Sisters

Proof that they don't always fight:

Kibby is learning to tolerate her sister, and even play with her. It's what I've been hoping for, that they would become best friends. It's heading that way... Of course they still fight and squabble over things on a daily (even hourly) basis, but I am starting to see more love and caring between them, too.

If Kibby gets an owie, Ruby wants to kiss it all better. If Kibby accidentally hurts Ruby, she is now saying, "sorry, Ruby." without prompting. Heartwarming.

This may not seem like much, but even a few months ago, Kibby mostly wanted nothing to do with Ruby. She would ignore her or fight with her, but very rarely show her any love, interest, or compassion. To see this starting to change does my heart good! :) There is hope!

Sisterly love. :)

A Bunch of This and That

Where to start?

I've decided to do a casserole-style post today since I have lots to share and don't feel like doing 5 separate posts. So I'm just going to combine everything here and hope it doesn't leave a bad taste in anyone's mouth. :)

Speaking of mouths... Ethan lost another tooth a little over a week ago. It didn't happen without tears, drama, and a couple phone calls to Nana, though. Here he is after all the above-mentioned was over:

The kids spent the afternoon playing outside:

The girls made Ethan's soccer goal into a tent and had fun hiding inside and pulling up grass.

Seth pitched some balls for Ethan to hit. (Pardon the poor photo quality, no time to Photoshop!)

Kibby loves to be tickled while swinging, evidently.

Little Ruby!

Ruby loves her dollies. In fact, she loves all things BABY lately.

However, MY baby is growing up. Soon to be two years old. How did that happen?! Here she is, sporting all of her hair in pigtails (ponytails?) for the first time. (Yes, I know they are crooked! She kept looking around the room while I was putting them in.)

More proof that she loves her dollies. Everyday she pats my tummy and says "Baby!" She also loves to see pictures of babies on the computer, or TV, or on billboards, or in real life... she has been nearly obsessed with babies lately. I'm hoping her affection continues and she'll be nice to her baby brother. Who is due to make his arrival in approximately FIVE WEEKS! He will be one of her birthday presents, most likely, as my due date is the day after Ruby's birthday.

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Switching gears...

Kibby had her Speech / Language evaluation yesterday. I was amazed at how uninhibited she was through it all. At first she didn't want to go in the room, and sat down on the floor, crying "No I don't want to!" Of course this may have been influenced by her hearing the doctor talk about how the hall was quiet at the moment, but they had had a bunch of kids in for shots earlier and it was a big old cry-fest... JUST what Kibby wanted to hear. I had to try to convince her that she wasn't there to get shots, only to play and talk with the doctor...

Once Kibby settled in to play with some toys at the table, things went better. Sort of. She surprised me with how assertive she was being. In fact, it was a little embarrassing at times! She has a hard time focusing on what she is being asked, so the doctor was trying to get her to answer some questions and then reward her with a toy to play with. Well, that has never worked well for Kibby. She just fixates on the toy and cries for it, saying "I want it! I want the ____!" She was being so demanding and trying to grab the toys... I couldn't believe it. She was acting exactly like she does at home. Which isn't necessarily bad... just embarrassing, like I said. The only good thing about it is that the doctor got to see her true colors! The real Kibby.

The doctor did manage to get the evaluation done, but I wonder if it took longer than most. I'll never know. I did get some more insight on her language issues, though. I don't have the report yet (they'll mail it to me) so this will be vague until I have the report to look at, but she said Kibby does have a definite delay. She is partly at a 2-year-old level, and partly at a 3-year-old level for her communication. I can't remember which specific part was which, but I'll clarify in a future post. Sorry.

We talked about autism a little bit, and how it could be hard to diagnose, since it may be hard to tell what is just a result of her speech delay and what could be autism. When I mentioned her lack of imaginative play and social interaction, she said that is what she meant... is it autism or is it just because she doesn't have the communication skills to play at her peers' level yet? Which is something I've wondered, but it was good to hear a professional voice it as well. She mentioned that the Early Childhood Special Education (people) may end up diagnosing her as on the spectrum, and that wouldn't hurt because it would get her help, however, it would also label her. What she said seemed a little bit contradictory to what the social worker told us a couple of weeks ago... The social worker said the Early Childhood program had staff that would do an in-depth evaluation (more so than what was attempted at her pre-K screening / check-in in August). However, the Speech / Language therapist said they have a checklist-type diagnostic system, and that she may end up being diagnosed as autistic "more easily" by that system. So I don't know if they were both talking about the same program or not. There seems to be different programs all under the same "Early Childhood" umbrella.

