Playin' with sissy

I think it is so cute that my kiddos love to play with each other.  Hailey loves her little brother so much and she wants to play with him all day.  She is a great little motivator for him too.  She is his biggest cheerleader when he is working on a new skill.  Recently she had a little homework assignment that asked "what makes you special?"  Her immediate response was, "I'm special because of Dylan, and because I am his sister."  She then drew the most precious picture of the two of them together holding hands.  I almost started crying, she definitely tugged at my heart strings.  She is so loving and caring, Dylan is so lucky to have her as his sister. 

Earlier today Hailey wanted to play with Dylan in her room.  So I brought him in and went back a few minutes later to check on them and I found him covered in about 5 blankets and holding a dolly and other little "beds" for her other dolls all around her room and her on the bed.  They were playing school and she was the teacher telling them all it was nap time.  Dylan of course was just smiling, talkin' and kicking in delight.

I had to add this pic because this is his new favorite play to chill when I am doing my hair and makeup - the bathroom sink.  Usually he will sit up in it but today he wanted to relax and nothing is more fun then tearing up a magazine.

I finally got a call from the Regional Center today and talked to Dylan's new service coordinator.  Thankfully they are going to start up his home therapy next week!  I am very excited to meet the new therapist and can't wait to get him back to work.

Pregnancy Update

I figured I would post a little prego update since it has been a while and maybe some of you are interested.  I am now 33 weeks along and besides the horrible heat in Southern California that is making me sweat, and the horrendous back pain at the end of the day I am doing well.  I had my appointment with the Perinatologist for my follow up ultrasound and besides waiting for over an hour everything went great.  The baby is growing right on track and everything appears perfectly normal and healthy.  He is measuring in the 40% on the growth chart and his estimated fetal weight is 4lbs7oz. 

He was being a little difficult when the tech was trying to get a picture of his face - he kept putting his hand and arm in the way but you can still see those cute lips, little nose and chubby cheeks.

I had to add this pic because it is so cute - our little Motocross Champ with Daddy and Uncle Eliot last weekend.

Sitting Up!!!

I am so proud right now - Dylan can sit up now for a minute or longer, before he gets distracted and falls over!!! I can't believe it.  He is doing so great and feeling so strong.  Look out for more good things to come from SUPER DYLAN!

Not much to report, but I will say that I am still frustrated with Regional Center and California Children's Services because I have yet to hear back from them.  It has been well over a month and every time I call they tell me that his chart is still be reviewed.  It is hard for me to not get upset because it is not like he is a new case he is just a transfer.  Sadly all I can do is wait patiently.  I hate for him to be out of therapy for so long.  I work with him every day on his sitting, standing, and crawling, etc...  He is doing great with eating table food.  He now completely turns away from all pureed baby food.  I still have not tried hard/crunchy food yet because I still don't think that he is chewing all the time.  I notice that he still will mash the food with his tongue and do more of a sucking pattern about half of the time.  I am still so proud of this accomplishment with eating, I honestly wasn't sure if it was ever going to be a possibility.  He still will not reach out and grab the food off his tray, but if food is falling out of his mouth he will reach up and push it back in with the back of his hand.  For me this seems like a step in the right direction.  He will hold onto his cup if I put his hands on it first and help him move the cup to his mouth, he will do the same with a spoon.  Practice makes perfect right? 

Here are just some cute pictures to end this post.

Our little cuddle bug.

Dylan with his new bath seat.  He really liked it and had a lot of fun splashing around with Hailey.

1st Haircut!

 Before: Wild hair - we thought he looked like Sideshow Bob from the Simpsons.

After:  Looking like a very handsome big boy!  Thanks Auntie Kerri!

Back from the Beach

Our little vacation at the beach was wonderful and much needed.  We all had a great time.  The weather was beautiful and we spent everyday down by the water. 

