No Grass Growing Here....

When I talked with one of our neighbors a few weeks ago, I mentioned all our activities and he said, "You're not letting the grass grow under your feet". That pretty much sums up the past month. When Sydney got out of school in May, we hit the ground running. Reagan had 2 weeks of swim lessons (which would have been nicer for her if it hadn't been cool and stormy on many of the days), Sydney had 2 weeks of summer school (she had a ball...it was a buggy theme), I signed the girls up for dance in separate classes because of age (Reagan's was a beginner dance, Sydney's was Tap and Jazz) and just as dance finished, summer soccer began. They've already had 2 games and there are 3 left. Reagan loves it, but is upset that the other kids won't let her win. She's kicked the ball a few times, but her little feet just don't let her keep up with the others. Sydney got her first goal last Saturday. You should have seen her face, she was soooo excited. We've also had some firsts:
Reagan had her first visit to the dentist. When the hygienist started to floss her teeth, she said, "Here I show you how to do it." Of course Dave and I corrected her quickly. Sydney had her visit at the same time and you'd have thought the kid was going to an amusement park. She loves to go to the dentist. I guess this is what happens when you grow up sitting on your mom's lap while the orthodontist works on her braces....no fear of the dentist. She was devastated (and crying) one night after looking at her teeth. She was sure she had a cavity. Dave and I looked and quickly corrected her...it was the vitamin she had just eaten.

Reagan is out of her crib and sleeping in a toddler bed. I know, I know, she's 3 1/2. She was just so content in the crib and honestly, I was dreading it. She's so strong-willed and I just knew she would be in and out of the bed....and she has, but it hasn't been as bad as I feared.

Ellie sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time and did just fine. It was even one that had no tray and I wasn't able to push her up to the table either (to use her hands for support). But she did awesome.

Ellie also has figured out how to turn herself over from her tummy to her back. She had done it accidently a few times, but now intentionally does it. Every once in a while, she gets stuck, but I just lay her arm to her side and she flips right over. She has also mustered enough arm strength to push herself straight up when she is laying on her tummy (not just pushing up on the elbows). A few more things...she plays a little bit of pat-a-cake (clapping hands) on her own once I get her started and last night Dave and I clearly her say "more".....meaning we heard the "mmmo" and it ended with a definite "rrr" sound...when I was feeding her spaghetti (ground up). Oh, and she has slurped her drink a couple of times rather than mean just pouring it into her mouth. She has definitely been a busy body.

She had her other swallow study a few weeks ago, but there really wasn't anything significant to report. OT thought her eating was awesome, so we didn't even test it and instead concentrated on the drinking. Unfortunately, when we had her Radiology, she got ticked off about being strapped down and was not as good of an eater/drinker as normal. They did go all the way down to water thin but said she aspirated a little. They really had to look back at the films to see it, and she was screaming at the time. So we're thinking, she may have done fine if she wasn't upset. What we really got out of it though was that we just need to concentrate on her swallowing getting faster and being able to drink more than what she is now no matter what the thickness is.

As for Dave, as soon as he was done working at the high school for the summer, he came home and started framing our basement. He really accomplished a lot in a little over a week. Then he came down with a REALLY bad case of strep throat. Once he finally got over that this weekend, on the day he was feeling his best, he pulled a muscle in his back moving something. So, now he's recovering from that. It's always something around here. Told you we've been busy. I'll update more later.