Talking is Hard

If she tries to say "more" she trips over her tongue and can't get any more words out.

  She's just started stringing two words together (hallelujah!), but if you ask her where she'd like to go on vacation, she may say. . .

Hawaii it is!

the 2013 Christmas Montage

Christmas Card 2013

Goal Accomplished

This Fall Ethan was challenged by the president of the Deacon's Quarem to read the entire Book of Mormon before the new year.  I have never seen Ethan set after a goal with such determination.  He read diligently and accomplished his goal 3 good weeks before the deadline, usually reading 3 chapters each day.  I am so proud of him for powering through this and meeting his goal!  Here is the chart he filled in day by day.  The chart above is Daddy's.  He's trying to finish up too, we'll see if he makes it too!

the nutcracker

Here are some photo's documenting the first time Emilee went to the Ballet, to see the Nutcracker.  She loved it!  We went with Phoebe and Emilee's best buddy Agnes.   Grammy was supposed to join us but was in bed with an upset tummy, so Grampy filled her seat.  It was a very special day!

Our little bear

Well, a day doesn't go by that I don't think that Heidi is the cutest little thing that ever lived and take a cute picture of her!  Here is a little sampling of our little cub's antics over the past few weeks. . .

flying high

 

Jumping on the bed - but look!  A bow in her hair!

 

Bath escapes

 

swim suit modeling

demanding that he hair be put in curlers. . .

playing baseball, ALWAYS with a helmet on

designing a choo choo (too too) train and convincing her siblings to ride/pull it

and bless her soul, sleeping like she does every day.  What a good girl!

All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth. . .

Teeth are dropping like flies around this place!

I think this is the fourth in a few weeks.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Look at me!  Posting ON Thanksgiving day!  Ethan and Aidan and I began the day with the "LMLO turkey trot."  That's Last Minute Lake Oswego Turkey Trot.  It was great fun.  I wasn't in on the dress code (aprons for the ladies, ugly sweaters, oven mits instead of mittens) but we had a great time!  This is a small picture, but you can check out some of the fun head gear that went running. . .

Then we got ready for the feast!  Emilee literally ooooing and awwwing over the table:  "Oh, the dishes are so pretty!"

Here is Emilee's Thanksgiving jump for joy. . .

You may notice she is wearing a mask.  That is because she has a nasty cough and we were trying to contain it.  She is a trooper about the mask and hopefully we didn't pass any germs to our little cuzzies.

 Carolyn is ready for some turkey!

 Gordon has got the carving technique down now.  Yummy!

 Here is where my two sickies ended up after dinner.  They were wiped out and enjoyed a movie on mom's bed.

 There was pie!

 And we finished up the evening with a little "just dance."  Always a hit!

Happy Thanksgiving!  I think I need another turkey trot tomorrow morning to work it off, but it was fun!

an Independant Spirit

Oh that Heidi!  She is such an independent little thing.   When she decides it's time for an activity, she just heads right into it.  Like "water play time!"  Let's see, mom's folding laundry, so Heidi climbs up on the counter and has a great time with water exploration.

Or let's say she's ready for a little snack?  She never asks for food, I have to kind of catch her in the act and then help her get something if she's feeling snacky.  She can also open the fridge which we sometimes have to tie shut if we're trying to let her be hungry for dinner.  Or, maybe she'll just climb the counters and get the peanut butter out, open the drawer beneath her feet for her favorite spoon and then dig in.

Tonight she put herself to bed.  Daddy said, "Do you want mommy or daddy to put you to bed?"  She said, "me!"  She signed for Gordon to wait at the bottom of the stairs, and then went up and closed her door.  She came back out to peek and told Gordon to stay put.  Then, she put herself to bed!  About two minutes later, Gordon went in to peek and when he opened the door, she said, "No!  Me do!"