At any rate, the next step is for me to contact the program on the referral paper (one of the Early Childhood programs) and have them evaluate whether she qualifies for the program. The Speech / Language therapist said that I should show them her report when they evaluate her, so hopefully I will have that by the time of the eval. We are also still waiting for an appointment to be set up for Kibby to see the Developmental Pediatrician. Which could take up to a couple of months, I'm told.

So, that's been life lately. Appointments for Kibby. Appointments for me. Preparing for Baby. Trying not to stress over all of life's little trials and just enjoy our blessings.

And looking forward to MOPS starting up again on Thursday! I've missed it over the Summer.

And my stomach has missed the yummy MOPS breakfasts. :P

Speaking of speaking...

Ruby has been working on her talking skills lately, so I thought I'd share some! I don't think I could make a complete list of all the words she says now because there are so many! But here are some:

nose, baby, Bibby (Kibby), Heetan (Ethan), Mommy, Daddy, aw done, eat, yay, wow, uh oh, Bumpa (grandpa), Nana (Grandma OR banana), Bobbie, eows (ears), chitchen (chicken), appo (apple), chees (cheese), go, bye, cheets (cheeks), shoos (shoes), socks, Pooh, peek, no, nigh-nigh (night night), bow (ball), doos (juice), nice, beebo (belly button), to-ees (toes), guh guoh (good girl)...

**Edited to include: Peas (please), tankoo (thank you), muk (milk), book, cookie, too-tee-foe (two three four), cackaw (cracker), bubbosh (bubbles), potty, Ewmo (Elmo).

She is also trying to say phrases like "Where are you?" which usually sounds like "ay-aw-you?" all blended together like one word. When she wants to know where someone is, she asks, "ay (name of person)?" Everyday she says something new, and to be honest, I think I forgot how fast they pick things up because Kibby didn't talk until she was nearly 2! (Ethan, on the otherhand, has always been a chatterbox!) :)

Speaking of Kibby, I've been trying to call to schedule her Early Childhood Evaluation / Screening, and whenever I do, nobody answers, and there is no voicemail, so I let the phone ring about 20 times and then hang up. Frustrating! I'm going to do a little research online today and see what I can find out. And I'll keep calling! Eventually somebody has to answer, right? Once I get her evaluated I'll post how it went and what (if anything) we find out about her language development!

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Here is my Ruby, the big talker herself, eating raisins and acting silly!

So photogenic! :)

Silly

My silly girl...

loves to dress herself these days...

...it doesn't matter to her if the clothes are hers...

...or someone else's...

...and has yet to learn her top from her bottom!

At Least Two Words Besides Momma and Dadda...

Today Ruby had her 15-month check-up and shots. I'm a little late getting her in for this due to all of the sickness and crud going around our house. She will be 16 months in less than a week. But apparently that is just fine.

And so is she! She weighed 18.3 lbs, so she is still in the "less than 3 percentile". The doctor wants to see her back at 18 months, but seems to think she is healthy, but may be be smaller due to genes from Seth. (Sorry, Hon!) :)

The doctor then asked all the typical questions, like what is she drinking, how is her eating and sleeping, etc. All normal. Then she asked about her words. I told her that she says, "Hi, Bye, No, Momma, Dadda, Baby, All done, Ahwo (hello, phone use only!) Uh-oh, Tank-ooh, and perhaps a few more that I am forgetting. She said that was great, that at 15 months they like to see children speaking at least 2 - 3 words besides Momma and Dadda.

So of course I thought of Kibby, who had virtually no speech until about 21 months. I think she is still behind, and am still thinking of getting her evaluated by the school district. More on that later. But I just want to say that I don't think it is so much her speech as her language. I used to confuse the two, but I think she is fairly average (for her age) with her ability to say word sounds correctly, although she may need some assistance there, too. The main issue I see is in her use (or often non-use or mis-use) of language. I've used the example of when I ask her a question. Here is a typical conversation in our house:

Me: "Kibby, did you fall down?


Kibby: I fall down!


Me: Do you get an owie?


Kibby: I get an owie!


Me: Where is your owie?


Kibby: Where is my owie!


Me: I know you have an owie. Show Mommy where it is, please.


Kibby: Show Mommy where it is.


Me: Kibby, where is your owie?


Kibby: Where is my owie!


Me: Does your knee hurt?


