Spring Break Get-Away

I really wanted to do something special with the girls for Spring Break, but obviously after Disney, we knew we weren't going anywhere warm and tropical.

However, we had the best "getaway" for Spring Break thanks to Aunt Julie and Lucy!!!!  We went down for 2 day of Spring Break Fun in the City!  It was the perfect getaway and we had the best time!!!!  Plus, we took advantage of all of Julie and Joe's memberships!  ;)

On Tuesday, we went to Navy Pier.  After a great lunch, we decided to head to the Children's Museum.  The girls played while Lucy slept, but after she woke up, the girls were so excited to play with her.

Caitlin "scooting" around Navy Pier.  Instead of bringing a double stroller, I brough a single stroller and a scooter.  The girls thought it was fun to scoot around even if it wasn't "time efficient".

The Children's Museum was a fun "surprise" because it wasn't on our original agenda...but thanks to Jules and Joe's membership, the girls were able to take advantage of it!

Shoppingn around

3 Monkeys in a car

This is only 12 short years away!

The comedian

Thanks to Daddy, I LOVE to pretend to drive a car! ;)

"At the carwash...yeah!"

Mommy's girl

Both the girls went up here numerous times!

After the museum, we headed back to Jules and Joe's house.  It was a great night because in addition to us, Rob, Joe, Katie, and Vern all came over for dinner!!  And we had Smoke Daddy's, which is our absolute favorite in Chicago so we were so happy!  The whole fam and Smoke Daddy's is an awesome combo!

The girls and I slept over...and the next morning we were headed to the Shedd Aquarium.  Jules had to do some last minute cleaning for a showing for their condo, so I took the 3 girls for a walk.  Along the way, we found this amazing little bakery "Bleeding Heart Bakery" which is one of my new fave finds in the city!  The girl's saw this donut called "Mommy's Little Helper" which made their eyes light up, so of course I let them get it...it's spring break!  I could only imagine Jule's face when she sees what I fed Lucy for breakfast!  :)

That's one big donut!!!

We got to the Shedd right when it opened and even found street parking, so we knew it was going to be a good day.  For the first hour, it felt like we had the Shedd to ourselves.  It was so much fun!  Thanks AGAIN to Jules and Joe for letting us take advantage of your membership! 

The seal was just "chillin"

The "jellies" were the big highlight of the day.  We went through MANY times to see them..and left with 2 Jellyfish stuffed animals and a book about Jellyfish.  Such a great time!

This lady was cleaning the penguins glass and it was so cute because all the penguins were cuddling on her...or pecking her to get her out of their space...hard to tell...but I was surprised how much they loved human interaction. 

Hands on water exhibit is always a favorite.

Sweet Lucy!!!!

Thanks again so much to Jules and Lucy for a great 2-day getaway for Spring Break.  It was awesome and we had the best time!!!!!

And the topping on the cake was when we got home, I had these waiting at the door:

with the sweetest note from Rob thanking me for all I do with the girls everyday!  Flowers for no reason...I really am the luckiest mom/wife/girl in the world...and I made sure to tell the girls to make sure they marry someone who does things like that for them!  ;)  Thanks so much Babe for the surprise...it sure made my day!  It's the best "bonus" a mom could get!  ;)

In other news, today starts day 1 of potty training.  I changed 3 pairs of underwear while trying to type this post, so we'll see......

And in Apraxia news, we have a new "addition" to our family coming today or tomorrow that has been shown to really, really help kids with Apraxia...I can't wait to share it with you as soon as it's delivered!!!!!

I'm off...to change some undies! :)  Happy Spring Break!

White Flag

After 3 rounds of the flu (both girls and mommy) and one round of bronchitis (mommy)...we are waving the white flag!!!!  While we've been loving this warm weather, we are paying for it with the ridiciulous strand of flu going around here.  What a week of naps, medicine, movies, milkshakes, and cuddles....it's been a LONG week!  So here's to hoping everyone will wake up healthy this Saturday and we will start to get our family back!

She's Earning Her M & M's Around Here!

Not sure if this is "blog worthy" or not...but here it goes anyways!

We decided against doing the 3 Day Potty Training Method with Caitlin like we did for Abigail.  Her therapists think she needs to potty train in a more gradual way.  While her Apraxia doesn't get in the way because she's able to tell us "tee tee totty" (we are working on the p sound), her personality is much more "I'll do it when I'm ready" and they said if we try to push her, she'll fight us!

Next week is Spring Break so we are home all week with no school, work, etc...so our plan is to really focus on potty training next week.  However, we are having Caitlin wear undies when she's at home even though we aren't being crazy about potty training.

This morning she did a GREAT job going in the potty (we are 1 hour into the same pair of undies...and 1 (or should I say 2) major success...and she was a dancing queen with her Pee Pee Dance!!!

1st #2 in the potty.  "Pee Pee on the Potty"

And she LOVES her M & M's...

and wouldn't take a picture without me seeing the M & M's in her mouth!!!!  What a character!!!!

