23 Months

*as always these are for me (and the girls) to remember so don't feel pressured to read*

Foods They Like:   They are getting better with meat but it's still not their favorite.  They are improving with appetite and foods they try but usually it means no snacks and making sure they are hungry for dinner : p

Foods They Don't:  They are pretty picky compared to their friends.  They are doing better but still need improvement.  We asked the pediatrician about vitamins and Pediasure and she encouraged us to feel free to supplement.  We have started them on a daily gummy vitamin and occasional Carnation Instant Breakfast (ped said it's basically the same as Pediasure but cheaper).

Favorite Things:   They are starting to like coloring more.  They like books, especially Kendall.  They love our dog and petting him and telling him what to do.  They point at him and say things like they are bossing him around (definitely realizing the behaviors we're modeling and trying to keep it in line).

Favorite toy:  Puzzles.  Kendall loves an animal puzzle Jeff's mom gave us and she is really good at it too. Seren still loves shoes.  They are starting to like their baby dolls now (6 months+ since I bought them haha).  And of course whatever toy the other one has.

Dislikes:  Being told what to do or not to do.  Time outs.

Their Accomplishments:  Walking, running and climbing.  Sleeping without their cribs (still working on toddler beds...ordered and arrived but one was missing a piece so both are going without).  I now sometimes dare to take them places without  a stroller (post office and library) and they do pretty well.  Seren is excited about potty training and sitting on the toilet but we haven't actually started trying yet.  Kendall gets excited about the potty but doesn't want to sit on it (I'm thinking we'll go with a floor model for her).

Verbal:  They understand a lot of words but still don't verbalize as much.  We have Early Intervention in the home for Kendall and we think she is starting to catch up.  She hums/sings a little and says a couple new words (so it seems more so that Seren is rubbing off on her as we've only had one "therapy" visit).  Seren is doing better with speech and says/repeats new words fairly often.  I can't imagine we'll be working with Early Intervention too long but we'll see.

New words:   Seren is starting to imitate so many things that we say.  Her newest phrases are "all done" (with eating and anytime she's fed up with being somewhere such as the store haha) and "wash hands" as she has found an interest in doing this for herself.  Kendall is also doing better.  She says "more", "hello", "hi", "uh uh", "done" and is picking up on animal sounds.  Both girls like to sign "more", especially when we're eating.

Teeth:  Seren has 2 or 3 canines in.  Kendall is getting a bottom and a top canine in.

Sleep:  Sleeping great.  We took the cribs down and decided to get toddler beds to have more room in their bedroom.  So their mattresses are on the floor while we wait for these to arrive.  They typically walk themselves to bed and sometimes naps.  Kendall will get tired and I'll find her cuddled on her mattress with a blanket.  Napping seems to be coming to an end though : (  I'm trying to hold off until after the holidays but we'll see.

Looking forward to:  Looking forward to more words and verbal skills.  Excited for my parents to visit during the holidays and also for Kendall and Seren's 2nd birthday.  Can't believe that is only a month away...WOW!!

Favorite Memories:  I love to listen to them play and giggle in their room before nap time.  They've also become more and more understanding of feelings (or seem to).  If Seren is crying Kendall will bring Seren her blanket or teddy bear (because this is what Kendall loves for comfort).  When Kendall gets hurt playing Seren will usually give her the toy that caused the problem or try to hug and kiss her.  Also today (28th) I was strolling them through the store and they were goofing off leaning on each other and then Seren started hugging and kissing Kendall for no apparent reason.  I love it!  It is so fun to watch them grow up together.


In pinafores that my sister bought for them at a Japanese fair

Hooping it up after Thanksgiving dinner

They loved it :)

Decking the halls for Christmas

The Cast Is Off....

YEAH!!  Seren had her cast removed yesterday.  Praises.  She is such a character.  She was happy to go to the doctor until we went into the room they removed the last / bent-knee one.  She got anxious.  The tech buzzed it off and some crying ensued, although it was much faster this time.  We waited and took x-rays...she hated this the worst of all.  But everything has healed up nicely and she has a clean bill of health.  We go back in 6 weeks just to make sure she is walking fine and no concerns with it but hey that's next year.  Holidays here we come and cast free!

Seren still walks with a straight leg so far and was nervous to walk on our laminate kitchen floor (she slipped a number of times with the cast and no cast-shoe on).  But it was adorable to watch her adjust to and re-learn the awesomeness that her leg can do.  I see lots of walking, running and jumping in her future.  Let's hope this time I have quicker reflexes and she has a little more sense.  *fingers crossed*

Milestones Upon Milestones...

Okay so we're not speeding along in the verbal department of milestones.  But can I just say...ahhhhhhh!  My little babies are growing up so quickly lately.  It makes me sad then excited and of course nervous.

Kendall has taken to attempting to take her shirts off lately.  We sent them to bed in bigger pajamas last week (to fit over Seren's cast) and both times Kendall wiggled her way out of them down to her ankles by morning.  Jeff even found her butt naked one night while I was out.  She managed to take pajamas off and then her diaper but in the process get her leg stuck in the crib.  She whimpered for help and when he came in to find her butt naked, she started laughing about it and thought it was hilarious.  She also is such a helper these days.  I change Seren's diaper and Kendall is getting me the wipes and diaper cream.  I tell her it's nap time and to get her blanket...she grabs Seren's for her too.  We get ready to go somewhere...she goes to the closet to get her jacket and Seren's too.  Every morning she finds Seren's cast velcro shoe and brings it to me or Seren to put on.  Smart cookie I tell you.

