Every time I click on the "add image" button Blogger freezes up. I know it's not my internet connection because I can click another tab and log on to other pages. Ugh!
Stay tuned...for now will have to make due with posts without pictures.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Our Dear Friends
As mentioned in the previous post, we had some dear friends, the Chen's, come for a visit this last weekend. They were in town for a wedding and we jumped at the chance to have them stay with us for the weekend. Their 18 month-old little girl, Leilani, is so precious and sweet. We loved seeing her interact with our girls.
I have known Kathy since Jr. High School. Can you believe we were cheerleaders together in the 8th grade? She is such a wonderful friend and I have loved keeping in touch with her over the years. It hasn't been easy, but we've managed somehow. Kathy and I also went to church together in San Francisco in our twenties and early thirties. David and I were introduced by mutual friends who were involved with Golden Gate Community Church and Kathy and Pete met while attending there too. Great memories.
We had a lovely time catching up and were even able to visit with the Tait's, another old "Golden Gate" family who now live in Spokane too. Here's a few pictures from our wonderful brunch at the Tait home.
Loving catching up, Danell, David, Pete and Time (Piper too, of course)
Leilani and Morgan hanging out
The Tait Family
Danell, Jeremy, Colin, Clive and Tim
The Chen Family
Pete, Leilani and Kathy
The Allendorf Family
Piper, Meg, David and Morgan
I have known Kathy since Jr. High School. Can you believe we were cheerleaders together in the 8th grade? She is such a wonderful friend and I have loved keeping in touch with her over the years. It hasn't been easy, but we've managed somehow. Kathy and I also went to church together in San Francisco in our twenties and early thirties. David and I were introduced by mutual friends who were involved with Golden Gate Community Church and Kathy and Pete met while attending there too. Great memories.
We had a lovely time catching up and were even able to visit with the Tait's, another old "Golden Gate" family who now live in Spokane too. Here's a few pictures from our wonderful brunch at the Tait home.
Loving catching up, Danell, David, Pete and Time (Piper too, of course)
Leilani and Morgan hanging out
The Tait FamilyDanell, Jeremy, Colin, Clive and Tim
The Chen FamilyPete, Leilani and Kathy
The Allendorf FamilyPiper, Meg, David and Morgan
Monday, June 7, 2010
Catch up
Aack! It's been over a week since I blogged. Sometimes the days just get away from me. Here's a list of some things that have been going on since I last checked in:
- Piper started crawling on her hands and knees! "Real" crawling I call it. It's still about 25% of the time, but good progress! She even likes to pull up to her knees on the fireplace hearth and bathtub... thus we are making some adjustments to counteract little miss "grabby hands." She's pulled over the diaper basket on her head a few too many times.
- Aunt Ali came for a visit over Memorial Day. Morgan was much more interactive with her this time. She let Ali read her LOTS of books and made visits to the guest room to try on her Aunt's pretty jewelry.
- We had our dear friends Pete and Kathy come to visit Spokane for a wedding this weekend. They stayed with us and we had a great time catching up as well as meeting their 18 month-old precious daughter, Leilani. With baby #2 on the way for them we had LOTS to talk about. I have some pictures I'll post soon.
- We're venturing into more "finger foods" for Piper. She really likes to hold them in her pincer grasp, but not eat them. She has munched on a few peas and carrots...but much of it comes back out as she is still getting the hang of chewing them and swallowing.
- We are still waiting for Piper's upper two front teeth. Two weeks ago at her 9 month appointment the Dr. said they looked like they were coming soon, but they are nowhere in sight. she's even drooling a ton and got a runny nose... but still no teeth.
- Piper started crawling on her hands and knees! "Real" crawling I call it. It's still about 25% of the time, but good progress! She even likes to pull up to her knees on the fireplace hearth and bathtub... thus we are making some adjustments to counteract little miss "grabby hands." She's pulled over the diaper basket on her head a few too many times.
- Aunt Ali came for a visit over Memorial Day. Morgan was much more interactive with her this time. She let Ali read her LOTS of books and made visits to the guest room to try on her Aunt's pretty jewelry.