Kibby: My knee hurts!


Me: Does your head hurt?


Kibby: My head hurts!


Me: Does your dinosaur hurt? (just to see if she is thinking about what she is saying or not!)


Kibby: My dinosoar hurt!


Me: (going for yet another approach, pointing to her knee) Does it hurt here?


Kibby: It hurts here!


And on it will go, no matter where I point to. So unless she has an obvious owie, I have NO idea! And she will often ask for an ice pack if she gets an owie, however I have noticed that she will always hold it on the back of her head, even if that is not where the owie is. I think it's her security blanket.

I wish she'd just ask for a hug or kiss! That one I can do! (and usually do anyway! I just wish that "fixed it" for her!)

To be clear, this is just one example - its not that she gets hurt all the time!! However, I admit the slightest bump seems to call for an ice pack in her mind...

More news and updates are coming... and hopefully some more pictures. :)

If I Can Just Stop Coughing Long Enough to Say...

Ah, sickness. When it hits, it likes to stick around. None of this one-day-visit type thing. In my last post (which should have been a funny "Not Me! Monday" post, but was sorely lacking on the humor) I talked about how we're all sick around here. How we've been sick for the past week.

Well, we're all still sick. No more tummy viruses, thank you, God! Just some yucky colds with red noses, hacking coughs and blocked sinuses that steal our sleep at night and make us walking zombies during the day. I'm sure you all can relate. After all, they don't call it the "Common Cold" for nothing, right?

So I haven't been blogging much yet this month. Partly because of the sickness and partly because I've been spending some time getting some much-needed reorganization done in my kitchen. I'd like to paint it next month when my sister and her family come to visit. (My sis has offered to help! The men can handle watching our 4 kids while we spend a day painting, right???) Maybe I'll post some pics - you know, before / during / after shots.

So, last Friday I cleaned off the area above my cupboards (wow was it dusty up there) and washed and reorganized all my cupboards. I have a box of stuff ready to go to Salvation Army. Which is still sitting in my garage. Even though my neighbor works there at the dock where they accept the donations and could probably just take it along with him to work some day if I asked him, But have I? Nope. And Seth hasn't taken it in, either. So it sits.

But at least it's out of my kitchen!

Yesterday I hung new curtains in there, and I think after I get the room painted, it might actually look nice. My house needs some color. Except my bathroom, which is two-tone purple. I've been wanting to re-do that room since we moved in. (It's next on my list!)

Ok, enough about boring house projects. If you're still with me, wake up, stop snoring... I'm gonna talk about my kids now. :)

I probably don't write enough about them on here. So I'm going to try to be better about recording their milestones and such. After all, that is one of this blog's main purposes! But oh, how I get distracted! (My sister calls it ADOS - "Attention Deficit - Oooooh Shiny!" We both seem to have it!) So, without further ado, here is the latest on:

Ethan: Six-and-a-half (and don't you dare forget the half, my goodness). Loves school. Loves stories. Loves movies. Starting to love Pokemon (not so sure I like that a whole lot.) He is not so fond of onions, peppers, mushrooms... well, it's easier to just write what he does like - Mac N Cheese. Peanut butter and jelly. Fish sticks. That about sums it up. Oh and corn dogs, but I haven't bought them in a while. It's so hard to get him to eat anything else. He will sit at the table for hours if we don't keep encouraging him to eat his food. He always whines about something and asks why he has to eat it, and why can't I make him a PB&J sandwich... Yes, it gets frustrating. Somedays we set a timer for 20 min (after he's been sitting there for 10 - 15 min or longer, not eating) and say when time's up, you're done, and the kitchen is closed. Is that mean? Seriously, anyone got any ideas for us??? I don't like the idea of him eating a separate meal from us all the time, so we've been making him eat what we eat. And it's nothing weird, I assure you! :)

