BigK version 5.3

My dear sweet BigK,

You are 5 years and 3 months old. Where has the time gone? You start kindergarten, which you are so excited about, in the fall. You'll be going to [hopefully] a small private Christian school. That will start 13 years of school. I can't even imagine what you'll be like in 13 years!

Weight: 36.8lbs

Height: 43in

Teeth: You haven't lost one yet, but you can't wait!

Loves: Going to church, giraffes, riding Rooster(cousin's horse), playing with friends, watching TV

Hates: Going to bed, onions, pickles, the noise of fireworks, napping

Favorite colors: pink and green

Favorite foods: cheeseburgers, mac and cheese, broccoli

You have come so far since that 4lb14oz 17in baby. I can see God working in your life everyday. I can't wait to see what He has in store for you!

We are blessed with how healthy BigK was when she was born 6 weeks early, but not all babies are. Please help support the March of Dimes by donating on my site.

LittleK is 16 months

Oh sweet LittleK, you are 16 months old today!

Weight: probably close to 18lbs, finally

Height: 29.75in

Clothes: 6-9 month and 9-12 month

Diapers: Size 2

Shoes: Size 3

Teeth: Your 12th one has cut through

Loves: Mommy milk, clapping, peek-a-boo, climbing in sister's chair, drinking from a straw, your sister

Hates: having you hands held, being held down, being told no

Foods: Beans, pasta, cheese

Newest accomplishments: waving bye bye and drinking from a straw!

I pray that God has something HUGE in store for you!

We love you!

Wordless Wednesday, AVON Style!

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How Quick We Are To Judge

We are human. We are not perfect. We make mistakes. And no matter what anyone says, they judge others.

That child over there in the corner rocking back in forth. That child in Target sitting in the buggy shaking their head back and forth. That child at the party sitting in mommy's lap hanging upside down. That child that doesn't smile at you or closes their eyes when you talk to them. Don't judge them. Or their parents.

That child may look normal on the outside, but there may be so many things going on inside their little head that you will never know.

I will admit, I was that person. I still am, but now I have a different mind set.

Don't say anything. I'm sure the parents have heard it all. Don't stare. I'm sure the parents have seen every look possible.

LittleK is that child. Those are her coping mechanisms. Those are the ways she deals with extreme situations. They may not be an extreme situation to you or me, but to a child who may have Sensory Processing Disorder those tiny little changes in routine can throw them for a loop.

We have not gotten any condemning words or mean stares, but I have a feeling that as LittleK gets older they will come.

Wordless Wednesday

Story Book Image Photography

Today we went and took family pictures. The last time we had professional pictures taken was when LittleK was 5 days old so they were long over due!

We went to the next little town over and had them taken. 

This was taken at our second stop over at the train depot. The girls are watching the train go by.

This was taken at our first stop. It was at a business park that has a lake and bridges and different things.

These are the only previews we've gotten, but I can't wait to see the rest. Especially the one where the train is in the background!

LittleK's journey- Never say never

At 8:06am on November 26, 2013, weighing 6lbs7oz and 19in long(which I thought was HUGE), LittleK came into this world screaming. She came via repeat c-section at 39 weeks after 13 LONG weeks of bed rest.

Never did we ever think we'd go on the journey that we are on. Never did we think we'd have 3 therapists coming into our house 2-4 times a month. Never did we think we'd have to take our baby for a hip x-ray, vision screening, or a hearing test before she was old enough to tell us she couldn't see well or hear. Never did we think we'd qualify for Early Childhood Intervention(ECI). Never did we think we'd be doing research on possible Sensory Processing Disorder. Never did we think we'd have to drive to another town for an appointment with a developmental pediatrician. We have done or will do in the near future all of those things.

Never say never.

This started back when LitteK was about 6 months old. I went to look back at BigK's 6 month post to compare sizes, nothing else. However, I read the whole post and noticed that BigK was sitting unassisted and was getting up on all 4s and rocking at 6 months. LittleK wasn't doing any of that. It was then that I realized that LittleK wasn't doing much of anything that "normal" 6 months do. She was only rolling from tummy to back, but not back to tummy. She wasn't bearing weight on her legs. She wasn't babbling. I talked to her pedi, but he wasn't concerned and said he wouldn't think anything about it until 9 months. So I didn't think more about it.

However, over those 3 months, nothing seemed to change except she did finally start to sit unassisted. At 8 months old.

What she was doing that was really concerning was rocking, banging her head(she no longer does this), doing a one handed clap, swinging her arm back and forth. Loud noises didn't bother her. The first time she saw fireworks, I expected tears and screaming. I was wrong. She rocked and blinked every time one would pop. She would startle very easily at little things- C would sneeze and she'd go into hysterics. 

