Repeating Words

I know you all have been waiting for the update on Pennington's speech delay. The lady I was going to meet with had to reschedule the appointment so I don't even meet with her until November 3rd and that appointment doesn't included Pennington. So who knows when Pennington will finally get assessed. In the meantime he is starting to repeat words to us. He can now clearly say "Football" and "Touchdown". I know you are all laughing. This kids is obsessed with sports. This morning he just had to hold all three of his footballs. In the last few days he has made several attempts to repeat words we ask him to repeat. This is HUGE progress people. Just goes to show that when you seek out help all the sudden the problem isn't that bad. I'm still going to get him assessed but I am grateful to know that he is taking steps forward to being able to talk. YEAH!!!! Everyone keeps telling me that I should be happy that he isn't really talking yet because when they start I guess they wont shut up. I guess I will just have to wait and see. :)

Cheese

I would like to say that Piper's squinty eyes is an Asian thing but honestly Mommy does it too.

Piper Loves Yogurt

Piper is our super good eater. She will pretty much eat anything. Lately I noticed that she loves her green vegetables like peas, green beans, and broccoli. Boy am I very impressed since I don't particularly enjoy green vegetables myself. All I know if that I need to keep feeding them to her everyday or else she will turn into Pennington and decide she doesn't want to eat them anymore. Below are some fabulous photos Daddy took of Piper eating yogurt. Yogurt is so yummy but so messy. And yes my child does know how to use a spoon but it is just easier to drink it or lick it. Also notice a certain animal friend in the background. As usual he is waiting for some droppings.

Harmonica

Recently Pennington has enjoyed playing the harmonica. Uncle Ben gave him this harmonica about a year ago. Below is a video of Pennington playing the harmonica. On Wednesdays Musical Kids (a program run by the Boise Philharmonic) comes to Pennington's school. Denise has mentioned on several occasions that Pennington loves music class. Doesn't surprise me at all. I likes sing into a microphone as well. Hopefully I will be able to get a video of that sometime some.

Piper's First Football Game

This weekend Boise State played Air Force at home. Johnny was able to switch is Saturday shift to the morning so he would be off by 2 in order to go to the football game.

I took the kids down to tailgate in the morning. A good friend of mine Lara and I rode bikes down with the two kids. I'm not exactly sure how far it is but I think it is around 4 miles from our house to the stadium. With two kids, the bike trailer and all the stuff we have to bring along, pulling the kids is like carrying an exact 60 to 70 pounds. It is definitely a workout. The kids had a great time at the tailgate. Pennington watched the big boys play catch with a football and Piper just walked around looking at everything. Both of them enjoyed the food.

Around noon I rode back to our house so the kids would nap for an hour or so. Johnny got home around 2 and we headed down to the game. Another good friend of mine Teresa had an extra ticket and offered it up to me. Of course I was super excited about this but I knew I would have to bring Piper along. Johnny took Pennington into the game and I took Piper. We made it in time for the whole second half. Of course Pennington loved watching the game. He was pretty upset when it ended because he kept asking for more. Piper did great for the 3rd quarter but then about half way through the 4th quarter she had enough. I walked around with her until the game was done. It was really cute at the end of the game because she waved bye to the team. I should also add that she definitely knew to clap for the team.

Below is a picture of Piper in her cheer leading outfit at the tailgate. She is standing inside the bean bag toss hole. She saw Pennington do this so she just had to copy him. I just love this little girl.

October 2011 Update

Sorry for the serious lack of posts. There are two reasons for this: (1) I have lost the bloggie and (2) I just haven't had a lot of free time after the kids go to bed to write. So here is the update.

Lets talk about Piper first.

Piper is really starting to vocalize. I am amazed at how much she is saying already and how much she understands. She is already starting to make animal sounds and say yes and no very clearly. She has had some issues with bowel movements lately (as in multiple each day). It was as bad as 10 times a day but now it is down to 3 to 5 times a day. This is crazy for me since when my children were first born I was super concerned about them only going once every few days.

Piper can climb up and down the stairs now. She does it totally differently than Pennington did. She slides down on her bottom instead of on her tummy like Pennington did. It is really nice to know that I don't have to hover over my children anymore when they are going up and down the stairs. We still put the gates up mainly so I can contain them instead of for safety purposes.

Piper is still not really sleeping. Honestly there are nights she gets up like 5 or 6 times. Last night was a good night. She only got up twice. I really think I need to stop breastfeeding in order to get her to sleep better. Right now I pretty much only feed her at night. Not sure I really recommend breastfeed as long as I have. The reason I say this is because now Piper asks for it by pulling on my shirt. The problem is I have no idea how to cut off the breastfeeding. I just keep hoping she will decided she is done so I don't have to make the decision. She like soy milk now and can drink it out of a bottle or sippy cup. My plan is to get rid of the bottles before January when she starts school.

Okay on to Pennington.

Since the beginning of September Pennington has been going to school three days as week. This has been really great for him on so many levels. He is really starting to enjoy school. He still gets a little sad when I drop him off in the morning but never wants to leave when I go to pick him up.

Pennington is totally potty trained at school and he is really starting to be interest in wanting to go on the potty at home. I realized a few days ago that Pennington doesn't like the potty we have at home. He would rather use the potties they have at school. Denise (Pennington's teacher) gave me an extra one and it has worked wonders. He goes at home now. In case you are wondering the Baby Bjorn potties are much better than the ones that look like little potties with lids (I think the brand is Safety First or something like that). The reason is because the Baby Bjorn ones are taller in the front so that when little boys sit on them the pee doesn't go out of the potty. It is so exciting to know that we are one step closer to being potty trained. Pennington is starting to refuse to wear diapers and only wants to wear pull ups or underwear.