Kaliyan ("Kibby"): Three years old. Is just starting to learn that her name is Kaliyan, but we still mainly call her Kibby. (For those of you who don't know, Ethan gave her the nickname Kibby when she was only 2 weeks old, and it stuck. Her given name, Kaliyan, is Cambodian, and is supposed to mean "sweet, morally good, charming" and is pronounced more like "kaul-ee-yahn" with the "K" sound sort of a cross between a K and hard G sound. See why we call her Kibby? Seth is the only one who gets the pronounciation perfect, but that's just because he's Cambodian!)
Ok, getting back on track (remember the ADOS, people, give me a break here...)
Somedays her speech / language still concerns me. She doesn't answer questions well still. She will either respond with yes or no (if a yes / no question) or just repeat the question back to me. It gets frustrating. For more on her speech / language issues (my concerns) see here.
Some new or current phrases she uses:
~~ "Kin Wooby hug Wooby, Mommy?" Usually when she is being "tormented" by her little sister. She means "Can you hold Ruby, Mommy, (so she will leave me alone?")
~~ "Hup abow, _________?" Fill in the blank with any Disney princess movie. Means "How about, ________?" She will say this repeatedly, trying to get me to switch movies for her halfway through one. Or if I refuse to put one in for her to watch. (So terrible to just color, or play with toys / Mommy / sister...)
~~ "Doh wowwy, Wooby!" Meaning, 'Don't worry, Ruby." She says this when Ruby cries.
~~ "Oooooh, I nee ice pack!" When she gets an owie. Or when Ruby gets a bump, she says, "Ooooh, Wooby nee ice pack, Mommy!"
~~ "NOOOOOO!!! Dohn' you unerSTAN?!" ("NO! Don't you underSTAND?!") Um, yeah, we hear this one a LOT. Poor little girl! :( Although I have to say she has been using this more lately with the meaning of, "I didn't get my own way, and I really should have, don't you know that?"
~~ "I be a pwincess!" She says this while parading around in whatever, a pink blanket, my nightgown, or one day, it was my bra around her middle. Nice. So glad we didn't have company then...
Some other Kibby stuff... She loves pink. Anything pink. She is a picky eater, but loves fruit. And always wants to eat Fruity Pebbles cereal. Except she calls them "Pimples". I'll have to remind her when she is a teenager that she always said, "I wan PIMPLES!" as a 3-year-old!
She also refuses to share her favorite things with anyone. She screams when Ruby gets near her My Little Ponies, Care Bears, or anything else she happens to hold dear at the moment.
What else? Oh, potty training. Ugh. Not going well. She hasn't gotten it that she needs to let me know before she wets... and whenever she does tell me I think it's just to get a piece of candy. Which reminds me. Another favorite phrase of hers is, "Go potty get candy!"

Ruby: 15 months. She's learning so many things! Words she now uses: Momma, Dadda, No, Hi, Bye, All Done, Go, Baby, Awo ("hello" - while holding play phone to her ear). I can't think of any more right now, so that may be it. But what a difference from Kibby, who started to say Dadda and Momma a little (very very little) around 1 year and then didn't start talking again until she was 21 months!
Ruby also is learning to feed herself. Such a messy time! She loves to play with Kibby's tea set, and like to play in the bath and to stack cups. She has learned how to unzip a zipper (thanks, Dad...) This has made it more challenging to keep jammies on her! :)
She runs, loves to be tickled and chased, she climbs up on things, and loves to tug on (and chew on) the speaker wires in our living room. Much to our unliking...

So that's the latest scoop. I'll try to be more prompt about updates in the future, to avoid another overly-long post.

Anyone still reading? You deserve a medal! I'm done! :)

Birthday Party!

Yesterday we celebrated Ruby's birthday with her first birthday party. Nana and Bumpa, Auntie Bobbie and cousin Isaiah came from Wisconsin, and Auntie Christina and Uncle Prany and cousins Jordan and Autumn were here as well. We ate yummy Bilotti's Pizza, and I made MckMama's Corn and Bean Salad, and of course spinach artichoke dip! I think Ruby liked the cake the best, though!

She also had fun opening some presents:

Happy Birthday, Ruby sweetie!

Ruby's First Birthday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBY!!
My little sweetie! A year ago she came into our lives, this tiny little thing. Today, she is still a tiny little thing, but full of hugs and giggles. She is learning to talk and blow kisses. She loves to give hugs, to climb on the furniture, to carry around her Care Bears (when her sister lets her).
Hard to believe it's been a whole year since this

adorable little girl was born! :)


That was the pre-cake picture.



Here is the DURING cake picture.


and here is the "about finished with cake" picture:




Hard to tell it was a cake, huh? :)


But it was a nice little cake. See?


We actually remembered to charge the camcorder, so we did get video of her opening her present (a doll) and more video of her eating her cake. Oh, and of Ethan blowing out the candle for her. :) He never even gave her a chance! Oh well. She didn't mind.
In all, it was a nice, peaceful birthday.
The party is next weekend. It probably won't be quite as peaceful, but it will be fun. And there will be more cake!
Susan