Updates

Abby

Our 4-year-old continues to impress us with her vocabulary, smarts and interests. She loves animals. She still wants to be an entomologist and has an arrangement with our next door neighbor who is a 3rd grade teacher that when she becomes an entomologist she'll visit her class to teach the 3rd graders about bugs. She also loves the neighbor's new puppy and I need to make sure she doesn't go and visit the puppy too often! Here are two experiences from the last 24 hours:

Abby found a frog in the backyard. "Mom, her name is Isabella Stickypaws. She has sticky feet so Stickypaws is her surname." Surname? I'm not sure where she learned that one!

At lunch today, I told Abby we needed to make a pie for the branch Pioneer Day Pie Contest. She asked what a pie contest was and I told her. She replied, "Maybe we should just take a Sweetie Pie." For the locals, that might mean something. For non-locals, Sweetie-licious is a bakery in our little town that is incredible. It wins all sorts of national pie competitions. We love Sweetie Pies but the pocket book only allows us to get them on very special occasions. So apparently Abby thinks that 1) my pies don't have a chance and 2) if we are committed to win this thing, we need to go for the best. So do you think I could fool anyone with one of these?

Briton

Briton has been very busy with his speech therapy right now. I don't know if I have said anything about speech on the blog so here is the sweetened condensed version: Back in October we had Briton tested for a speech delay. I wasn't concerned at all but thought I'd get him tested before the baby arrived. We figured it would be easier to do pre-baby. Over the next couple months, he was found to have a speech delay and qualified for services. We still weren't concerned. As our speech pathologist worked with him, she started to feel that he had a condition called apraxia. We have tried to learn as much as we can to determine what will be best for Briton. We found that one of the most respected authorities on childhood apraxia has her clinic just over an hour from our home. We have taken him to the clinic a few times for some evaluations and have been amazed at the responses they elicit from him. It's been educational for us to observe both the Kaufman Clinic and our speech pathologists work with Briton so that we can feel more competent as we try to reinforce/build upon what they are teaching. The prognosis is good. It'll take quite a while for Briton to speak clearly, but he will. We watched a youtube video recently of some teenagers who were treated for severe apraxia as children. It was great to see them so poised, confident and even articulate. Briton is absolutely delightful and we are proud of the efforts he puts forth in his therapy and practice.

Hannah

Hannah is now mobile. How do I feel about that? I am not sure, but it is very fun to see how it is helping her to develop her personality. For a while she has rolled from her back to tummy but could not go the other way. Now that she can, she can move across floors and beds and she is very happy about it! She continues to be calm and pleasant. This is helpful as I try (successfully or unsuccessfully depending on the moment) to juggle my time among the 3 kids and other stuff. She is a joy.