Niran's videos

Niran's dance party. He loves dancing with his glow sticks.

The other night Niran was reading an Army book I had sitting in our room. He was laying on his belly, kicking his legs and next thing I know he's running towards me holding the book open. He came up and showed me a picture and said "this is a sholger (soldier)!!!" I said it was and then he went on to tell me what soldiers do. I asked him if he would record it to send to Daddy. He was more than happy to until he had to actually perform. To make this video I had to do a bit of coaxing, but he still answers everything he did before. I apologize for it being sideways. Dusty told me how I could fix it, but the program doesn't support it, so I'm stuck with a sideways video for now. I'll see if I can convince him to do another video. Maybe I can get his pirate and cowboy then as well.

Calvin Videos

Calvin Lee riding his bike backwards and forwards

He loves brushing his teeth, he has great form =)

Myrtle Beach, SC 3/9/2012-3/11/2012

We got a last minute acceptance to a spouses retreat in Myrtle Beach, SC this last weekend. It's the same group that puts on the marriage retreats that we got to go on in January. This retreat actually expanded on the marriage retreat but for the spouses solely. It was very nice. Too cold to swim in the water, but we did go down to the beach and the boys got to put their tootsies in the water. The boys got to play in child care and of course they loved it. There was even child care for "me time." I was able to go out to dinner with a friend and have a full adult conversation. No children screaming while I was on the phone or running around the house, I was childless! Wonderful! They are supposed to be doing these more often and hopefully we will be able to attend another event. Even if the next one I decided to go lay in the hotel room and do nothing during "me time," it will be worth it!

Moon rising over the ocean the first night

A peek our zoomed ocean view

Bubby helping Baby walk on the sand

He didn't like taking his shoes off

No wait, he loves it!

He was mad I made him smile for the camera

He loves his big brother!

Run!

View from our "me time" dinner with Chelsea. No children, it was great!

He fell asleep watching tv. Kind of creepy, his daddy sleeps like that some times.

First Day of Preschool 3/18/2012

Yes, you read that correctly! Our not-so-little boy started preschool today!

His doctor and speech therapist have really encouraged us to put him in. We drug our feet due to the costs, but finally gave in once we had the money. We were told the soonest he could get in would be next school year, if space allowed. That's very hit or miss on a military installation since people move around very frequently. I was very hopeful that he could start the school year since Spring and Summer are peak seasons for PCS (permanent change of station) moves. Last Tuesday I received a phone call from Child Youth Services (CYS) saying they had openings. Yay! But not that simple. They only had so many slots available for each class and they were calling more people than they had availability for. It was a first come first serve situation. We had just walked in the door and we're putting groceries away and instead of relaxing and kicking off our shoes and putting our coats away I packed us back in the car and headed down to get the slot we wanted. The whole time I was thinking this was for the next school year and thankful he got in. We got there, they did all that fun computer stuff & then asked if he could start tomorrow. Tomorrow?!?! I had to put it off for an extra day due to speech therapy, but he did get to start right away.

First Day!

I'll give him that the sun was in his eyes, but this is a normal smile for him.

The first day was a little wild and sad for me. I was supposed to do new parent orientation before he started, but it was never said to me. They also didn't even have him on any of the paperwork or in the system. They had to dig up our account to even see he was supposed to start. I thought for a second I would have to break his heart and leave. Thankfully they sorted it all out and I was able to do a little orientation before and after school.

Niran loved...no scratch that, LOVES preschool. When I pick him up he immediately comes up to me and says what he did. Colored, puzzles, played outside, rode a bike, played with a ball, danced, played in a kitchen, read a book, ate a snack, who knows what else he said that I didn't understand. They warned me it was normal for the child to cry after a couple of days. I don't think that will happen with Niran. Three days now he has just disappeared after washing his hands. He throws the paper towel in the trash and sits down to start playing. He won't even say bye, he just says what he's doing and I say good-bye then leave. Tell him he's going to preschool is the only I can even get him out of bed in the morning. He's never been more willing to eat breakfast either! Calvin really wants to play as well, but he has a couple of years still ahead of him.

