Spring has Sprung

Since my last update Spring has Sprung! 

And the weather......is confused!!! 

Thanks to all that confusion we have two little boys at the moment that have nasty ear infections.

It is SO nice that Jace can localized and verbalize pain. The past 2 weeks we were battling yet ANOTHER cold (thank you confusing weather) which he shared with Levi. You know siblings share their cesspools! 

Last Thursday, after a busy morning of playing after school, I put Jace down for a nap and he was not falling asleep easily. I went to check on him and he told me "My ear hurts" I asked if he wanted medicine and he told me yes. Then I asked if he wanted to go to the doctor so she can make his ear better and he told me yes again!

Hmmmm....he has only told me his ear hurts once before and it was a sinus infection turning into an ear infections. So I believed him. And the fact that he wanted medicine AND go to the doctor was huge!

So, I cancelled the play date we had scheduled for that afternoon and we went to the doctor. 

Since Levi has been screaming, fighting naps and bedtime, AND waking up a lot at night I figured we would get his ears looked at as well. I thought it was more teeth since he was still sleeping somewhat ok at night. 

Jace had an ear infection in one ear and Levi had a double ear infection! BOO! 

That makes ear infection #4 for Levi and the doctor mentioned considering the ENT next time. I was really hoping that we would avoid tubes for Levi but genetics will be genetics! 

The boys are on antibiotics and I think its time to Lysol down this house! 

Levi has started to climb ANYTHING and everything he can! 

His first feat was Jace's chair.......and he LOVED it! Thought he was so big! 

He actually climb up the steps on this little slide outside. 

I have found his sneaky butt climbing our stairs too! 

When I ask "what are you doing?" he smiles at me and goes faster! LOL 

Little toot! 

Jace and Daddy are Levi's favorite people lately. 

He gets so excited to go get Jace from the bus stop when school is out. 

And when JB gets home from work he high tails it over to see him! 

It is so fun to see how much his little personality and preferences are appearing. 

He is learning to make noises also. With anything he can hold and bang together or shake.
He appreciates music and dances to it or at times tries to sing along (in his own language and tune)

Ok, I hit them together like this?

Easter was a lot of fun this year. Jace was really excited about going on an "Egg Shoot"! 

That is what Jace calls egg hunts.....everyone knows you shoot when you hunt! 

All lined up ready to hunt eggs!! 

Ok - Lets go get them!! 

Time to check out the loot! 

Levi enjoyed playing with a friend his age......

and tried to give him kisses! LOL 

Our little dozer isn't the gentlest with kisses. 

We went to church service on Saturday so we could take it easy on Easter morning. 

Jace's Easter basket and Levi's 1st Easter basket

Trying to open his puffs

Lets see what you got Bubba!

Time to hunt some eggs that the Easter bunny left! 

Oh!! This one had money in it!!!! 

Before Easter we had a little photo shoot of the boys done. 

We have not been as avid about getting Levi's pictures done as we did for Jace. 

Our handsome little gentleman 

The boys got to hold/touch the little ducklings.

Not quite sure how they survived after Levi's death grips but they did. 

With this picture of Levi I can complete this handprint/footprint frame. 

We did the same kind for Jace when he was 9 months old! 

The day before Easter, JB and I ran our first 5k. 

It was the Color Me Rad 5k that benefits the Special Olympics of America. 

We have been training for the 5k for a while since neither one of us were runners in the past. 

I have to say that the run was much easier to do than it was on a treadmill or out with a stroller that had 50+lbs extra to push.  

Our team Dyed Trying before the run - nice and clean! 

And after - colorful! 

He looks good in pink! :) 

Jace loved the sunglasses from Color Me Rad

The boys have taken their first bath together. Levi was too interested in crawling and climbing in the bathtub that I was too worried about putting both boys together. Now that the climbing has become less glamorous to Levi, we let them bathe together. 

I see a future full of many baths together for these two! 

We took a mini vacation to San Antonio. It was a FULL weekend but fun. 

We went to the Hemisfair Park, Zoo, and the Alamo. 

Checking out the waterfall by the Riverwalk 

 Jumping into Daddy's arms

Levi VERY tired at the zoo but was a trooper! 

Headed to dinner after the zoo! 

