C is 1 year old

Well, she turned one on the 10th but we have been very busy.

Anyway, what is she up to these days:

*standing on her own… not walking yet but can stand forever

*says “uh oh” and “out” (as in take the toys out of the bin)

*going through terrible seperation anxiety right now.  I can’t leave the room without crying

*loving life…she is such a happy toddler (yes, I said it – toddler)

*ate a cracker and pretzel…that may not sound like a big deal but she refuses to eat anything besides baby food.  ECI is actually coming out next week for OT.

*her favorite game is taking toys in and out of containers

*waiving hello and good bye

*playing peek a boo

*reads books to anyone who will listen

*still very tactile

Now for the fun part, the pictures…

our first family picture one year later

10 months old

Earlier this week C turned 10 months old.  She has grown so much over the last few weeks.

What’s new with C:

*crawling all over the place…she loves to follow us around the house

*pulling up and cruising …she prefers to be standing

*really showing her personality…I think she and I may be butting heads in the future

*still very social

*refuses to hold a bottle and eat anything but baby food…actually this morning she refused to eat anything but her bottle.    She has figured out how to either scraped the food off of her tongue with her top teeth or just stick out her tongue and let it fall out.  Isn’t that lovely!

*laughs at everything

*LOVES her big brother

No new stats to report this month but she is only in 12 month clothes now.

We also baptized C last month, and it was great to celebrate with our wonderful family and friends.

Now for some pictures…..

Daddy and C after being baptized

the beginning of "real" crawling

Why is there always a catch?

I met with the private school (the principal and admission director) we are trying to get J into in the fall.  They both were very nice and going on and on as to how great my son is – which I already knew.     As we spent some time discussing which level they think J is best suited for (they don’t do grades by age only… it is based on developmental level and they group grades), I brought up that we are applying for financial aid and that will determine if we can send him there in the fall.  GUESS WHAT I FOUND OUT…  we have to pay the registration fee before our financial aid application will be looked at.  One may ask well how bad can it be?  Oh about $3500.00 – non refundable.  So, when you ask and they tell you the annual tuition is $18,500.00 (which is what J’s will be – hence needing the financial aid) they really should just add the reg fee to the tuition and call it a day.

In other news, C turned 9 months old on the 10th. 

Let me see what she is doing —

*  she began comando crawling on Friday

*  just today she began really talking up a storm

*  is cruising

*  is VERY determined.  when she sees something she wants nothing can get in her way… especially her brother

*  eating very well

*  has 2 bottom teeth and a corner of her top left tooth has cut through

*  weighs 17lbs 4 ozs (25%), 27 inches long (50%)

How things have changed

I went w/ J to speech therapy this past week and had a long talk w/ his ST.  One thing she and I were talking about was how far he has come since she has been working with him.   He has come a long way but in the back of my head I kept thinking about how far he still needs to go.  Then this morning I was rereading one of my posts from just before we brought C home from the hospital,  I was floored at how far J has come with his speech in just 8 months.  He was not even putting 3 word spontaneous sentences together.  WOW, how quickly you forget.  He is now talking in sentences.  Short ones but sentences nonetheless (it is one word … I looked it up   ).

Speaking of speech.  We have had J in a speech camp for the month of June.  There is a private school here in Houston that focuses on pragmatic speech  (social speech).  Everything in the classroom is focused on speech.  The teachers/speech therapist us microphones to help with auditory processing, etc.   We hope for him to be able to go there for school this fall but we will just have to see if we get financial aid.  It is quite pricey… like double my mortgage every month.  That being said, they do offer generous scholarships that we can entertain affording.  So, we are praying that we qualify for one of those or maybe some where in the middle.

Is C too young for a tantrum???

C is 8 1/2 months old (7 months adjusted age and where she is developmentally) and I swear threw her first tantrum yesterday.  She LOVES our laptop.  She wants to sit and just bang away on it.  Well yesterday she wanted to look at the lights and bang on it but the battery was dead… translation a black screen.  She was trying her best to get it to light up and work.  Next thing I know she has thown herself down on my lap and crying.  Classic tantrum.  Isn’t she too young to be doing this????  I am in so much trouble. 

Pictures from the courthouse

Heading upstairs to the court room

Swearing we are who we say we are.

The Judge giving C a teddy bear

Our family with the Judge

We’re official

Gotcha Day as some call it.  I personally am not a big fan of that saying, but I guess it will do until I think up something better.

Today at 9:05am the Judge made it official.  C is now legally our child.  It was short and sweet, but hubby and I were grining like idiots. 

Want to share some good news

J graduated PreK last night.  I was so proud of him and the distance he has come in the last 5 years.  A long way from the grim outlook we got from the  doctor when I went into preterm labor; a long way from the medically fragile child we had for the first almost two years.  He still may not have conversation skills but he can read a mean book.    J-man I am so proud of you.  Keep up all the good work.  *As a little bit of an aside, J wanting to engage with other children has increased tremendously.  Again, J keep up the good work

We got some great news today.  Our court date is set for June 12, 2009.  So in 3 short weeks C will officially be ours.    I never thought it was a weight on my shoulders but I felt it lift when I read the email.

