First aquarium visit

The aquarium was fun! Nate really enjoyed it, though I think his favorite parts weren't the animals themselves but getting to lead the way and call out, "Mama, look!" Lucy was fine as long as she had a snack (but that's how she always is!), and Levi was a happy kid as usual. In about 2 hours, we got to see all the exhibits, even outside, though we rushed past some things. I loved the jellyfish!

Aquarium

We're going to the Aquarium of the Pacific tomorrow evening for the first time (here's the special event info). I told Nate about it last week, and he has been mentioning it several times a day since then. I hope the kids love it!

Nate's neuro appointment today

The appointment today went very well! I went in with expectations on the low side since I'm not extremely impressed with this doctor's view of biomedical treatments or with how much she talks (a ton). (This isn't the actual neurologist but the nurse practitioner, Teri, who follows all of the neurologist's original diagnosis patients.) She spent some time talking with us and observing Nate. Although she didn't officially redo the CARS test (bummer), she did have some great things to say about Nate.

• She thinks he would be OK placed in a "regular" preschool.


• She says she can just "hear" autism when a child with autism speaks--something in the inflection, the stilted meter, the way the child speaks; she can't hear it in Nate. She used the words "best I've ever heard" about Nate's language.


• When I asked specifically if it would be beneficial for us to have an updated CARS test on Nate, she said no. Then she said, "If I did the test again on him now, there is a high likelihood he would not place on the autism spectrum at all. Perhaps I could find some tiny thing here or there to put him on the spectrum, but I really don't think so." This was awesome! So although we didn't get a new CARS number, we essentially got the neurologist nurse practitioner to say that Nate probably wouldn't qualify for a diagnosis.

The subject of one-to-one aides also came up, when I said I thought maybe the school could place Nate in a "regular" preschool class this next year with an aide. Teri gave us her opinion of aides in general (a negative one), which was good to hear. Perhaps I don't want an aide for Nate. Teri's opinion was that parents use aides as a crutch in order not to let their children possibly fail or flounder on their own; in addition, aides aren't properly trained.

All in all, the NP was very impressed with Nate and his progress. She also had some nice things to say to/about us as parents and how we interact with him. I left the appointment feeling energized, excited, and proud of our awesome little boy!

Pics and dates

We've had a normal but busy week around here! Here are some cute pictures.







Some upcoming dates I'm sure I'll blog about:

March 27: Nate going to the neurologist for a follow-up and updated CARS test
April 2: Lucy's 2nd birthday
April 16: Nate's IEP with the school district
May 1: Nate's 4th birthday AND Mimi is visiting for the weekend

New bed, no pressure

We got a toddler bed (from Craigslist) for Lucy last week, and I took apart her crib bumper to turn it into a comforter/blanket. I made the pillow with the leftover chenille. So far, Lucy has only taken one nap in the big girl bed and has wanted her crib, which is still set up in her room awaiting Levi in a couple of months, the rest of the time. No pressure--I figure if she thinks the bed is her idea, she's more likely to transition well. She's the type who will resist doing something just because she knows we want her to, so I'm acting ambivalent about it now since it really doesn't matter at this point anyway. (Levi is still in the bassinet in our room.) If she's still choosing her crib in another couple of weeks, I will begin choosing the bed for her.





And speaking of Levi, here is our little business man:

Kids

Nate at 3 and a half months


Levi at 3 and a half months


At first I was just going to put pictures of the boys, but here's Lucy too! I don't have many of her around 3.5 months because that's when we were moving...

Pics

New videos

Both from today:

New clothes

Here are some things I've made in the past couple of weeks.

First, I turned an adult sweater that didn't fit into a fun wintery dress for Lucy. And look: sleeves!

Front:


Back:


I haven't tried it on Lucy with all the finishing touches complete (it hasn't been cold enough to wear it), but I'll take a picture when I do.

Edited to add:



Yesterday I patched together a bunch of pieces of fabric I had left over, and I turned it into a summery shirt (using a pillowcase dress idea). I really like how it turned out.