Riding with Papa. 

Levi fell asleep at the hotel and slept the whole walk to dinner and through some of dinner. 

Our family at the Alamo. 

The boys' first Alamo visit 

Cheesing on the Riverwalk!  

Today we had the playdate planned last Thursday. 

I bought a sprinkler and the weather was perfect! 

This Friday, Jace has another 23 hour EEG. We are praying after this one comes back clear that we can start weaning him from his medication. Oh how glorious would it be for Jace to be fully medication free! I have faith and know he will be! 

He's made such great progress and strides since starting school. At the rate he is gaining on his language I have to give all the credit to his school! Its exciting to hear him even just SAY full sentences when tell him to say something. But we are even more pleased to hear him say sentences that he thinks about. 

His cognitive functions have improved. The other day at the doctor's office we were looking at the fish tank and we had the following exchange:

Jace: I want Jace to get in fish tank

Me: You want to get into to the fish tank?

Jace: Yeah. 

Me: You can't get in there silly

Jace: No, I'm not a fish!!!! I'm a big boy! 

Me: Thats right you are! 

Doesn't sound like a lot but its huge that he was the one that figured out that logic on his own.

And his imagination - its blooming more everyday. 

We have Buzz, Super Jace, and monsters visit often! 

On the Levi front, he is starting to stand without holding on to anything. Even sits down from standing smoothly and doesn't seem to "fall" down. I can see it on his face at time that he wants to walk - he just hasn't tried it yet. Oh but I know its almost here. I am not ready for that yet! :( 

Slow down Levi, you are my baby......stop growing so fast! 

I leave you with Levi's most recent monthly picture: 

Happy boy!! 

Keeping up with Levi

I really mean catching up with Levi but I do literally have to keep up with him. 

This boy is into anything and everything! 

I love to watch the curiosity in his eyes and see him figure things out. 

He is now 9 months old.....crawling.....pulling up....cruising.....and almost climbing. 

He sees Jace do something and he thinks he can as well. 

It's just as fun watching him as it is exhausting. 

He babbles Mama, Bubba, and Dada (in that order)....along with other babbling. I can't say 100% for sure that he has said any other the words with meaning yet....but I he is getting there. I really have a  feeling Bubba will be the first really meaningful word for him. 

I decided to do more of the "baby led weaning' (baby led solids) with Levi. He prefers it and looks at me crazy when I do spoon feed him. Chewing and knowing what to spit out (because he can handle it) is a skill he has mastered very well! It amazes me what this boy can eat and handle on his own. 

I can give him an apple or a plum with the peel on......he will chew it and spit out the peel! 

He loves steak and chicken - spices and all! 

It also appears that we may have cleared the dairy sensitivity. I slowly added back in dairy products and he seems to not be affected the way he was in the past (mucous and blood in his incredibly stinky stools).

We had his 3rd tooth cut through last week and the 4th is RIGHT at the edge and will be in soon! 

His amber necklace is working.....it seems like he only needs Tylenol or ibuprofen when the tooth is actually cutting through. It hasn't seemed to affect his sleeping other than the process of falling asleep which takes longer. 

Levi moved into his own room shortly after turning 6 months. He seemed to wake a lot with us in the room. It seemed like every time one of use moved or turned he woke up. I was getting no sleep even with nursing him back to sleep. He got to the point where he would nurse but then wanted his own space to roll around and get comfortable. So we moved him upstairs to his room! :) 

I thought the sleepless nights might go on forever since I was not doing any type of sleep training but I was proven wrong. Don't get me wrong - we went through a few months of him waking up sometimes 5 times at night. Then one night he slept....for 5 hours straight. That continued. Then he went 7 hours straight. That was off and on but still had 5 hours straight. He has even done 10 hours straight a couples times. Now he typically only wakes *knock on wood* twice a night - IF that!! He likes his sleep! 

Not having to wake him for daycare at 5 am like I did Jace is nice. No having to set his internal alarm clock to crazy hours is GREAT.....no, its a BLESSING! 

We have given Levi the nickname "Bull Dozer" 

He will doze anyone and everyone over. If you are on the ground with him, he will doze you! 