Then, Seren is on top of taking shoes and socks off and putting them back on.  She only has one foot to practice with right now but she's gotten very good at it and usually gets the right shoe on this foot.  Miss D with E.I. was pretty impressed with this for her age.  Seren has also taken an interest in the potty.  She has always enjoyed sitting on it before bath time but lately she will urge me to take her to the bathroom on her own.  Two days in a row she made grunting poop faces and then tried to quickly make me take her to the bathroom (I have avoided dealing with the potty while the cast is on).  I've let her sit on the toilet a few times but not with much success.  She gets upset when I take her off though.  I've told her when the cast comes off then we can give potty training a shot.  Kendall is not very interested in the potty still and gets upset now if I try to sit her on it (might have to go with a small floor one but we're waiting it out to see).

But the biggest moment of realization that they are growing up came yesterday at nap time.  I put them down, walked into the other room and few minutes later heard a thud followed by crying.  I thought maybe Seren hit her head on the crib from being off balance with her cast.  Nope.  The little stinker managed to climb over the edge of the crib and topple on out, cast and all.  She was okay beyond some tears and bruised pride.  But it's definitely time to transition the cribs to beds now to avoid it happening again.  Not really looking forward to this.  I have a hard enough time keeping them in their cribs and sleeping much less when they have free rein of getting out.  Plus we use a space heater in their room at night so I'm worried about this and how to make it all work together still.  Any tips?

Time is just getting away with us.  Taking them away from their adorable little baby ways and moving them firmly into toddlerhood.  No turning back.  I love it but my heart aches for their smallness that is shrinking away.

Early Intervention Begins...

We had our first meeting with Early Intervention today.  First actual therapy type meeting.  It went really well and I am much more encouraged.  Miss D (as we'll call her) was at our family planning meeting earlier this week and visited us again today.  She will be making visits once a month.  She is very easy going and the girls loved her.  She brought a toy piggy bank to play with today and both girls immediately sat close to play with it and her.  She talked to me about where Kendall is currently at and what she can understand and say ("mama", "dada", "hot", "hi", "uh oh", "that", "dog") and what we do with both girls currently to learn language.  She talked to me about teaching Kendall a couple of baby signs to help ease frustration ('more' and 'all done') and pairing the word with the sign.  She also talked about basically dumbing down how we talk to the girls and making it very simple words and simple phrases (2 or 3 word sentences) and not asking too many questions.

Listening to how she talked with them made me realize more so that I probably do talk above their level a little too much (not like adult to adult but not simple enough either).  I try not to but I think it happens in an effort to talk more.  Everything you read about helping kids verbalize is talk a lot.  But I learned we need to talk more often not necessarily more words.  It will be some retraining for us as well I'm sure.  Miss D worked on 'more' and 'all done' with Kendall.  Seren has recently been picking up on 'all done' with me so she was all over it today and very proud of herself.  Kendall was able to get the 'm' sound of more and was definitely trying to say it.  By the end of the playtime she was able to say 'more' once or twice.  Has she said it to me since?  Not yet but we haven't played again much since they ate lunch and went down for a nap right after the meeting.  Also when Miss D was leaving she said "see ya" to both girls and Kendall definitely tried to say "see ya" back.  Makes me feel like maybe I'm not recognizing her attempts all the time.  Or maybe she just likes talking to others more.  Silly mom is getting boring or something.

But yes all in all I do feel a little better.  Now to just get to work with the new advice and instruction and work on it from there.

Can You Say Discouraged?

I feel pretty discouraged lately.  I know I shouldn't be.  I know it will come.  But the language and verbal skill delays are getting to me.  I know it's getting old for Kendall and Seren too.  They try to tell me what they want and I have no idea what they are getting at, even though I guess and try to make sense of it.  I have them show me and sometimes that still doesn't help. They throw more tantrums lately, especially Kendall.  I know that is typical of their age but I also think such a huge part is this inability to communicate with each other.  And I have no idea what to do beyond what we do and try to do.  We read to them, we talk about what we're doing, we ask questions, we practice sounds, we sing, we try to repeat or make words out of the stuff that does come out of their mouth.  And I swear to you I see little improvement.  Seren is starting to try to repeat words sometimes but Kendall doesn't seem to want to talk.  I try to talk to her and practice words with Kendall and she won't look at me.  And it's not like I'm frustrated or sounding frustrated with her.  She is just so occupied with other things (sometimes just looking at her feet) that she doesn't focus or listen.  I just feel so negative about it all.  I thought teaching your kid(s) to talk was supposed to come easy and it's a huge challenge for me.  I just want things to start clicking and it feels like I'm banging my head against a brick wall.

We have our Early Intervention meeting tomorrow.  A meeting to go over a plan, goals and paperwork.  No actual help as far as I know at this point.  It just seems like even the help we're supposed to be getting with this is taking forever.  Now I know why people get so frustrated with the system.  It runs on an entirely different clock.  I wanted help with this yesterday (okay a month and a half ago) and still feel blocked in.  And it just feels like the longer it takes to get help with Kendall (maybe even a little with Seren) the further behind she is going to fall.  And the further behind things get the more of a failure I feel like.  Like I'm failing her.  Maybe it's just my inner demons telling me that but it's how I feel right now.  I just want it to help and for things to get better.