Noah's first speech session

Noah had his first meeting with his home intervention teacher on Thursday. Grandma said it went very well. He was a bit upset when Joann first arrive b/c he saw Grandpa outside but Joann started to play the piano and sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and that won him over. He demonstrated 4 of the 10 imitation skills they are working on - clap, nose, sit down, go get ..., give me five. Grandma said they played so hard that Noah was worn out by the time Joann left. He is going to have one or two more sessions at Grandma's house and then he will start meeting Joann at school so she can take him into the preschool room for approximately 1 hour. I'm a bit freaked out about it - my baby is growing up - but am really really happy. I think that good peer models and structure/boundaries will be VERY beneficial to him. Joann is also bringing the speech therapist with her next time. I don't know if it will be the one he will work with as I think she is still on maternity leave.

Keep us in your thoughts ~ he is doing great and I predict will only continue to improve.

I survived!

Well, I have survived the first two days back at school. I have 21 second graders on my list but so far only 20 have shown up. I have a very sweet class - I'm hoping it's not just a honeymoon. I have been very surprised how similar they are to my previous entering preschoolers. Their skill set is greater but socially and time on task wise they are quite similar. Tomorrow starts my first full week with them and my first attempt as using some of my different curriculums. I am trying to be optimistic and forgiving of myself.

On a grosser note, our beautifully renovated building in INFESTED with mice. They seem to like the principals office and my room the best. Of course, they would have to pick my room as party central!! I have bait out to kill the little buggers and I'm strongly considering putting some traps out too. I do HATE to empty traps but I hate mouse poop on everything even more.

Noah and Grace are getting along very well now that they are back at Grandma and Grandpa's. Noah thinks he needs to be outside helping Grandpa all the time so he is completely filthy when I come to get him. I think I'm going to need to invest in some "farm" clothes for him too so he doesn't ruin any of his regular clothes :). He's at that age where he's trying to give up his nap but really still needs some rest time. Needless to say he's passed out both nights on the way home. I think that Grace might be missing me a bit - Friday Grandma said she was fussy but when I got her home she was a happy girl smiling and talking to me.

Starting Speech Therapy

After a long process we are finally starting speech therapy for Noah. His first appointment with the AEA early intervention teacher is August 21st. Noah met her for the first time yesterday and they really hit it off. Their first goal is to work for the next 6 weeks on 10 different skills & signs. She found yesterday that he already had 3 of the skills she had scheduled to work on so they will work on the other 7. The goal is for him to imitate a behavior with only one prompt and to give the appropriate sign for that skill with 80% accuracy. I was brought to tears yesterday when after only about 20 minutes of working with the teacher he was signing more and saying an approximation of bumble (she was doing bumble bee, bumble bee, buzz and tickling his belly).
Another exciting facet of his therapy is that starting in January he can attend preschool at Prairie City Elementary. In fact, his teacher would like to take him into the classroom this fall for therapy. This will help tremendously with his transition as well as give the staff an idea of the types of supports he will need to be successful.
I am so happy that he is finally getting the help he needs so he can be on track for Kindergarten and beyond!

I figured it out!

I have been trying to figure out how to get this slidshow on here all weekend. VICTORY finally :)

I'm going to keep it up for a few days and then put up some more recent pictures.

If any family wants to have any of these pictures you can search Google for Grace's Birthday and First Few Days and it should come up. You can order them from Picasa.

Grace's Big Arrival

Grace made her big entrance to the world 3 1/2 weeks early on May 26, 2008. We had a BIG storm go through the night before and I think the abrupt change in air pressure had something to do with her early arrival. Everything went extremely well. I have a newfound respect for anyone who endures natural childbirth and am still somewhat shocked and amazed to be in that particular club.

She was 7lbs 9 ozs and 20 in. at birth so if she would have waited until her due date (or been late like Noah) she would have been a very big girl. She is in fact shaping up to be a big girl. At her two month Dr. appt. this past Monday she was tipping the scales at 14lbs 9 ozs. Her Dr. proclaimed her a healthy "chunky monkey" ~ a term also often use affectionately by us.

Indianola Balloon Festival

I took Noah to the Balloons this year with my girlfriend Stacey and her son Jack. We met our other friend Kristin and her daughter Emily there. Kristin is from Indianola so she was an excellent ambassador for all things ballooning. The boys had a lot of fun watching the balloons and running around in the big open field. Mostly they had fun running around - by the end of the evening they were holding hands while running - it was SO cute. Jack has renamed Noah - Robby. Stacey was telling me the other day that she showed him some pictures and he kept saying "Robby, Robby, there's Robby." It is very sweet and funny.

Making up for lost time

I'm going to try to get quite a few things up in the next little bit so there are plenty of pics of Noah and Grace to see. Be patient w/ me b/c I'm also trying to get ready to go back to school.

Who's the Greatest Mommy in the World???

I finally cleaned out Noah's pool and put up our shade tent so he can play during the day. He is SOOOO excited. He is kissing and hugging the pool! :) Gracie has really enjoyed being outside as well.

Here goes nothing!

I have some friends who have created awesome blogs so I'm giving it a try. I'm not very good at this type of thing so i apologize in advance. :) I have many friends and family here and there so I'm hoping this will be a good way to keep everyone up to date with Taylor life.