Other people started noticing that she wasn't doing things on a "normal" time line. They started mentioning it to me. It was then that I realized that it wasn't just me being a paranoid mom, maybe something really was wrong. I called ECI to set up an evaluation. I mean it's free so why not. If nothing was wrong, they'd be able to ease my mind. If something was wrong, they'd be able to help us. We got a sitter for BigK as they told us the appointment could take as long as 3 hours. We were not expecting the results we were given. Our sweet baby was 44-100% delayed in 4 of the 5 areas the assessed. This put our 9 month old on the level of a 3-5 month old in terms of development. That means she was 4-6 months behind where she should have been. We qualified for ECI. They told us she would start receiving occupational therapy(OT) 4x/month and Specialized Skills Training(SST) 2x/month with speech therapy(ST) to be added later. This news turned my world upside down. I'm pretty sure I went through every stage of grief and so many emotions. There are days that I still cry. I avoid certain posts on a mom forum that I'm a part of because it's like a slap in the face. Never did I ever think one of my children would need extra help from someone other than C and me.

Never say never.

We started therapy in September. It started slow so that we could get to know the therapists, so the could get to know us, so LittleK could get used to them. She had only been around a hand full of people that weren't family. [I am a SAHM at the moment, and with the exception of a few months of daycare, the only other place she goes is church.] To say there were some tears would be an understatement. LittleK would scream from the time our OT walked in the door to the time she left. It has only been recently that she smiles at the OT. When it came to SST, she didn't cry, but she didn't do much either. It took several visits before she would smile, or make noise, or even make eye contact.

Our goal with OT was for LittleK to start crawling by one. Not only did we reach that goal, but we did it early! On October 25, one day shy of 11 months old, she crawled for the first time! At first it was very slow and her left leg lagged behind, but she was crawling! The next time our OT came over, she cried tears of joy and told me that that was why she does what she does. In September, we weren't sure when this day would come.

Finally, in early November, she finally decided to bear weight on her legs and stand with assistance!

And just a few days later, she was pulling herself up to standing!

Sometime just after the new year, she started cruising along the furniture. She can now cruise all the way around the table, all along the couch, and can sometimes go from one object to another as long as she's got one hand on something the whole time.

One of our goals for SST was interactive play such as peek-a-boo, PattyCake, etc. In February, she finally started playing peek-a-boo on a very regular basis, and she would initiate it too!

In both OT and SST we are now working on fine motor skills such as simple puzzles, stacking, giving objects, and putting objects in and pulling them out. She's got pulling out down pat. She's working on giving- most of the time she'll act like she'll give it to you, but as soon as it touches your hand, she'll take it away.

In ST we are working on very simple sounds. Most of her vocalizations are hums and "ahhh" sounds. She doesn't have certain sounds for objects. She doesn't call us mama and dada. She hardly has any consonant sounds. We are working on a few simple sign language signs such as more, mommy, daddy, and milk.

Our newest accomplishment: clapping and blowing kisses! Sometimes she misses her mouth and her "kisses" come from her eye or head or ear, but she'll do it on command.

She has come so far in just a few months. Not only are C and I noticing, but so are other people. However, she still has a long way to go, but I know we are doing everything we can and getting the best help we can.

Never think your children won't have issues(I pray they won't, but life throws us curve balls). Yes, we all want our children to be "perfect" but the definition of that word can change for the "normal" use. To us LittleK is perfect despite her setbacks, despite the looks and thoughts of other people who don't know her or her background. Never don't get help if you think something is wrong. Never go against your mother's instinct, no matter what your doctor says. 

Never say never.

Share it Sunday- Diaper Bag edition

Linking up with Oh So Amelia's Share it Sunday. This week's edition: What's in your changing bag(which I'm assuming is the same thing as a diaper bag in America).

First off, I LOVE LittleK's diaper bag. I love flowers; I love purple, and I love things with the child's name on it!

First essential items: Diapers, wipes, and a changing pad to use when out. I normally have about 5-7 diapers in her bag at once. Although, the nursery workers at church will tell you that I do sometimes take the bag with no diapers...Hey, I'm human, I can make mistakes and forget things.

Second, we have food items. Don't worry, the gummies and LaffyTaffy are for BigK. LittleK doesn't normally eat baby food anymore, but I keep it in there just in case!

Next we have items we use while dining out. Bibs are a given. A cloth to help clean up hands and face. Clorox wipes to clean the table, I mean have you seen the nasty rags they use to clean them?! And then sticky placemats for LittleK so she isn't eating right off the table.