- We had our dear friends Pete and Kathy come to visit Spokane for a wedding this weekend. They stayed with us and we had a great time catching up as well as meeting their 18 month-old precious daughter, Leilani. With baby #2 on the way for them we had LOTS to talk about. I have some pictures I'll post soon.
- We're venturing into more "finger foods" for Piper. She really likes to hold them in her pincer grasp, but not eat them. She has munched on a few peas and carrots...but much of it comes back out as she is still getting the hang of chewing them and swallowing.
- We are still waiting for Piper's upper two front teeth. Two weeks ago at her 9 month appointment the Dr. said they looked like they were coming soon, but they are nowhere in sight. she's even drooling a ton and got a runny nose... but still no teeth.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Preschool Visit
Thursday I packed up the girlies and headed off to see the Children First, the developmental preschool that was recommended to us by the psychologist. It is pretty close to our home so it was a quick trip. It was pouring down rain, but I was grateful to have our bigger car so it was easier to get the kiddos in and out.
The coordinator met me right away when we walked in. She was really nice and very helpful. We went right into the classroom to observe. Morgan made her way right over to some toys and helped herself. She didn't get nervous or upset at all the whole visit, even when I left the room with Piper to go over some paperwork in the office.
The class was just starting snack time. A few little ones came over to Piper (in the stroller) and said "baby", "baby." I noticed right away that there was a wide range of ages of kids. I soon found out that this classroom had kids from 14 months to 3 three years old. They also have a class for infants, so there are just two classrooms total that make up the developmental preschool (there is also a full time daycare in the building). The classroom itself was divided into three sections, one for speech therapy, one for physical therapy and one for both occupational therapy and overall play. The speech therapy section had lots of books and a ball pit (fun!). The physical therapy section had larger play structures and a large open area where the teachers can use equipment like balance beams and throw balls, etc. the middle section had kid-sized tables and chairs where they ate and did art projects as well as an open area with lots of toys. I also noticed that the toys were not random, they all had a purpose and were educational in some way.
Another thing I noticed right away was that the majority of the kids actually looked like they had some sort of disability or issue. Along with the ages, there was a wide range here too. The coordinator said that they had quite a few kids that suffered from shaken baby syndrome and fetal alcohol syndrome. Hearing that just made my heart hurt for those kids. Such little innocent faces. Finally, some of the kids were more like Morgan in that they didn't show any physical signs, but had some sort of developmental delay.
To be totally honest, the visit was really hard for me. I thought right away "does Morgan really belong here?" Of course this was a place we never expected to be, so it came as a shock. As Morgan made her way around the classroom the teachers made comments and asked questions about her. One of the speech therapists heard Morgan say "triangle" and she looked at the other teacher in surprise and said "did you just hear her say triangle?!" I guess they don't hear that word much around there. I did tell them that she had these higher end skills of knowing her letters, numbers, shapes and colors. They just nodded their heads. In the physical therapy room Morgan climbed right up on one of the play structures and went down the slide. The coordinator had seen her physical therapy "score" on the assessment from last December and told the therapist (the number means nothing to me). She looked at Morgan quizzically and said "really?!" I guess she's made some progress, but I never agreed with that initial assessment anyway. The same therapist also told me "she's really smart!" Morgan had pointed at a picture on the rug and said "yellow duck." That's my girl!!
So....even though it was hard I think it will be a good place for her to experience social situations and structure. When we were in the speech therapy room the other kids were sitting together on a blanket playing with toy food while the teachers read "Teddy Bear Picnic." Morgan went over and stood by them for a bit, then went off and did her own thing. They said that was common when kids start. It takes time to get used to participating in group or "circle" time.
The Children First program is two days a week from 9 am to 11:15. They also have snack and lunch during this time. I thought it was a bit early for lunch, but the coordinator said lunch was great teaching time for occupational therapy, speech therapy as well as socialization. That makes sense.