What a little turkey!  That strong stubborn streak will probably serve her well AND drive us nuts when she is older!  :)

Growing Up

Well, Emilee didn't get too far into kindergarten without getting her first wiggler.  And it didn't take her long to get it out!  Just when it was getting very tender, Aidan leaned in for a close examination and Whoops!  Leaned a little too close.  And that was all it took.  Out popped the tooth!  It's not going to be long and she is going to be a real pumpkin head.  The other bottom tooth and both tops are wiggly already.

 

Busy October

This week was Halloween!!!

There was carving. . .

 Heidi and Aidan worked together.  They did great!

We went to the trunk or treat!  Gordon and I went as "Hansel and Gretel"

We had a moment. . .

This year Aidan dressed up!  This is the first time in several years that he has wanted a costume and wanted to go trick or treating.  It was fun!

 Chandler was a "Jack" O-lantern.  As in a jack in the box carrying a lantern.  He came up with that all on his own!

 Frodo

 Heidi was the fourth baby to don the super outfit.  Super Heidi!

And a little witch.  She cackled all night long.  And sometimes she would say, "Want to hear my spooky laugh?  Bwa ha ha!"  It was pretty funny.  

 Happy Halloween!  We can all take a deep breath now that we've hit November! 

Wacky Day

Last Wednesday Ethan wore his church clothes to school.  I asked him why and he said it was wacky day, and all the deacons had decided to wear their suits.  Well okay then!  Imagine my surprise when he came home with all his clothes on backwards!  He wore them straight to school because his first class was PE and he had to change anyway, but then after PE they all switched around.  Wacky indeed!

Court of Honor

A week or so ago we had a court of honor.  Ethan played the bugle, which was so fun, and then a plethora of awards were handed out.  Ethan received his merit badges in leather work, astronomy, space exploration, horsemanship, environmental science, cooking, and canoeing.  He now has ALL the non-required merit badges he needs for the rank of Eagle.  There are a few more requireds he has to get, but he's well on his way!  It was so fun to watch Gordon act as the scout master and present him with his awards.  We are proud of our scouts!

Speech

Heidi has been our little quiet girl.  She hasn't seen much need yet to use words, and while she is excellent at communicating her needs and wants, her repertoire of words is very limited.  Her sign language is fantastic.  :)  Off the top of my head, we've got: my, mine, no, rI(which she says for yes), hi, bye, baby, night night, mama and mommy, and dada.  When required to say it, she will say "mo" for more, "u" for up, and a few other little things.  She has started doing all the animal sounds which is great because it's one of those natural progression things.  

So, with the talking being as late as it is (children her age would typically be conjugating verbs, adding plurals, and saying 3 word sentences by now) we get a little help.  Twice a month Rachel, pictured below comes to our house from the early intervention program and we work together to talk.  Heidi thinks it's great fun as we're basically just playing games and such.  You can see in this first picture below she is actually signing that she wants more games, stop taking pictures mom!

 The way it usually works is there is a fun game to play, and in order to play Heidi has to say the requested words, or make an attempt.  Heidi, say "more!" Heidi says, "bo"or something along those lines.  We praise her and say, "Here's the cow!  Can you say moo moo?"  She cooperates and gets to put the cow in his spot.  Then she signs she wants to do it again and we start over.  "More, I see that.  Can you say more?"  She tries to sign it again, and again, and then finally will give in and say it.  She's usually exhausted and ready for her nap on speech days. It is really hard work for her.

And, once a week, we go see Pam, pictured below.  Pam is a private Speech Therapist and we seem to make more progress with her, slow going as it is.  Once again, it mostly feels like play to Heidi, just pushing her to speak more and more throughout the sessions.

So that's what we do every week!  Just wanted to record it so when it's a distant memory (I hope!) we can remember all the time we spent getting  this girl to talk.  I really do think that she's just going to up and decide to talk one day and we'll all laugh and say, "see, she was just taking her time!"  But, just to make sure we are covering her bases and getting her ready for the world, we are spending a lot of time on this.  Love this girl!