Baby #3

I took the test on July 30th and it was positive! A big surprise to me, even after all the signs I'd been having!

At our family reunion I had Tyler wear this shirt. I originally bought it for Dawson to announce my pregnancy with Tyler. I was happy the shirt fit Tyler so I could use it again.

Close-up of the shirt. He'd worn it all day, so had his dinner all over it by the time I got to take the pic.

I've been feeling great so far! No nausea or anything. Just a bit less energy. Before I tested I noticed I was getting a bit bloated, but didn't think much of it. A couple days before I was going to have a pop tart but when I bit into it, it suddenly tasted sickeningly sweet and I felt nauseous at the thought of even smelling it anymore! That's when I really started to wonder, since I never have food aversions unless I'm pregnant! I hadn't even missed my period yet, so I had no reason to guess before that. We're excited and a bit nervous to be outnumbered!

Speech Therapy Evaluations

It's been a busy week! Tuesday I was able to have a day of relaxation, we had my sister come over to swim with us. It was very fun, she brought a friend and the boys enjoyed all the attention. Dawson liked being held by Sarah while chased by Tony. It was nice to have an arm free too. I usually only had 1 to watch instead of both, so it was more relaxing for me. This will most likely be the last summer that I can take the kids into the pool by myself, so I'm trying to take advantage of it while I can! They are getting increasingly more independent, wanting out of their baby/toddler floaties and wanting to be held or play on the stairs. They both have toddler life vests on, but it still makes me nervous! I hope to go swimming more before Fall and hopefully Sarah will be able to come over again to swim with us. :)

Dawson had his Speech evaluation on Wednesday and Tyler's today. They are both considered severely delayed in speech and communication and will be getting Speech Therapy twice a week! I was expecting once a week. Thankfully I'm able to schedule both of them at the same time so we'll only have to go in twice a week instead of 4 times for both kids! I'm relieved about that. There are about 5 or 6 therapists they'll be working with and she said they all pretty much have the same approach, so that's good. I really liked the way she talked to Dawson and got him to listen. She didn't let him get away with anything, which he caught onto quickly. She told me right away yesterday that there would be tantrums and meltdowns but eventually he would really start improving.

Dawson was eager to come in today, even though it wasn't about him, but she brought him toys anyway so he didn't really know the difference! I could tell she was really observing Dawson as well as Tyler while she was asking me questions about Tyler. It's great seeing that she seems to really care and wanted to get a jump on things with Dawson.

Tyler on the other hand wanted nothing to do with that place. She spoke to him in the waiting room and panic set in. He screamed, wiggled and kicked all the way back to the room. He was happy to be let down with toys though. I hope he responds well, I think Dawson will do well but I'm not sure about Tyler. He's very independent with his play lately, doesn't even want me playing with his toys! If things don't go his way we see the typical pre-2 tantrum. We've been seeing more of those lately. Dawson took his blue train away from him today and it was indeed the end of the world! He did a dramatic flop to the floor, looked up to make sure one of us was looking and then layed face-down, arms out. It's just one of those things, you can either get frustrated or just roll your eyes and laugh to yourself! I personally find it amusing, I'm just waiting it out, hoping it'll stop soon.

Another thing that could stop any day now and I'd be more than happy is this heat! It's been so humid outside, I just don't feel like going anywhere! Which isn't an option since we go somewhere 4-6 days per week! This weekend we have a date night Friday, family reunion on Saturday and a get together with some friends in the cities on Sunday, so I sure hope the weather cooperates and is somewhat decent!

They took a rare nap the other day, it was so nice to have some quiet and they looked so cute sleeping by each other. I had brought them in from the car and put them both there. I figured at least one of them would get up right away but they slept for a good 30 minutes. 

Dawson and Tyler's Development

The school gave me the HELP (Hawaii Early Learning Profile) charts that they use for keeping track of development. I got them for both the boys, it's nice to be able to look and see what they need to be working on. Their original evaluations from the school were 8 months ago so I thought I'd compare how they're doing now.

Dawson was at an 8-12 month level for Language, now he's at around 18-20 months.
His Cognitive was at 18-24 months, now he's at about 23 months. He had been on the lower end of that age group.
His Social Behavior was around 12 months, now it's up to about 22 months.
Self Help was at the low end of 18-24 months before, now he's at about 23 months.
Fine Motor was around 18-24 months, now he's at about 23 months.
Gross Motor was at 24-30 months, he was right on track then. He's at a 30 month level now, so a little behind. He isn't riding a trike yet or balancing on 1 foot, which is what is holding it up.
I'm happy to see him gaining ground in all the areas, especially the speech. :)  He's currently 37 months.