His first day. This child was not going to be upset I was leaving him.

Dusty and I like to go out to eat to celebrate major events in our lives, so that is just what we did. After his first day I took him to Red Robin for a celebration lunch. He loves Red Robin, balloons & tv just make his day. He hasn't been willing to take a nap, he just nicely asks to watch tv or a movie. Which I am fine with as long as he is quiet while Calvin is napping.

He got a milkshake, chicken on a stick and french fries. A little taste of Heaven for him.

This one slept most of the time and woke up in time to finish Bubby's lunch.

He had homework his first day. Make a community helper (ie. police officer, fighter fighter, etc). He insisted on a cowboy, Woody from Toy Story to be exact. He wasn't interested in finishing either, but that is a lot of work for your first night when the rest of the class got the full week.

Second Day. I didn't get many pictures the first day since it was a little wild. Got to love his smiles!

Scooters

And the journey begins...

On days we go check mail, I do not go all the time since we rarely get mail, Niran likes to ride his scooter. He always says the mailbox is missing and we have to go find it. When he does spot it he gets very excited. Getting there is always very quick. I think the downhill part helps. The return is much longer. Once we get close to the mailbox he begins this odd habit of stopping and telling me something. Some times just a phrase or two others a story. Today the first stop included planes. Short and sweet. Another one included following the road, crashing, going upside down, right side up, up side down, going in someone's house, playing with a dog and then returning to where we were and walking the rest of the way. Yes, that one was pretty detailed with hand gestures and sound effects. The last few times we have gone it's been windy so I couldn't record anything. Today, it was gorgeous outside, but it wasn't until we started on our journey that I realized I had no space on my memory card to record. I only have enough space for 3 photos. I'll have to watch the weather for another calm day.

Talking about a plane. There was not one in sight and we couldn't hear them on the ramp today either.

Speech Therapy

Niran has officially started speech therapy! The first session lasted an hour and a half. We had to stop since he was losing interest. I was able to go in with him and watch the initial test. I actually did have to help the speech therapist acknowledge when he did say the word correctly (in his language) or help guide him in a way for him to answer. I was nervous about going because Niran is very quiet around strangers. We have friends that he has been around regularly since we got here in June and he just starting to talk to them, still nowhere near as much as he would talk to Dusty and me. Before we went in I had a talk with him in the car. I explained what we were doing, that this was needed for him to talk to people and for them to understand him better. This is also needed if he wants to start playing sports and learning his ABCs and counting for preschool. Of course that really excited him. When Ms. Rachel came to take us back to the room he was very excited to go with her. He talked to her right from the start and he did really well answering her questions and participating in her games. He is right on track for comprhension, sounds, itendification, and some other things. The only thing he is behind in is articulation. She said it has to do with him not closing his mouth properly. That actually makes me laugh because he was pain to feed when he was younger. He would never open his mouth!

I could not go into his second session, but I was able to hear him in there. We have little exercises we get to do at home and I have to remind him to close him mouth when he talks. At first he would get very mad at me for reminding me, but after a couple of days he has opened up and he will sit with me and work until he gets very giggling. I can really hear the difference to in his speech. Of course before he started he was already improving by leaps and bounds, but this will catch his articulation up to the rest of his speech. I can't wait to be able to enroll him in activities, but for now we need to wait since he is only understood by Dusty and me.

Mommy Pet Peeve

I HATE when the boys hand me their sippy cup so they don't have to deal with it, empty or with something still in it. They will hand it to me and ask for more, but they seem to think that if they just don't want to hold it or go put on the table, it's my job to deal with it. We have always had a rule you put your cup on the table, Calvin's goes on the bench so he can reach it. They were really good about putting it there and all of a sudden they started handing it to me without a word. From the first time they have done that I tell them put it on the table if they want to finish it later or on the kitchen counter if they are done. And yet months later they still just hand it to me as if it's my job. When are they going back to the old ways? They have two legs, they can do it themselves. I do everything else around here, can't I have a break with something?

Vent over...