Bubbles!!!

Garren

Kellan & Caden

I'm pretty sure Garren ingested more than he blew :)

Playgroup Fun!!!

The past 2 Tuesdays I have taken the boys down to Jacksonville to join my sister & her playgroup for a little pool fun.

The boys haven't been crazy about going straight into a deep pool & not being able to touch the bottom. My sister's neighborhood pool has a zero entry (like the beach) & was great for the boys to wade in as deep as they were comfortable. 

Garren taking it all in

Garren flirting with a girl

Kellan went right in, chest deep without a second thought

The best photo I could get of all 3 of the boys,

Caden (top right) Kellan (top right) & Garren (front)

Garrens puddle jumper was a little big & would slip down outside of the water

So many kids!!!

Snack time

Or maybe lunch time :)

Caden having fun splashing 

We've all had a great time & plan to continue going weekly :)

PS...

Caden weighed 34lbs 4oz at the doctor (for his insect sting) the other night, that's up TWO POUNDS from just last month!!!

So when do they really slow down?!? First I was old at 12 months, then 18 months & I was assured they would definitely slow down at 2. I think I'm being deceived, lol...

Here are some popsicle faces from yesterday afternoon :)

Caden

Caden + Insect Stings = Trouble!

Well not terrible trouble but the little guy has a "localized" allergic reaction, meaning he swells up & turns red. It most likely hurts & obviously from the scratching, it itches.

We didn't take him to the doctor right away, we were actually at the mall in Savannah when he got stung. As we were walking through the mall he kept reaching down & grabbing his ankle & that's when I noticed he had been stung, by what? Who knows...

That night when we got home his ankle was a little swollen & the next morning it was a little red but not swollen much. I checked it again after naps & it was bumpy but still not red or swollen so I thought it was fine. When Donna got home from work she noticed Caden's ankle right away, it was really swollen & red so I went ahead & took him to urgent care. 

The doctor thought it looked like a bee, wasp or hornet sting, hard to tell the difference I guess? He gave us a prescription cream to use that helps with the swelling & discomfort of the sting. The sting still looks ugly but the redness & swelling stay down with the cream. I've had to put socks on Caden when he sleeps to keep him from scratching but other than that he is fine.

Rainy Day Blues

It has rained everyday for the past 4 days here. Not non stop for 4 days but a new thunderstorm each day & not the typical summer afternoon thunderstorm. These storms have rolled around mid morning & last just late enough into the afternoon to keep us from being able to get out of the house.

Have I complained enough? Can you tell how annoyed I am with this weather? 

So today we decided to take the boys up to Savannah to the mall for a little indoor playground action. Sounds kind of lame to drive an hour just to let the boys play at the mall but we don't have anything close to home for them to do except for open gym & that is only on Saturdays.

The mall ended up being better than we even thought it would be for the boys. They had the indoor play area, a carousel & a train that rode around a huge sand sculpture. The boys loved playing in the play area! They thought the carousel was a ton of fun to watch & the train too. They were not not interested in riding either though. 

We had lunch & even squeezed in a trip to Super Target. If our Target had these carts I'd be there all day long!!!

We had a simple but fun day & it was nice to get the boys out of the house for a little while even if they did miss their naps.

Grocery Store Helper

I usually take one of the boys with me to run errands when Donna is home. It gives me a little one on one time with them & gives those that stay home a little more attention from Donna. Caden & Kellan have really been in need of some extra attention from Donna so Garren has gone with me twice this week. Tonight he helped me grocery shop & I promise he did have a snack before we went but that did not stop him from eating his way through Publix.

Garren's first real chocolate chip cookie.

He really just wanted some fruit though! I had to hide the bananas to keep him from peeling them, then he helped himself to the apples, not just this one apple but he had to take a bite of all the apples. Thankfully I was able to get cherries & grapes into the cart without him noticing, lol...

Speech Therapist Evaluation

Yesterday the boys had their evaluation with a speech therapist. The evaluation was much different than I had expected.

The therapist started with asking the boys to identify objects on a page. First my naming an object & asking them to pint to it, then by asking them to name some objects. Garren did fairly well with this, he is our little people pleaser though & was very interested in what she was doing. Caden & Kellan were both very shy & also more interested in the spiral binding that held her book together than what was on the actual page.

Next she pulled out a small teddy bear, a spoon, a plastic cup & a small cloth. She said "the bear is thirsty, can you give the bear a drink?" Then, "the bear is hungry, can you feed the bear?" And lastly, "the bear is sleepy, can you put the bear to bed?" Garren also did well with this task as he plays with stuffed animals usually & prevents to feed them & give them drinks & put them to bed. Kellan & Caden have no interest in stuffed animals so really didn't cooperate with the bear. Caden did offer the therapist her cup when she said the bear was thirsty & Kellan gave himself a bite with the spoon when she said the bear was hungry, lol...

She then had them identify their articles of clothing, shirt, shoes, socks & so on. Thanks to Baby Signing Time they all did well with this exercise. Not only could they identify them they could sign them :)

The last exercise she had them do was with some blocks & boxes. She would ask them to put the block in the box, then to take it out. She lined up 3 blocks, told them which block was theirs & which one was hers & then asked them which block was theirs & then hers? They all did well with the first part of the exercise but not the last part.

After she finished her exercises she asked me some questions pertaining to their speech. She asked if they ask questions, Garren is the only one that does & its only a couple, "where's the kitty cat?" & "what's that?" She asked if they use nouns & adjectives together, since they don't string words together for the most part the answer was no. Lastly she asked if they claim possession, using words like me, mine, yours. They do not. 

Scores over 85 are considered to be in the normal range. Garren scored right at 85 & therefore does not qualify for therapy. Caden & Kellan scored in the high 70's, 76 & 78 I think, so they will be receiving speech therapy.

I felt like a bad mom in some ways, like I should have taught them the things they missed. I know it is not my fault & really, I'm not beating myself up over it. I just think it's probably normal to blame yourself as a mother when your kids aren't doing something they should be. We really cannot complain though, aside from the flat spots on their heads, this is the first issue any of them have had & considering their prematurity I'd say we are pretty lucky.

Two Year Portraits

We finally got our photo CD in on Saturday & I have to say they were well worth the wait!!! They always are though :) I have to say I am one lucky mommy to have such talented photographer friends who are willing to put up with us, this photo shoot was among the toughest (right along with the last one.)
They do start to listen at some point right???
And stop running all over the place???
Well you'd never know how difficult they were by the photos (except for maybe the group shot) the photos are once again AMAZING!!!

***WARNING*** there are A LOT of photos!!! Some are repeats with different edits, I already had to narrow down what I liked from an even larger selection & just couldn't do it again. I LOVE THEM ALL & have no idea how I am going to decide what to have printed?!? Maybe I'll take votes?


Garren, Kellan & Caden



Garren

Kellan

Caden

Again a BIG Thank You to my friend Kareen Rashelle. Please check out her website & facebook page & if you live in Central FL, you should most definitely use her as your photographer!!!

So help me decide what to have printed, which ones are your favorite?