Morgan's speech therapist came to our house for her regular visit today. I told her about the trip to the school. She asked when Morgan would turn three and I said December. The school we visited only serves up to age three, then the kids may move on to the school district's preschool. Apparently the qualifications for the school district's preschool are much more stringent as they only take the bottom 7 percent of three year-olds in the district. She said by the Fall Morgan may not even qualify. Her other therapists mentioned this a few times too a few weeks ago...they kept saying "if she qualifies." This assures me that Morgan may be delayed, but she is not too far behind. I spoke with the director of the "regular" preschool the other day. I wanted to inform her that Morgan is having some delays and wondered if it was still OK that she start their one day a week program in September. She assured me that they have had some kids similar to Morgan and she is welcome to attend. She said much of the time kids like Morgan do just fine and catch up before Kindergarten.
Sorry this got so long. So, we'll take it a bit at a time as we move forward. I'm waiting for a start date from Children First. It will be good to have her in this setting over the summer, though it's only one day a week. She'll move to two days a week in the Fall and one day in the "regular" school. Then we'll just see how it goes when she gets closer to her third birthday.
The coordinator met me right away when we walked in. She was really nice and very helpful. We went right into the classroom to observe. Morgan made her way right over to some toys and helped herself. She didn't get nervous or upset at all the whole visit, even when I left the room with Piper to go over some paperwork in the office.
The class was just starting snack time. A few little ones came over to Piper (in the stroller) and said "baby", "baby." I noticed right away that there was a wide range of ages of kids. I soon found out that this classroom had kids from 14 months to 3 three years old. They also have a class for infants, so there are just two classrooms total that make up the developmental preschool (there is also a full time daycare in the building). The classroom itself was divided into three sections, one for speech therapy, one for physical therapy and one for both occupational therapy and overall play. The speech therapy section had lots of books and a ball pit (fun!). The physical therapy section had larger play structures and a large open area where the teachers can use equipment like balance beams and throw balls, etc. the middle section had kid-sized tables and chairs where they ate and did art projects as well as an open area with lots of toys. I also noticed that the toys were not random, they all had a purpose and were educational in some way.
Another thing I noticed right away was that the majority of the kids actually looked like they had some sort of disability or issue. Along with the ages, there was a wide range here too. The coordinator said that they had quite a few kids that suffered from shaken baby syndrome and fetal alcohol syndrome. Hearing that just made my heart hurt for those kids. Such little innocent faces. Finally, some of the kids were more like Morgan in that they didn't show any physical signs, but had some sort of developmental delay.
To be totally honest, the visit was really hard for me. I thought right away "does Morgan really belong here?" Of course this was a place we never expected to be, so it came as a shock. As Morgan made her way around the classroom the teachers made comments and asked questions about her. One of the speech therapists heard Morgan say "triangle" and she looked at the other teacher in surprise and said "did you just hear her say triangle?!" I guess they don't hear that word much around there. I did tell them that she had these higher end skills of knowing her letters, numbers, shapes and colors. They just nodded their heads. In the physical therapy room Morgan climbed right up on one of the play structures and went down the slide. The coordinator had seen her physical therapy "score" on the assessment from last December and told the therapist (the number means nothing to me). She looked at Morgan quizzically and said "really?!" I guess she's made some progress, but I never agreed with that initial assessment anyway. The same therapist also told me "she's really smart!" Morgan had pointed at a picture on the rug and said "yellow duck." That's my girl!!
So....even though it was hard I think it will be a good place for her to experience social situations and structure. When we were in the speech therapy room the other kids were sitting together on a blanket playing with toy food while the teachers read "Teddy Bear Picnic." Morgan went over and stood by them for a bit, then went off and did her own thing. They said that was common when kids start. It takes time to get used to participating in group or "circle" time.
The Children First program is two days a week from 9 am to 11:15. They also have snack and lunch during this time. I thought it was a bit early for lunch, but the coordinator said lunch was great teaching time for occupational therapy, speech therapy as well as socialization. That makes sense.
Morgan's speech therapist came to our house for her regular visit today. I told her about the trip to the school. She asked when Morgan would turn three and I said December. The school we visited only serves up to age three, then the kids may move on to the school district's preschool. Apparently the qualifications for the school district's preschool are much more stringent as they only take the bottom 7 percent of three year-olds in the district. She said by the Fall Morgan may not even qualify. Her other therapists mentioned this a few times too a few weeks ago...they kept saying "if she qualifies." This assures me that Morgan may be delayed, but she is not too far behind. I spoke with the director of the "regular" preschool the other day. I wanted to inform her that Morgan is having some delays and wondered if it was still OK that she start their one day a week program in September. She assured me that they have had some kids similar to Morgan and she is welcome to attend. She said much of the time kids like Morgan do just fine and catch up before Kindergarten.
