IFSP and snowdays

This blog is a little overdue.  I am a bit jealous of some other imom's that seem to find the time to blog a bit more often than I.  Not sure how they find the time - they must be superhuman superwoman supermoms.  I struggle to just get laundry done, dishes washed and kids bathed!  Someday I'll figure all this out.

Over Christmas break we had one day of snow.  Jed hasn't really been able to play in the snow, so this was his first opportunity to go outside and go sledding.  He was thrilled and kept saying, "I love playin in the 'no."  We went down the hill in the back yard over and over and he quickly realized that he would go a lot faster if I rode with him (I didn't tell him that it is because I weigh 5 times as much as he does!).

The snow only lasted a day - but it was sure fun while it was there!

 

 

If you look close int he pic above, you can see Julia photobombing.  And the wooden sign is a Christmas present from my hubby.  I've wanted one for ages so he found a place that makes them and drove 2 hours to get it and surprise me.  I love him.

 

Just an update on Jed.  I know I focus a ton on Julia -since her eye is why this blog started in the first place - but Jed is too awesome to leave out. 

 

He has started talking.  A lot.  Like never stops.  He comments on everything and his vocabulary amazes me.  He is potty trained (almost night trained too) and I am so proud of him.  I love when I ask him to do something and he says, "All right" in his little voice.  Every morning when we are leaving for daycare he makes me roll down the window so he can say good bye to Daddy. 

 

James says, "Bye Jed."

 

"Bye, Daddy."

 

"I love you Jed."

 

"I love you too Daddy."

 

Melts my heart every morning.

 

He is very polite.  Always says please and thank you and is quick to say, "Nice job, Mommy!" when I do anything remotely good.  He is starting to be more independent and wants to play in his room with his toys.  But he doesn't want to go alone - he wants Julia to play with him.  He really loves his little sister, he just sometimes hugs too hard. 

 

As for Julia, we just had her IFSP meeting.  These are the meetings we have every 6 months with First Steps (early intervention) to review her goals and services.  I got a little teary when we looked back at some of her goals.  I remember when her goals were to sit up on her own and to take a bottle faster.  Now she is working on being more confident in unfamiliar situations, scanning horizontally and vertically, using her peripheral vision and speech.

 

 

Right now she is doing great.  She will stop at a crack in the driveway because she can't tell if it is a step or just a crack.  But that is good!  At least she doesn't just step over everything - that could be dangerous since she doesn't have depth perception.  She is starting to try to use a fork and is completely off bottles.  She doesn't really do any pretend play, but she will dump out the buckets of play food and follow her brother around.  We are continuing vision services once a month and OT once a month.  We meet again in 6 months and will go over goals again and possible add in speech therapy.  She isn't really saying any words yet, but I'm not concerned yet.  She obviously understands things that we say to her, she just hasn't started talking.  The OT wants us to ditch the binky.  I'm not thrilled about it, but I understand her reasoning.  I told her we weren't going to attempt that until after surgery in a few weeks.

 

I found out that since she is in First Steps she qualifies for a 2 hour a week preschool program at United Services when she turns 18 months.  I'll need to find transportation there and back since it is during my work hours, but I am excited for her to be working with teachers and around other kids her age, even if it is only for a short time each week. 

 

 

I look at my little girl and realize that she is turning into a little person - she isn't a baby anymore.  That is a very sad thing, but also an awesome thing.  When I see all that she can do and remember all that she has overcome, I am very proud.

 

I'm nervous about her upcoming surgery.  I know it is necessary and I will be happy when her eyes are straight, but I am ready to have it over with.  I am just praying it will help with her head tilt too.  It has gotten more noticeable that she tilts her head to the left to see.

 

This is the "I didn't get my way" face.

 

 

So things are trucking along in our household.  I know she doesn't have her glasses on in these pics, but usually by evening, she is done with the glasses and won't wear them.  It happens every night when she starts to get tired.  I probably should force her to wear them, but I figure that after a long day of patching and wearing them, her eyes are probably tired.

 

So keep us in your prayers.  We see the doc for new measurements (of her eye turn) on Jan. 29 and then surgery in Feb. 5th.

 

And just for fun...