Tyler is currently 17 1/2 months. He wasn't very behind in January but hasn't made much progress since then either. The chemo is known for delaying development. Here's where he's at:
His Gross Motor is around 15 months.
Social Behavior is around 12-14 months.
Fine Motor is around 10-13 months.
Cognitive is around 10-12 months.
Self Help is around 10-12 months
Language is around 4-6 months

Benton County Fair

Thursday was armband day for rides, so I decided to go that day. Since Dan was at work I called my sister to see if she could come with and help with the boys. I knew some things like the carousel I'd need to be on with them. Thankfully she said yes and we got to the fair around 6:30pm. I bought an armband for Dawson and tickets for 1 ride for Tyler, to see if he liked it. Turns out he wanted no part of it! Even sitting by Dawson he cried, so the operator got him off before he started the ride. We did use his ride ticket for the carousel though and he seemed to do ok with that. It was a fast one and I think he was getting a bit nauseous. After that he was very happy just to sit and watch the rides. He was very clingy to me though, but after a while he allowed me to put him back in the stroller. Dawson loved it, went on all the kid rides and had tons of fun. I couldn't catch many smiles in the pics, he was very into going onto the ride and then he got more serious for the ride, like he was driving or something. It was cute. I also brought Dawson in to look at some animals since Tyler isn't allowed near them. He named the animals after I told him what they were. He was excited to see some of them, like the sheep and cow because those are animals on Word World and he recognized the names. He also liked the rabbits, they were really hopping all over the place.

 Tyler finally smiled because I was playing peek-a-boo with him.

Wouldn't have been my first choice, but he wanted to go on the bus. He came running off it at the end, came over to me with a big grin and said "Thank You!". I guess he liked it, crazy boy!

Tyler watching the bus ride. Looks like he thought it was crazy too!

Tyler really enjoyed watching the rides and all the lights.

Mini ferris wheel. He loved it! Giggled on the way down everytime.

Tyler liked walking around. He'd walk a little ways away and then come back giggling at us.

He was very excited to on this. He wasn't big enough last year, but he seemed to like it this year.

Kiddie Coaster! He's in the 4th car.

Ice cream break. Yummy!

One of his favorite rides, the train! Funny thing is, he thought it was very boring last year, but now that he has trains that he plays with, the thought of riding on a train suddenly had new meaning. He rode the train about 3 times. He passed us by saying "choo-choo!" :)  He even likes looking at this pic of him in the train.

They were both good and tired by the time we got home at 11:15pm. Dawson liked having his Auntie tuck him into bed, but got up wanting to play with her a bit later. After she left, of course! I told him she left to go sleep at her house and he seemed ok with that answer. He promptly fell asleep after that!

Days at Home

Seems like there's never a boring moment here, even if we're home for the day! Someone is always doing something, whether it's being cute, troublesome or downright naughty! ;)  Not much new has changed but I got some pics of the normal routine things we do around here.

Dawson often likes to enjoy his breakfast on the couch while watching Word World or some other cartoon he likes. Jellied bread is his new favorite. He's usually very careful with it. Otherwise he usually has cereal. If he wants something else, he'll go sit at the table. It's nice that he knows the difference between what's allowed and what's not. Usually. I did see him try to take a bowl of yogurt in there the other day, which didn't happen, so there's always those exceptional moments.

Tyler enjoys the cartoons also. He really keeps his attention on things for quite a while. It's one of his stronger points. His teacher is very impressed at how long he can be attentive to things.

Tyler's hair! He's finally getting a nice layer of it. It's super soft too. Usually is after it grows back from the chemo they said, so nice to know that it's normal. 

Seems like half of their meal (at least Tyler's) ends up on the floor. It's always fun to sweep up the mess with all the toys laying around! Tyler always makes sure to crumble things up nice and small, though if he's done he'll throw the rest as big pieces. 

Playing peek-a-boo with Tyler. I sat around the corner of the kitchen and he walks around the corner and always has big smiles and giggles for me.

He was surprised to see me come around the corner instead.

He was being pretty silly that night, he decided to peek through his legs.

Busted!! Dawson found Great-Grandma's spice cake that she sent home with us. The best part is the frosting, he was eating small bits at a time from his finger. It had fallen upside down, so most of the frosting was on the lid.

Oh no! Mom noticed, must finish frosting before she takes it away!!!

The shirt I bought at the Relay for Life in Becker. I've gotten many compliments on it around town. Seems that many people agree with the statement and often share their stories too. :)

Today the Speech Therapy at the Plaza called to set up an evaluation. Got Dawson's set up and she almost hung up on me before I was able to keep her on the phone to set up Tyler's too! She didn't realize I had 2 who needed it. So they are set up for next week. I haven't heard back from the OT place, but that's ok. It'll be nice just to get going on the 1 place before adding the 2nd place so I think that'll work out well. I really hope they take to the place well.

Dawson is done with preschool for the summer. He'll start again in the Fall, 3 days per week. His teacher said he really loved school and did well. It's great seeing him so happy about it. On school days he's so much more verbal when he gets home, it's great!

Tyler has decided that making messes is lots of fun. He likes to take clothes from either his or my clothes pile and drag them all over the apartment. So if you come over and find an undergarment in the living room, you know why it's there!! At least this is keeping my pile smaller. I really need to go through my dresser and find room for the rest of my shirts though! I bought summer shirts and they just sit in a pile. One of the many things I need to get to arranging soon! I'm finding it increasingly more difficult to get things done. Tyler has gone from crying when I do things to being "helpful" by removing things from the room or dive-bombing a neat pile I just made. Of course who could get mad at that cute little giggly face?! Not me! :)