It started with his little cousin who is a few weeks older than him. It seemed like every time she was around he wanted to just plow right over her. She is a sweet, docile, content to just sit and watch the action kind of girl....and Levi, well he is the opposite! From there we noticed he does it to Jace and anyone that is laying on the ground. I have a feeling our dozer may becomes a biter too. He's very quick to coming at you open mouthed - especially when he is frustrated. 

I will be keeping that in check before he gets himself into that habit. 

Watch this boy GROW!!

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

Time to baby-proof!! 

First swing experience! He loved it! 

See the "dozer" in action! 

Levi hated the grass until this day! 

He still will only really just sit there but he doesn't' cry about it anymore! 

Gosh he is so stinkin' cute!!! 

Need. More. Coffee.

I feel ya buddy!! 

 Jace and Levi driving to the Auction Barn to eat breakfast. 

Jace was 5 days shy of 9 months and Levi was 2 days shy of 9 months. 

School is TOO Cool!!

Jace's first day as an Explorer was successful! 

He is so used to sleeping until about 7:30 every morning that I felt so bad having to wake him up. 

I went into his room to wake him up and found him like this. 

I think he was cold and his PJ's weren't quite warm enough because at breakfast he was saying he was cold and needed a jacket. This constant weather change makes it difficult to figure out if we will need the A/C or the heater. So I switched on the heater...poor guy was chilly! 

About to eat some Frosted Flakes before school! 

I was stressing about leaving on time....not too early but not too late. I didn't want to get there too early since we were going to have to wait for the class to walk by on their way to the classroom to join them. And I didn't want to get there too late since Justin and I had to sign in so we can go with him to his class. 

This morning Jace decided to take his time with everything! Getting down the stairs, eating, taking his medicine, putting on his shoes, getting in his car seat.........EVERYTHING! 

I kept my cool.......I got Levi and Jace buckled up and we were off. 

Justin calls me and tells me to not take the usual way because then I would be in line FOREVER behind all the parents dropping off students. So I took the other route. Come to find out I was not allowed to make a left turn into the parking lot where I needed to go. I had to make a u-turn and still ended up in line. It just wasn't as far back as I would have been. Lesson learned - get there early or just wait in line (it moves quickly)!

Jace in front of the school

(he was mesmerized by all the cars and kids getting out of them) 

We checked in and wait for his class to come walking down the hallway. 

Once they class was coming down the teacher asked Jace to grab a ring in the line. He jumped right in! No hesitation, no whining, no shyness! 

We went to the classroom with him and all the kids knew what to do to unpack and get ready for the day.

Once in the classroom, Jace paid no attention to us. He was following his teacher and listening to what she asked him to do. Justin and I seemed to be a bit of a distraction for the other kids so we slipped out and left. 

I still needed a few more items for Jace like ice packs and cups to take for his snacks at school. 

Levi and I headed off to Target to shop! 

Once we got home I had some laundry to catch up on.....and I had the CUTEST helper! 

"Mom, are you sure this isn't supposed to be hung dry?"

Shortly after that it was time to get Jace. He came out the school with a huge smile on his face. 

HE LOVES IT! 

This makes my heart so happy! 

Today I got a note from the teacher about yesterday. Mrs. Bravo really is a sweet lady! 

After meeting her in the ARD I knew Jace would enjoy her! 

Even after day 2, he is SO excited about going to school tomorrow! 

And....for some cuteness.....look at my 3 loves!! 

My heart.....mush!

Jace the Explorer

Jace LOVES when his daddy plays upstairs in the play room. 

A few weeks ago he started to get upset when he leaves the room to go downstairs. 

Its still amazes me how much Jace changes every week. His language seems to expand and mature a little each week. Little at a time but enough to see a difference! 

Despite the quick learning, he is still behind enough for strangers to notice the delay after being around him for a little while. 

I started the process of having him evaluated for speech through the school district before we made the big move. Since we never had formal testing and assessments done with Waller ISD, we just started over with Katy ISD. I am SO thankful for the resources available for children that are not school age yet. 

Private therapy is VERY expensive and we went that route when he was in daycare and I was working. It made sense. They came to the daycare to work with him and contacted me as needed about his progress. Now that I am at home with both boys, going to private therapy is just expensive and burdening with a baby. Also, I wanted to be sure he was evaluated for other possible issues that may not be speech related. At this point I was clueless on what is normal 3 year old behavior and what is due to his speech delay. 

