3 of Ev's Favorite Things

Thomas & Friends

Bubbles

& Bath Time!

New Discovery & More

Emory has a tongue and he's so happy about it. :) 

A few other things: 

Growing - Emory is now wearing size 3 diapers and 6 & 6/9 month clothing.

Feeding - Consuming 6 oz of formula every three hours. 

Sleeping - Happy to share he's been sleeping 5-6 hours during the night. 

Physical - We're noticing a slight change in eye color; perhaps turning green? Emory also loves blowing spit bubbles. :)  

Nothing to post....

...so I'll just share a couple of photos from today:

 

They don't get any sweeter than this folks. :o)
Have a great week!

Another fun night swimming :)

For Amber:  YES, we are having a blast this summer and wish it would stay year 'round. :) 

I CANT HELP IT!

I know, I know. It's not Wednesday so i shouldnt be blogging, right? WELL I JUST CAN'T HELP IT, DANG IT!! :) We went swimming tonight; our boys were too cute so felt the need to share.

Bigger, Stronger, Cuter

Each day our little Emory getts a little bigger (17 pounds yesterday), a little stronger (able to support his weight on his legs) and definitely ALOT cuter (see for yourself). How could that even be possible? :o)

Today was Emory's first time in his exersaucer. He really enjoyed the change. :)

Happily Fatter After

It's official, we've let ourselves go. All along I've justified our weight gain as "Happy weight". Well here we are, 10 years later and we've managed to gain 100 additional pounds between us both. Certainly nothing to be happy about.
We're making some changes to benefit not only ourselves, but for eachother and our beautiful boys.
Stay tuned as we explore options and start living our "Happily EVER After".
OH! If you are local and interested in joining the four of us for evening walks, weekend hikes and/or activities, let us know.

Emory meets Grandma Cross

We made a trip to Oklahoma to visit Emory & Everett's Great-grandmother this past weekend.

This was Emory's very first visit to Grandma's and he had a great time. Interestingly enough,
Emory is the same age Everett was when he met Grandma Cross for the very first time.

Everett top photo 2008, Emory bottom 2010
(click to enlarge)

Everett-left 2008, Emory-right 2010

Friday was Emory's opportunity to have Grandma all to himself and then on Saturday several cousins, along with Aunt Deanna, Uncle Charlie (Debbie's siblings), Dondi, Roy and the boys joined in on the fun.

Everyone had a great time catching up as well as having opportunities to play with the kids as well as taking lots and lots of pictures.

Emory was in high-heaven getting lots and lots of snuggles.

a few of Grandma Cross' great GREAT grandchildren.

Grandma with 4 of 11 granddaughters:

A wonderful weekend for Emory's first visit.

Today is my Dad's 67th birthday!!!

God took the strength of a mountain,

The majesty of a tree,

The warmth of a summer sun,

The calm of a quiet sea,

The generous soul of nature,

The comforting arm of night,

The wisdom of the ages,

The power of the eagle's flight,

The joy of a morning in spring,

The faith of a mustard seed,

The patience of eternity,

The depth of a family need,

Then God combined these qualities, when there was nothing more to add,

He knew His masterpiece was complete, And so, He called it ... Dad.

Happy Birthday Pop!

Fancy Footwork

Ev's got all the moves. check him out!! :o)

Web Cam Wonderfulness

This week we chatted via web cam with Gramma and Grampa in Wimberley, Tx and also Aunt Tammy and Uncle Dodo (Donato) in San Marcos, TX. THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN and perfect for Everett.

Since making our web calls, Everett has been pointing at the computer each time he passes by it. So tonight we called Gramma and Aunt Tammy once again. :o) Everett gets so tickled to see familiar faces on the computer screen. I wonder how long it will take him to figure how to use this thing for himself. :)
OH and a warning...please excuse my pathetic voice in the background. There's no denying I sound like a sick seal as I have lost my voice from a recent illness (bronchitis).