Now for some updates on Dylan:  In my last post I said how sad I was that Dylan hasn't shown much progress in the last few months, well I guess a little break from therapies and appointments was just what he needed.  While we were camping I worked with him everyday with his sitting, standing, and even eating more solid foods.  He was amazing!  He was able to stand by himself with his leg braces on the couch in the trailer looking out the window.  He was even able to turn to me when I called his name and not fall over.  He is able to pull himself up to a sitting position when he grabs my fingers.  I don't even have to pull him up, he is doing it by himself!!!  He is still a little unstable when sitting but I know this skill will come soon.  This morning as we were packing up he was sitting on the couch and he started to fall to the side and put his hand down and pushed himself back to center.  I was shocked because usually when he starts to fall to the side he seems to have no desire or want to try to balance himself and will just fall over.  Then yesterday the most miraculous thing happened.  My mom and I were down at the beach and talking to Dylan and he was talking back in his usual sounds and then he said "HI" in the sweetest little voice I have ever heard!  He has yet to say it again but we both heard him say it plain as day so I am counting "hi" as his first word.  It was so amazing to hear Dylan look right at me and form a word I almost cried.

Now I do have to elaborate on Dylan's new skill of eating solid food.  For the past few weeks he has been refusing a lot of the pureed baby foods.  So I have slowly been introducing him to solid, but soft table foods. I had tried this about two months ago and he ended up choking often and then would sometimes throw up which usually ended up being his entire meal so I felt that maybe he wasn't ready for chewing.  He is ready now!  His diet now includes: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, egg salad sandwiches, grilled cheese sandwiches (which I give to him in small bite size pieces), small pieces of cheese, small pieces of fruit, mac & cheese, spaghetti, salmon, tuna, Gerber puffs and yogurt melts.  He is doing great eating and he is now actually chewing!  Sometimes it takes him a little while but he loves regular food and seems to be over baby food.  I am so proud of our little man!  He makes me smile every day.

Here are a few pics from the beach:

He loves to feel the sand in his toes.

First time in the backpack for a walk down the beach, he loved it!

This is for all of you that wanted a belly pic - I am now 30 weeks pregnant and feel like I swallowed a basket ball.

My little surfer girl.

At the Santa Barbara Zoo.

I just love those little blond curls coming out of his hat and those sweet baby cheeks.

Fascinated with what is outside.

Finally I post

Well, it has been a very busy couple of weeks and to top it all off Verizon was just able to get our Internet up and running today so I blame that on my lack of blog posts.  We have now officially moved into our new house and everything is coming along.  We still have some things to unpack but the majority of it is done.  The kids and the dog have settled in great and it is beginning to feel like home.  I have started the long process of finding new doctors and therapists for Dylan.  I have already found a great Pediatrician that I love and she was able to give me a lot of referrals to different specialists. 

Sadly the therapist department hasn't proved to be that easy.  I already put in the request for Dylan to be transferred from Riverside county to Los Angeles county and have been told that it could take over a month for the Regional Center to review his file and assign us a new therapist.  I just hate waiting that long.  I will be honest I have been so busy getting everything together that I have had little time throughout the day to work a lot with Dylan.  He has been a little trooper and will sit happily in his jumper or bouncy seat watching me while I unpack but I have yet to really put in any good therapy time.  I feel so guilty because of it.  It has all been really stressful for me (not to mention that I am now 29 weeks along and getting pretty uncomfortable).  I have promised myself that starting this week we are back in mommy PT/OT business! 

No real big changes with Dylan these last few weeks.  He was sick this week with a cold/cough/rash/fever that left him pretty unhappy but he is on the mend now and back to his happy self.  I am a bit sad that I have no new progress to report but I know in my heart that he will start making more strides in his development in these next few months. 

Hailey has started her new Preschool and loves it.  She is so proud to be in the Kinder-Prep class, she feels like a big kid now. 

And because I am completely crazy the kids and I are heading to the beach for the next few days for some much needed relaxation.  I say that I am crazy because it feels like there is still so much to do at home and now I am packing up to leave.  I promise to take lots of pics and post when I get back on Thursday.