Update

So, the last time I posted I said that I would not/should not wait so long in between posts. Oops.

My excuse:
The school year has started once again. I said my tearful goodbye on August 30th. I actually was really needing a break from being mommy 24/7 but I've decided that 2 weeks is enough of a break and I'm ready to come home now! I think I remember feeling the same way last year. I was surplused from Chavez Elementary at the end of last year and over the summer took an 8th grade Special Education position at Cherokee Middle School. The transition has been intense. While I really do enjoy working with 8th graders keeping up with the curriculum/content is quite challenging. I find myself, especially with math (you all know how I feel about math) trying to teach myself the lesson 30 minutes before I need to teach it to the kids. I have such vivid and intense memories from when I was an 8th grader, which makes working with this age group so interesting. The staff has been very welcoming and the principal is absolutely amazing. I really think I'm going to like it here!

Now for the toddler report:
Every day I thank God for blessing me with these two beautiful beings. I am still constantly amazed at the amount of knowledge they are able to obtain in even just one days time. In the rare moments that they allow me to just sit back and watch them play and interact with one another I find myself in awe of the little people they've become in such a short time. Periodically I still find myself wondering how on earth I arrived at this point in my life. When did I become an adult, married with 2 children and a dog?

In August we had Emmet evaluated by the Birth To Three Program for gross motor and speech concerns. At the time of his 15 month check-up we were concerned that he was just pulling up to stand, not yet walking and still not even crawling 100% of the time. He also didn't have any words. The evaluation revealed that he does have a delay in expressive language and gross motor skills, which qualified him for some therapy. The therapy is not intensive by any means and is actually more for us than for Emmet. A physical therapist and speech pathologist come to the house twice a month each to check progress and give us "homework" to work on with Emmet. We are happy to report that since this summer he has made some great progress. He is able to take about 15-20 step independently and has increased his vocabulary. Emmet can now say "da da", "car", "go go","open" (sounds like bopo) and can sign "more" and "drink". He'll say "ba-bye" on occasion and will repeat Grandpa (bumpa) when prompted. He also likes to fill in words/phrases I leave out when singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Both the speech pathologist and physical therapist do not think they will need to see Emmet for much longer. Our next step is to continue working on his vocabulary and trunk strength. He's come such a long way and I'm so proud. I'm anxious for him to master walking as he appears so frustrated at times that he can't. We'll just keep pluggin' away at it! Emmet's new favorite thing to do, beside practicing walking is to sit and play on top of the coffee table. Overall though he continues to be pretty mellow, laid back and sensitive.

Ada is a regular "motor mouth". She is non-stop jibber jabber, singing, whining etc. She loves singing the ABC's, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and You Are My Sunshine. When Emmet leaves the room or her sight she calls, "Emmey? Emmey, where are you?". When she finds him she says, "Oh, there you are. Hi baby!" This of course is what I say nearly every day but it totally cracks me up that she's picked it up. She's expanded it to asking where daddy is too. She enjoys doing everything and anything that Roger or I do. She likes putting a purse over her shoulder and saying "ba-bye". The other day I caught her trying to clip daddy's key chain to her pants, just like daddy does. She continues to be a second mother to Emmet and likes to make sure he eats his snack and drinks his milk. She lectures him from time to time and on crabby days she BITES. Yes, my little sweetheart is a vampire! Ada is overall very energetic and stubborn. She laughs, sings and babbles loudly...so, you can only imagine what her whining and crying sound like!

Daycare adventures:
It has come time for Roger to take on more clients for his business but this also means that he needs to work more hours. So, Ada and Emmet now go to daycare two days a week on Wednesdays and Thursdays. They've only gone for two weeks now. Ada absolutely loves it. When I arrive to pick them up and tell her it's time to go she says "no, no" and runs away and screams when I try to put her in her car seat. Emmet on the other hand is really struggling. The first two days were okay but the second week was a whole other story. He apparently cries almost all morning. She feels like the afternoons are getting better but the morning is still rough. I feel so HORRIBLE for Emmet and for Tia Yova (provider). Her husband comes home around 2:30 and Emmet has taken a liking to him. Emmet goes right to him when he comes home, it's rather sweet, really. So, we'll see how this week goes. Last week we sent his walker with him hoping that would encourage him to move around and play a little more. It seemed to help. This week I'll send the walker, his favorite hat of daddy's, along with his favorite cd and an Elmo and Baby Einstein dvd. I'm anxious already thinking about what tomorrow will be like for him.

Okay, I really need to get in bed. Once again, I will try to get on her more often so I don't spend 2 hours updating in one night!