Sorry this got so long. So, we'll take it a bit at a time as we move forward. I'm waiting for a start date from Children First. It will be good to have her in this setting over the summer, though it's only one day a week. She'll move to two days a week in the Fall and one day in the "regular" school. Then we'll just see how it goes when she gets closer to her third birthday.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Piper is 9 Months Old!
Piper is already 9 months old! This past month just FLEW by! She's been doing so much more even in the past two weeks. She's drinking water from a sippy cup, clapping her hands and just this past week she has mastered sitting up from lying down. She's also rocking on her hands and knees and trying to coordinate her limbs to crawl. It's not far away. Way to go Piper!
The closest thing to a smile I could get
Morgan "helping" with her little sister's sign
Then I got a BUNCH of pictures like this. It's kind of a cross between a scowl and a monkey-face similar to what her cousin Makenna used to do.
Here's a sweet look
Here's another scrunched-up face
Now she'll pull off her sock for you...
What's over there? Oooohh, computer paper!
Still working on that smile
Ta da! I'm 9 months old!
The closest thing to a smile I could get 
Morgan "helping" with her little sister's sign
Then I got a BUNCH of pictures like this. It's kind of a cross between a scowl and a monkey-face similar to what her cousin Makenna used to do.
Here's a sweet look
Here's another scrunched-up face
Now she'll pull off her sock for you...
What's over there? Oooohh, computer paper!
Still working on that smile
Ta da! I'm 9 months old!Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Piper's 9-Month Stats
Though Piper won't be 9 months old officially until Thursday we had her 9-month check up at the Dr. yesterday. She did so great!! Here are her stats:
Weight: 20 lbs 13 oz (85%) - chunk-a-monk!
Length: 28 inches (69%)
Chunky, yes, but the Dr. thought her proportions were fine. We all like a chubby baby, right?
While waiting for the Dr. to come in she had a great time playing with her reflection in the mirror over the exam table. The Dr. gave her a brief exam and said she looked "perfect" and asked a lot of questions about her development. He said she was right on track! We also lucked out with no shots at this appointment which was nice because I was on my own with her as David is out of town for work. My wonderful friend Danell watched Morgan so I could take Piper without distractions.
Great job Piper and we'll post 9-month pictures on Thursday!
Speaking of Thursday, we have a tour of a developmental preschool on that morning. I've gotten some great information about what is available for Morgan to start now and what we will do when she turns three. There are some solid programs here and I am thrilled to get her started and see how she does socially and in a structured learning environment. More soon...
Weight: 20 lbs 13 oz (85%) - chunk-a-monk!
Length: 28 inches (69%)
Chunky, yes, but the Dr. thought her proportions were fine. We all like a chubby baby, right?
While waiting for the Dr. to come in she had a great time playing with her reflection in the mirror over the exam table. The Dr. gave her a brief exam and said she looked "perfect" and asked a lot of questions about her development. He said she was right on track! We also lucked out with no shots at this appointment which was nice because I was on my own with her as David is out of town for work. My wonderful friend Danell watched Morgan so I could take Piper without distractions.
Great job Piper and we'll post 9-month pictures on Thursday!
Speaking of Thursday, we have a tour of a developmental preschool on that morning. I've gotten some great information about what is available for Morgan to start now and what we will do when she turns three. There are some solid programs here and I am thrilled to get her started and see how she does socially and in a structured learning environment. More soon...
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Bathing Beauties
Please excuse the phone pic...not as high-res as our other camera. This is Morgan and Piper's first successful bath together. Piper had not been too stable during other tries, but she did great this time! They played nicely together and no one seemed to mind sharing. I think this will be really fun for them as they interact more and more. It is also easier on Mom and Dad (and especially when David goes out of town), as we don't have to do two separate baths. Buh-bye baby tub!!
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