just around the corner! Logan is currently standing, but no steps yet. He is having a great time getting into trouble. He has found that toilets are a great place to splash around and drawers and clothes baskets are fun to empty. I have found him with underwear on his head a few times this week! He also loves our playroom. Unfortunately it is downstairs, so he usually will rattle the gate until we carry him down. He also loves to move to music and chatter back and forth with his brother. He loves food and makes a silly face when he likes something! He also squirms to get out of your lap and onto the floor. Oh....and he has mastered FAST crawling! He has a new lighting speed!
Here he is at 20 MONTHS!


***There is still time to leave a comment on my last post!! Come on...I know there are more of you lurkers out there!!

Delurking Day! Leave Me a Comment!

I just read that today is delurking day...so if you lurk around on this blog and never comment or if you have left a comment, now is the time to LEAVE ME A COMMENT on this post! I would love to see who's reading. Come on! Please!

No More Bottle...maybe?

I am a little nervous about taking Logan's bottle away. We have tried straws, many different sippy cups and an open cup, but we haven't had much luck. Logan is typically pretty stubborn about change, so I don't know if it is a skill level problem or just him resisting change. He does hold his own bottle now while laying down, so I thought that he would soon hold his own cup, but we haven't had much luck. He makes me hold the cup and he has difficulty closing his mouth around the sippy or straw. And, if he does successfully suck a little out, he doesn't swallow it and most dribbles out of his mouth. I had a little luck holding a Nuby soft sippy for him recently, so I got him a Nuby with handles and two different "sippers" for it. We are going to start with the "bottle like nipple sipper" and gradually move to the regular "sipper" and then hopefully to a straw and open cup. Tonight at dinner we tried the new cup. Logan was very interested in using it and put it to his mouth, but he doesn't hold it up enough so the liquid goes to the mouth. I helped him and then let him drink the rest reclined after dinner. So, I plan to stop giving him a bottle from now on (fingers crossed) and hopefully we can get enough fluids in him with the new cup. I know that this cup is not good for speech, but I want him to become more independent. Hopefully we will be able to move to a better cup or straw soon.

"Monster" Reflux

I have mentioned that Aubrey has reflux. Well, she was put on Zantac a few weeks ago, but the doctors failed to mention at that time that the drug would not stop her from refluxing, it is just an antacid that helps her refluxing to be less painful. When the doctor prescribed the drug, he told us to come back in 2-3 weeks if I didn't see any improvement. So basically, her doctor appointment this week was a waste of time. We drove all the way there to find out that there is no cure or way to stop reflux in babies. We just have to deal with it for the next 9 months or so. I am thankful that she won't be in as much pain from the reflux, but we have to deal with the mess for such a long time yet. The spitting up is pretty major. She spits up constantly all day and we go through about 10 burp rags and 5 or so bibs. Not to mention many outfit changes and myself and Dale needing a few outfit changes ourselves each day. It's even so bad that people were reluctant to hold her over the holidays. My poor baby...

(Her doctor would have been concerned if she was losing weight, but that was not the case. She had gained about 1 pound since her last check-up 3 weeks ago and is up to 14lbs 9oz!)

Today, I decided to make the best of it, so I got her a "Monster" bib. It's hard to find a bib that is big enough and absorbent enough to last more than an hour or so. Her bibs are usual soaked within a hour and need to be changed.



Here she is 2 minutes later...it didn't stay clean for long.

At least she is now a happy spitter!! And think she is cute, even covered with spit up!

Bedtime Fun For Logan

I finally have my camera back, but I have been on a video kick since it was gone. I was looking through older videos and found this cute one of Logan in his crib. He is suck a ham when it's time to go to bed. He makes you want to take him out for more playtime!! (It's a little long, but he is so cute at the end too!)

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Logan Standing & Signing Baby!

Watch to the end to see Logan sign "Baby"!! SO cute!

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