So, things are moving right along in our little world.

Mother’s Day, 7 months old and pictures

Today was a big day.

C turned 7 months old today.  I can’t believe how big she is getting.  Just to give a reference to her size – I bought 9 months sleepers for her yesterday that looked HUGE.  Hubby went to dress her for bed tonight and looked at me like I was crazy wanting to put her in this get up.  Well, they fit.  I must admit I was surprised too.

Let’s see what she is doing these days:

*sitting up well -  the head still gets in the way a lot. 

*talking a lot – making a lot of different sounds

*VERY observant

*VERY social

*still not rolling over – no desire to do so either

*loves to stand

*really into textures and touches/observes everything

*really wishes she had teeth to eat whatever we are.  she has started solids but it is hit or miss.

*already is a princess

I am sure she is doing a plethora of other things that I can’t remember right now.

We went to take pictures at a portrait studio in a retail store today.  This is only the second time doing this (once with J and this time with C).  The price is amazing but I don’t like it.  I like going to a real photographer but don’t like spending the money they charge (especially here in Houston).  I have had sticker shock at the prices here.  A friend actually referred me to a local photographer who seems reasonable.  Most places here charge $300 for a sitting fee.  Just a sitting fee.  I don’t think so.  Anyway, I plan on getting family pictures when C is closer to a year.

Back to the picture session today.  J wanted nothing of having C sit next to him.  I only got 1 picture with him smiling.  This session was really for her.  I was able to pick a few pics of C that looked cute.  So, 6 month pics – check!

Happy Mother’s day to all the mommas out there.  We went to eat at my grandparents independent living place today.  They had a nice set up with good food.  Well, J went crazy towards the end of the meal.  He asked me to take him to get fruit from the buffet.  We are walking along just fine, when he drops to the floor and refuses to get up.  They proceeds to roll across the floor and tries to pull the tablecloth off of the food line.  Thank goodness it was one of those table skirts that velcroed to the table b/c if not he would have pulled down the carving station on him.  I WAS MORTIFIED!  Timeout ensued and shortly after we left.  J woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.  It is so hard to regulate J.  We went to a friends house Friday night and J played with her two boys.  They had a blast rough housing and wrestling.  J who has a lot of trouble with social ques and interaction is now wanting to be physical with others/kids in not appropriate situations.  This morning at the picture place J walks up to another kid and gives him the shoulder.  I know he as wanting to interact and play, but it did not come across that way.  Behavioral psychologist here we come.

Totally changing gears, I have been thinking about C’s birthmother a lot today.  I want to wish her a Happy Mother’s Day, and we have her in our thoughts. 

We bit the bullet and did it! We went to Disney World.

****warning photo heavy****

We got back yesterday from the GREATEST PLACE ON EARTH!  Yes, we went to Disney World.  I think overall everyone had a good time.  C and J had a good time, and they are the important ones.  Right??  I am not going to lie; the first day and a half were not great.   We arrive in Orlando and soon realize that there is a Cheerleading competition going on.  Cheerleaders EVERYWHERE.  ARGH.  The line is very long for our hotel.  J does not do lines well.  We are standing in the que, for what seemed like forever, waiting for the Magical Express that will take us to our hotel.  J begins melt down mode.  I head over to where the Disney employees are congregated and explain the situation.  The tell me to get J and the rest of the party and sit us in another area to wait.  I LOVE DISNEY.  Next bus, we are off to our resort.  We check in w/ no drama and head to Epcot for our dinner reservation.  We ate at the Coral Reef by Nemo ride.  It was really great.  Some of the better food we had at the World, and the entire wall is a big aquarium.

First full day, we head to the Magic Kingdom.  MISTAKE.  It was really crowded and hot.  I was thinking we made a mistake coming, b/c I don’t think anyone had a good day.  The following days we go to the other parks and have a really good time.  I think the highlights were -  Josh meeting his favorite characters mainly the Little Einstiens.  He was shy around all of the characters but was really star struck when he met them.  J really loved the Playhouse Disney show at MGM and the Lion King show at Animal Kingdom.  We all had a blast at the Beergartin in Germany at Epcot.  They have a band play and J went down to dance for everyone.  He is really a funny dancer.  I have a bit of video that I will try to post.

Here are some pics from our trip —-

On the Magical Express bus heading to the hotel

Daddy and J on Dumbo

Minnie being sweet with J. He was still scared of the characters.

at Hollywood Studios. J was a little better.

June showing some attention to C

J getting more used to the characters. Little Einsteins are his favorite.

Quincy is his favorite.

waiting in line at AK

J got to meet Remy in France. Another hit.

J's favorite ride.

Our last day of the trip