If you're interested in chatting with our family via webcam, post a message and include your email address if we don't already have it. I will gladly reply with our info for you to add us to your friend/calling list. I'm thinking this would be absolutely perfect for our friends in Australia! :)

Everett Lingo

As we've previously shared in a post, Everett has had difficulties accurately verbalizing many of the words he uses on a regular bases. We are happy to report after a long period of no/slow progress, Everett is making great strides in expressing his words. Though Everett's lingo may not be true to the word, the words he chooses are consistent which translates to language his mommies can understand.

Below is a sample of words he uses on a regular basis:

Trains:

James - sounds like, "Peesh"

Thomas - sounds like "Ma"

Toby - sounds like "Bo"

Percy - sounds like "Pee"

Emily & Lady - sounds like "Nee"

Henry - sounds like "Ee"

Gordon - sounds like "Goh"

Train - choo choo

The sound "choo-choo" is often "shoo shoo" or "woo-woo"

Other words:

bath - baa

bubble - buh ble

cat - meow meow

pig - gig

elephant-mee (We think because he knows of the elephant "Lumpy" in Pooh's Heffalump movie).
pickle - ckle
drink - dink
shoes - shoes
Pooh Bear - Beh
cookie - key
phone - known
eat - tea
dog - gah
goat - go
truck, duck- kah
motorcyle - kuhl
train - choo choo
ball - bah!
fish - pfsh
flower - fowr
car - caw
baby - beebee
banana - nuh
Tv - Tee
book - buh
no - no
yes - "uh huh" with closed lips
go - go
horse - o
sheep-bah bah
juice - juice
more - moh
please -peace
hello - hello
hi - hi

People
Mommy - Mee (yes, i'm aware it's the same as "elephant"....shut it!)
Mama - Mama
Grandma - Maw maw
Grammy - Mee
Grampy - sounds like "peh-pee"
Uncle Dodo - Dodo
Chad - Chaah

Understanding Concepts
In addition to using words, Everett understands concepts and will use words to solidify a concept. Some examples:
When putting on our shoes, he says, "GO!"
When we say it's bedtime, he waves and says, "nigh night"
When we ask if he's hungry, he says "tea" and runs to his high chair.

Sign Language
Everett continues to use sign language to communicate, even if he knows how to verbalize the word. Some signs he uses daily: more, please, hurt, drink, eat

Language Manipulation
Everett is also learning how to manipulate using language. :) Recently he has started using the following words to divert conversation when he is in trouble. For example, when we tell him he needs to stop doing something, he'll crawl up on your lap and start pointing and naming facial body parts on us:
Eyes - sounds like "eyez"
Nose - sounds like "no"
Hair - sound like "eye"
Ears - not yet consistent with a word, but points to our ears.
Lips - same as ears

Speech Therapy Tip:
Our speech pathologist recommended Everett use straws for drinking, as it helps develop many of the muscles that are most often used in speech.

I'm looking forward to sharing Everett's progress with you as his lingo seems to change so drastically from week to week. In the meanwhile, we're going to sit back and interract, all while enjoying every single word and sound that comes out of our growing baby boy's mouth. We are incredibly blessed.

Emory - 3 months old!

It's hard to believe Emory is 3 MONTHS OLD. :) My how time flies.

Some of the things he's been doing...

-Follows objects /people with his eyes.
-Recognizes his Mama and Mommys faces and voices.
-Recognizes sounds and will turn towards them.
-Holds his head up and steady; even when lying on his tummy.
-Smiles, gurgles and coos
-Imitates sounds: "a-cooo", "whoo" -Spits bubbles
-Can bear weight on his legs for a 5-10 seconds at a time.

FEEDING

Currently little E is eating approximately 5 oz, every 3 hours or so. We are using R.S. (Rice Starch) formulas which have continued to help keep meals down most of the time. Additionally, Emory is also taking baby Zantac / twice day to help with heartburn/acid reflux.

SLEEP

Though Emory isn't sleeping through the night yet, he's giving us a few more hours of sleep each night. To date, Emory's longest stretch has been 6 hours. Though his favorite sleep position is on his side or stomach, he goes to sleep on his back in a sleep positioner as we currently have his crib mattress inclined (at at 25-30 degree angle) for reflux. We save his favorite sleep positions during times we can supervise him. He currently sleeps in his crib through the night and is often brought to our bed for his early morning feedings. More for our benefit than Emory's.