I have finally decided to call the Infant Toddler Program about Pennington's speech delay. I should have an update within the next week or so once he has been assessed. While I am certain that he will talk someday he is definitely behind as most children his age would have around 70 words. Pennington maybe has 10 words. I have noticed an increase in the number of animal sounds he is making which is good.

Pennington can now ride a tricycle by pushing the pedals and has pretty much mastered the balance bike. By the way, I highly recommend the balance bike. Pennington loves it and it is easier for him to ride than a tricycle. Basically they are totally worth the money.

Johnny and I have tried our best to limit TV watching for both our children. However there are times where we have let them watch TV. One show that we let Pennington watch is called Kipper. Kipper is a British show about a dog and his adventures. I really like the show because it is very simple. It is usually Kipper and a few other objects that kids can identify with. Usually the background is all white. It is just very simple and I believe not over stimulating like other children's programs. Pennington loves watching Kipper. Piper isn't really into TV at all. Pennington on the other hand if the TV is on he will watch it (especially if it is soccer, football, basebase, ect). This is why we have to limit the amount of TV he watches.

Parenting Books

At the kids 1 and 2 year old appointments I was asking Dr. Booth if he had any suggestions on good book to read about parenting toddlers. He had a few suggestions but nothing that he highly recommended. At least none that I remember. About a week later Johnny came home from Hastings with several parenting books for me to read. I guess Hastings was having a 4 for $20 sale or something like that. One of the books he brought home was a book about Jewish parenting. My first thought was "Really??? I am not a super religious person and I am pretty sure that religion is not going to help me be a better parent." Surprisingly I ended up LOVING this book. To date it is the best parenting book I have read. It is called "The Blessing of a Skinned Knee" by Wendy Mogal, Ph.D. The idea behind the book is using Jewish teachings to raise a self-reliant child.

A few take aways I got from the book are as follows: (1) teach your children to respect you (i.e. Honor Your Mother and Father), (2) every child is unique (i.e. respect your child's strengths), (3) it is never to early to start chores even if all they can do is put their shoes on and put dirty clothes in the laundry basket, (4) don't over protect your child (FYI - I am really good that this one. Most parents would freak out about how much trust I have in my children), (5) eating dinner together is VERY important (in Judaism this all centers around Friday Night Shabbat Dinner with family and friends), (6) teach your children the value of work (I think this one is really important since a lot of parents these days are not doing a very good job at teaching their children how hard you have to work for somethings), (7) teach your child to value the present moment (smells in the air, the scenery around you, ect. The idea behind this one is that the world around us is moving so fast that we need children to know what boredom feels like and to appreciate what is currently going on in the world around you) and (8) spend time with your children (not just being in the room with them but really being with them. This one makes me realize that just because you are a stay at home parent doesn't mean that you are really spending quality time with your children. Working parents can actually be better at spending quality time with their children.)

Honestly I could go on and on and on about how wonder I thought this book was. I would highly recommend this book to anyone. The book even comes with group discussion questions about each of the chapters. All I can say is this book was fabulous.

Pennington's First Bronco Game

Two weekends ago the Broncos had an early afternoon game against Nevada. We decided to take the kids down for a little tailgating before nap time. One of the tailgates we went to had "Gus the Bronco Bus". Gus is owned by a few of my current and former co-workers. Below are some pictures of the kids driving the bus.

Johnny decided that he should take Pennington into the game for at least the first quarter. Pennington was able to stay long enough to see the first Bronco touchdown. Below is a picture of Pennington and Nicholas Ploetz at Pennington's very first Bronco Game.

Pennington definitely knows who the Broncos are. Daddy bought him about about Buster Bronco which we read at least 3 times at week. He loves his new Bronco football that his great grandma got him. He also asks to wear his Bronco gear a lot. I have to remind him that he I would prefer that he waits to wear his Bronco gear on game days. Go Broncos!!!

Harvest Festival

Pennington, Piper and I went to the Harvest Festival this afternoon at the Botanical Gardens. We all had a fabulous time. At the Harvest Festival we picked out pumpkins, walked through a mini corn maze, went on a hay ride and listened to some blue grass music.

Piper was really excited about her pumpkin. She insisted on holding it while she was sitting in the stroller. Both of the kids colored on their pumpkins when we got home. Below is a picture of Piper coloring her pumpkin.

Pennington ran through the mini corn maze while Piper was a bit hesitant. Piper and I never made it through the mini corn maze but Pennington sure did. It was a bit scary being the only parent with two young children in a corn maze. Good thing Pennington was able to figure his way out.

Pennington LOVED listening to the music. When we were up at the pumpkin patch area he looked at me and pointed to his ear to say that he could hear the music and wanted to go see it. He sat with his eyes glued on the band for at least 5 songs. Piper decided she should sit in Pennington's lap. Surprisingly he didn't mind. Probably because he was to focused on listening to the band.

There were several hollowed out trees where the pumpkin patch was. This is one of the hollowed out trees that Pennington walked through.

The last thing we did was go on the hay ride. Pennington really wanted to go on the hay ride. Every time it past us he would look at me like I want to do that. While I don't think this is the best picture of the three of us, we are all looking at the camera. The kids were very quiet on the hay ride but I do think they enjoyed it.

Overall, the kids were fairly well behaved. It is always a bit scary to venture out by yourself with the two little ones. I have to say that I do officially have a runner on my hands. Pennington did jet off a few times. One time on a full sprint which honestly is pretty fast for such a little guy. Oh the joys of a two year old boy.