Ice cream

I heard about this ice cream from a friend. It's made from coconut milk and is GFCF and soy-free (a requirement for Nate), and it actually tastes wonderful! Nate and Lucy had their first taste tonight.





... and Levi enjoyed himself on the sidelines.

Another giveaway: The Conservatory Overcoat

I'm linking to this giveaway because I know just who I'll give the jacket to if I win. :)

The Conservatory Overcoat GIVEAWAY!!!!

Cute stuff

Here is a picture sequence from a couple of weeks ago. Nate is so sweet with Levi. Here he was laughing because Levi kept "tickling" him.








And Lucy "counting." Notice how she skips six. :)

Back home

We returned from Virginia on Thursday with a long day of traveling. Amazingly, the travel days weren't that difficult, but I certainly wouldn't attempt them by myself (without Jon)--at least not until Levi is three or so.

We had a great time in Virginia, and I can't believe I didn't take any pictures! The ones I did take were on my mom's camera.

Jon took Nate to Amazement Square (a children't museum) one day; it sounded really cute. Other than that, we had a lot of good family meals, relaxation, and visits with extended family.

Now we're trying to coax the kids into readjusting to west coast time!

Crazy big sis

Lucy is always getting in Levi's face, touching, patting, rubbing, pinching. Despite this, he is becoming infatuated with her. Here he is with Lucy up close; he smiles at her and also looks to see where she is (probably part infatuation, part worry).







And some sweet smiles:

Quick check-in

Things are normal and good around here! We are counting down the days until our VA trip--just 6 days left! Nate has been talking about going on the airplane to Virginia for weeks and weeks.

I took Lucy this morning to get some blood drawn for a CBC. She is fine (hated the blood draw, of course), but the doctor at her last well check kindly agreed to run some tests, because Lucy's diapers have been atypical for a long time (more info if you really want to know: very mushy, not formed). I am almost sure it is diet related, though I did try completely removing dairy but saw no positive results after nearly two weeks. Anyway, the doc said we could do some blood work and analysis of a stool sample... we'll see if that gives any answers.

I went to Nate's school for a half-hour observation yesterday. It was fun to see him "in his element" in the afternoon portion of his day and doing so well. The teacher had many good things to say about Nate, and from looking at the other 8 or 9 kids in there, he seemed to be the highest or among the highest functioning. The teacher said that she wouldn't normally say something like this to a parent, especially a parent of one of the 3 year olds (as opposed to 4 year old), but she believed that, with how well Nate is doing, he would be mainstreamed for kindergarten (in a year and a half). (This means he wouldn't need special ed anymore--a great thing.) Cool!

Time to feed Levi and do school pick-up. ;)

Pictures

Nate loves to hold Levi this way



Lucy after some of Jon's blueberry pancakes



Levi today. I think there will always be some body part of Lucy's in all of Levi's pictures. :)



And here is Lucy sort of talking. I've been trying to catch her on video, but every time she sees the camera, she clams up.

Melted heart

Levi came down with another cold. This had me worried--did this mean the same thing that happened before (he stopped breathing) would happen again? I spoke on the phone to Levi's doctor, who assuaged some of my fears. (No, him getting another cold doesn't mean he will have the same serious reaction. Just watch for the same symptoms he had before, but don't assume it'll happen again.)

Then, my little Levi smiled right at me for the first time. It was like, "Thank you, God, for that confirmation that he is OK."

This is late for a baby to have his first smiles, which of course also had me a bit worried (is he developing OK?). I think Levi's being born a little early contributes to his smiling a little later, though.

This is what melted my heart this morning; he was cooing in addition to the smiles:

Sayings

Cute things Nate is saying:

• "Can you do me a flavor?"
• "Smarshmallows" for marshmallows
• When Lucy was here last week, she overheard Jon and Nate reading a Bible story. Jon was trying to explain burnt offerings, and Nate said, "Oh, they're making a pizza?" Jon said, "Kind of..."