ACTIVITIES

Emory favorite activity is being held and snuggled. :) He's becoming very active and loves kicking his legs for exercise. He doesn't much care for his swing or papasan, but he enjoys pallet time.

PHYSICAL
As you can tell from the above photo, our baby boy isnt so little anymore. :o(

Size - Emory is wearing size 3-6 months & 6 month clothes, just depends on the item, and size 2 diapers. His 4 month doctor's appointment / check-up isn't until August 19th, so I don't have his accurate height or weight at this time.

Eyes - The are still the steel blue babies are born with.

Hair - some of E's birth hair has fallen out and new growth has come in. It's still too difficult to tell what color it will be. Funny it sometimes looks blonde; especially around his face in certain lighting.

Complextion - Emory definitely has a darker skin tone than his Mama and Everett. Though it appears he will tan easily, we have been especially careful to keep his skin protected /covered when we're out in the sun.

Bonus features - Emory recently developed a light birthmark (the size of a dime and shaped like Australia) above his left nipple. :) Additionally, we're discovering Emory has dimples (cheeks) they are even more noticeable the more expressive he becomes.

Potty Progress - putting on the brakes

Well almost three weeks into potty training and we had to 'put on the brakes' for the time being. Ev did very well using the toilet but still wasnt letting us know when he needed to go.

We decided to purchase a kitchen timer in hopes this might help remind Ev when it was time to go sit on the potty. For almost a week we set the timer every 20 minutes; Everett quickly learned how this new routine worked. The decision to delay potty training came when Ev called out the saddest little "uh-oh" when the timer went off.

No big deal, we are so very proud of Everett and we're certain he will make an easy tranisition when he's ready. On a positive note....since going back to wearing diapers, he has not attempted to pull them off. I guess he now realizes it beats the alternative. :o)

Speech update

Well due to a miscommunication, our speech therapy assessment with ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) was rescheduled for today. Good news, after a two hour screening and evaluation it was determined Everett does not show significant enough delays in development and therefore does not need speech therapy at this time.

Screening Results are as follows:

Though he is currently exhibiting a four month delay in his "expressive" language, his therapists do not feel it is a great enough to warrant speech therapy. Instead they provided some strategies for us to practice and use with Everett:

1. 
   
   Encourage spontaneous repetition during play by offering opportunities - label objects and then pause, giving time for Everett to imitate.
2. 
   
   Encourage pretend play with plastic animals or with his train - you are modeling for him the language that goes with the play routine.
3. 
   
   Expand single word labels to 2 word phrases by using "big", "little", "colors" in front of the words he's using.  For fish "big fish", "little fish".

I'm glad we had this assessment today, not only have they given Deona and myself valuable information and materials, but ECI has motivated me to take advantage of those learning and playing opportunities that occur throughout the day.  Now, a trip to Toys 'R Us for train accessories and plastic animals for "pretend play" is in order. :o) 

HAPPY 4TH!

I am grateful for our FREEDOM of this COUNTRY and for those who fight to keep us safe.

This year my sister, Tammy and brother-in-law, Donato came up for the weekend. On Sunday (July 4th), Dondi, Roy and the boys joined us for lunch. This was the first time (in 8 years) My sister, Deona's sister and our brother-in-laws actually spent time together. Our visit was long overdue; we all had a blast.

Some photos from our day:

Deona made my dad's yummy salsa. It was evident (by the empty salsa dish) Matt approved. :)

After lunch and naps, we got in some swim time.

Later in the evening we headed out to see fireworks. The weather was absolutely perfect; cooler than usual with a slight breeze.

Waiting patiently for the fireworks to begin.

These were the first fireworks Everett was old enough to enjoy. After the show, you'll (barely) see Ev applaud out of approval and excitement. :)

After the firework show it was time to eat cake. Thanks Grampy!

We had an amazing 4th of July. Thank you Tammy, Donato, Dondi, Roy, Jordan, Matt, Aunt Jackie, Courtney and Don for sharing it with us. :)

"You cannot be saved by valor and devotion of your ancestors. To each generation comes its patriotic duty, and upon willingness to sacrifice and endure, as those before you have sacrificed and endured, rests the national hope." -Thomas Paine