If you have baby, or toddler, a change of clothes is a must! Sometimes I'll throw in a set of extra clothes for BigK too. I do need to think about putting in a spring outfit as well now that the weather is sometime on the warmer side.

And lastly, odds and ends. A hat, a spoon(LittleK loves to play with them), a random toy, and my sling, which is a lifesaver when I'm somewhere that the stroller won't really work. I also normally have my breastfeeding cover in the bag too, but it's currently in my car.

So there you have it. What's in LittleK's diaper bag.

Nachos and Skating

Every year, during the week of Spring Break, our church breaks from the normal routine of Awanas and has a skating party. I was not originally planning on going this year, but BigK wanted to, and we had nothing else to do so we went.

Her two best friends came, which is most of the reason she wanted to go. BigK and T4(the one in the yellow) have been friends since birth(his mom and I have been friends for as long as we can remember), and A(the one in grey) joined them at 15 months old. They have pretty much been attached at the hip since. They fight like brothers and sister, but you mess with one, and the other 2 will be there to back them up. These 3 keep us on our toes, give us lots of laugh, and more love than you can imagine! 

BigK decided she wanted to skate so we laced 'em up and off she went. She wasn't so sure, but she is one very loved little girl and had several youth and older kids help her!

However, she only made it round the gym once before she was one. She sat down and told me, "I don't want to skate ever again. EVER!" Haha! I'm sure that'll change next year when we go.

Wordless Wednesday- Big and Little K

Daffodils

If you've read my blog over the past few years, you'll know we go to the local daffodil gardens every year...well since 2010. 

This year was no exception! 

The first year we took a picture of BigK by the rail at the cabin, and we decided the next year to do it again. So every year since then, we've taken her picture at the same place so we could see how much she's grown each year. Isn't it crazy how much she's grown since 2010?! She was 14 months in the first picture and now she's 5!

Of course if we did it with BigK, we had to do the same with LittleK. Hers obviously had to be in a different place since she couldn't stand last year[or this year, but we're working on it!]. She was 3 months old in the first and 15 months this time.

Here are a few more pictures for your viewing delight! :)

I can't wait to see how much they have grown next year!

Sleepy Time

Posting for Oh So Amelia's Share it Sundays

Oh, bed time. It's something that most parents look forward to, but sometimes, it isn't so easy.

On nights that C is home, we normally all pile into our bed and have family cuddles. [Truth be told, we do it when he's not home too.]

Big K's bed time routine is a long, drawn out, almost never a one shot deal...

She lays with us, and then one of us, normally C, will put her to bed. They read a book, he sings, and say prayers. However before he leaves, he has to turn on her giraffe dream light(to green), she turns on her Cinderella projector(to blue), turns on her cupcake scentsy, turn on her radio, and spray monster spray- in all 4 corners, under the bed, in the hall, in the closet, and over her bed. She also has to have Dr. Bunny and 3 blankets.

The whole process takes a good 20 minutes. Some nights more than once...

Little K on the other hand, is pretty simple. She's ready for bed at 9:00. She's been that way since coming home from the hospital. We change her diaper, put on PJ's, and snuggle in bed. She'll play for about 5 minutes, and then she's ready to nurse. Most nights she'll nurse to sleep and will transition to her crib smoothly. On rare occasion, she won't fall asleep nursing, so I'll take her to her room and will rock her. On those nights, she normally goes down drowsy and will fuss for about 30 seconds and go to sleep. We won't hear another sound from her until morning.

15 Months!

Well, Little K is 15 months(and a few days old)! It's crazy to think that she is that old. Seems like just yesterday we were driving to the hospital to have her.

She weighs 17.6lbs and is 28.75in. She enjoys mommy milk, turkey, and pasta. She plays peek-a-boo, claps, cruises, climbs, and dances. She has 11 teeth including 4 molars. Her big sister is probably her favorite person.

I know I haven't updated in a LONG time so my blogging audience(if anyone is left...) doesn't know what is going on. 

Back in September, we took LittleK in for an Early Childhood Intervention eval. They looked at several areas of development and determined that even though she was 9 months old, she was on the level of a 3-5 month old, with 44-100% delay in the areas they looked at. As a result, we now have 3 different therapists coming to the house. She has occupational therapy 4x/month and speech and play therapy 2x/month.

She has come a LONG way from where she was back in September, but still has a ways to go before she is completely caught up. We are going to see a developmental pediatrician in early April to find out more and possibly get a diagnosis. Her therapist are all leaning towards Sensory Processing Disorder, but the "a" word hasn't been completely ruled out either...

Based on where she is now, she is about on the level of a 9-12 month old.

Wordless Wednesday