As soon as we settled in the house, I called the PPCD (Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities) offices to figure out how to get started. Since it was over Christmas break it took a bit to get him in for testing. We finally got in for testing in late January! They evaluated him through play and a few formal testing procedures. After the assessment the "team" came back in and told us what they found. They said that his language is delayed in receptive and expressive, his articulation needs some work, and his cognitive function is delayed. I felt very worried and concerned that but after researching and speaking with another diagnostician I learned that cognitive function is difficult to really evaluate at his age. Also, the test administered uses a lot of language skills.  

Jace's first ARD (Admissions, Review, and Dismissal) meeting was this past Friday. We met with the school diagnostician, principal, speech therapist (Ms. Monson), and the PPCD teacher (Ms. Bravo). 

The ARD is basically for all of us to get together and agree to what Jace will need for services. The suggestion was that he attend the PPCD program Monday - Friday. Since he still naps in the afternoon he will attend the morning session, 8:20-11:20 am. He will ride the bus to and from school. At the moment he is VERY excited about this! He LOVES school buses. I hope the excitement continues once he realizes mom won't be on the bus with him. After the meeting we enrolled Jace into the school and he starts school on TUESDAY February 19th!

 I have a full list of supplies he needs but I did get his backpack already since I knew he needed that! 

Jace is now officially a Wolman Explorer

All ready for school!! 

Oh yes....and those glasses! :) They are new! 

At the end of the year he started to cross his eyes. I thought MAYBE it was on purpose (see below video) but after a few weeks it progressively worsened. He had his final post 6 month check up with the ophthalmology required for his old medicine. I mentioned the eye crossing and he said to keep and eye on it (no pun intended). It got worse quick so we went back to him. He is farsighted and the best way to fix this is with glasses first. 

We ordered his glasses and he's given us hardly any issues with wearing them. 

His ophthalmologist suggested Miraflex glasses. They are very flexible and near indestructible!

These are perfect starter glasses - so he can learn how to properly care and handle them. 

They sure do look cute on him! 

Jace's imagination has been blooming! I LOVE IT!! 

He has started digging for treasure chests that are locked. But he has the key....and in the chest there is gold, necklaces, rings, and pirate goodies!! :) 

Then sudedenly last week he came up to me with the kitchen towel asking to put it on to be Super Jace! This came out of nowhere! We never play super heroes or watch any on TV. So, I got something better for a cape (a blanket), put it on him, and he yelled "I'm SUPER JACE!!!" 

And just for fun, some random recent pictures 

Wrestling already! 

Jace being "Santa" in the bath

and a video of JB and Jace boxing!

Merry Christmas and Good Bye 2012!

Christmas came and went WAY too fast! This year was odd  - it just didn't feel "Christmasy" 

Maybe it was the VERY recent move or lack of cooler weather? Either way I hope next year is better! 

We did go to a friend's house and make some cookies. Jace and I both had fun. 

I can't say I can even remember the last time I made shaped cookies and decorated them. 

I think we are going to make this an annual event :) 

That is a snowman with BIG eyes....not what it looks like ;) 

Letter to Santa and cookies left out for him! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS from our family to yours! 

Justin and I went out for New Year's Eve. It wasn't a long night but we got out alone together. 

My mom can over and watched the boys. We went to dinner and stopped by a pub. 

It was so nice and refreshing to get a little time to ourselves. (Thanks Mom!!!) 

Just as we were leaving the pub (around 10:30 we couldn't hang until midnight) I got the text from my mom that Levi was NOT having it. Poor guy was not settling down for her and just as he would he was up screaming again. 

It wasn't until a couple days later we learned he had an ear infection. Yuck! 

And it was a bad 2 weeks after that. They put him on a stronger antibiotic since he just had an ear infection around Thanksgiving. That messed up his belly BAD! We were getting less sleep than when he had just an ear infection. They put him on another strong medicine and it was the SAME result. After a week I took him back in to the doctor. He was put back on what was used for his first ear infection. It worked! PTL! 

This was a quick update! I have more to add later!!! :) 

Gotta go Levi is up!