So things on the potty front are on the up and up!!!!!!  We are looking forward to a possible summer with no diapers!!!

I was looking back to see what Abigail looked like when she potty trained.... 

She looked so old to be back then...even though she was 3 months younger than Caitlin is now! 

So here's to a summer of LOTS of trips to the bathroom!!!!!!

Sunny Days

First off, Happy St. Patty's Day!!!!

Last weekend we went to celebrate St. Patty's Day at a local parade!  The girls had a great time...but their favorite part was definitely "shopping" for gear for the parade. 

Happy St. Patty's Day from our "lil" Irish girls!  I always wished I was Irish and while I can't change that...I figured if I gave my kid an Irish name, we'd have a "right" to celebrate St. Patty's Day...so thanks Caitlin!!!  And we see some Irish Dancing in her near future!  Stay posted...

A HUGE thanks to my parents, especially my Dad, for all their help this weekend.  Rob was out of town in New Orleans and I had somewhere I had to be both Friday evening and Saturday morning..and my dad helped us out in a BIG way!  Thanks so much Dad for all your help this weekend!!!

And obviously if you live anywhere in the Midwest, you know what unseasonably warm weather we've been having here.  So after I picked up the girls from my parents on Saturday, we decided to enjoy the nice weather and head over to the zoo together!!!!  It was crowded...but GREAT!!!!

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for our trip to the zoo...and our necklaces!!!!!

Grandpa treated the girls to ice cream!!!!!  (If only this mom was a little smarter and would have given them vanilla).

We have been soaking in the sun!  We have been outside riding bikes, walking, and playing at the parks daily!!!!!!

This was just a cute picture I captured on the way out to school one day: 

And on the soccer watch, Abigail is becoming quite the soccer player.  Like I think I stated before, she's the only girl with 7 boys...and she's AWESOME!  I'm one proud mama...and so happy she said she likes soccer more than ballet!  ;)

That's what we've been up to around our home the past week!!!!!  Off to play outside one more day!!!!

Up, Up, Up!

As soon as Caitlin was suspected of having apraxia, her speech therapist began a program created to help develop speech for children with Apraxia.  It was created by a woman Nancy Kaufman out of Michigan and is called The Kaufman Speech to Language Protocol. 

Here is what is say on the website about it: 

The Kaufman Speech to Language Protocol is a way of teaching children with apraxia of speech the easiest way of saying words until they have increased motor-speech coordination. They are actually taught the shell of words without including too many of the complex consonants, vowels, or syllables which make a word too difficult to even attempt on a motor basis.

This teaching method is a reflection of how young children attempt “first words.” For example, the word “bottle” may begin as “ba,” progress to “baba,” later becomes “bado,” and eventually, “bottle.” From the very beginning of infant speech, there are very few “whole” words pronounced. The K-SLP gives children of all ages a way to attempt difficult words using word approximations, and refining and reinforcing these attempts toward whole target words and phrases. It is a systematic approach and one that has been an extremely beneficial, logical, and an efficient way to tackle developmental apraxia of speech.
Other methods are also integrated in the K-SLP that have been successful with adults who have lost the ability to speak. Many of these techniques have to do with the way in which the child learns cues to remind them how to say the word. The combination of these techniques comprise the Kaufman method!


Caitlin's speech therapist began with the vowels because the vowels are the "core" of all words.  There were only two vowel sounds Caitlin needed to learn: short i (as in milk, chicken, chip) and "aw" sound (as in water, waffle, dog).  So for the first 3 weeks, Caitlin worked on these words daily.  So take for example the word "milk".  Below is ane example of how the session sounded.  ST is speech therapist.  C is obviously Caitlin.  And "da" is the sound Caitlin uses a lot when she doesn't know a word.  She has a few fall-back sounds that she uses for EVERYTHING so da could be milk, dog, bed, car, etc.

ST:  milk
C: da
ST: mik
C: da
ST:  mi
C: da
ST: i
C: i
*Insert crazy cheers here
ST:i
C:i
ST:i
C:i
ST:mi
C:i

So basically, as you see, you start with the whole word.  Then, you begin to break it down into smaller and smaller parts till Caitlin gets it...then practice it...and then build it back up again!

Caitlin was able to get all the vowel sounds after about 3 weeks, so then her ST introduced the "m" sound.  This is a sound we thought she'd get early on because she's been signing more and milk since she was 12 months old...but it never came.

We quickly learned with Caitlin (as with LOTS of kids with Apraxia) that she was able to get "m" at the end of a word first.  So for example, she can't do "more" but she can do "am", "I'm" "um", etc.  So we worked and worked and using a visual technique (zipping her lips) to help her remember to make the "m" sound.  We've been doing this for about 5 weeks now and are starting to see some progress.  While she still doesn't use the "m" sound at the beginning of words on her own, if we cue her, she's able to do it with a long, drawn out "m" sound.  So, for example, the word "moo" is one we've been working on.  She used to go "goo" and now she goes "mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmoo" with a visual cue reminder.

She's making strides every day!!!!  Speech development for kids with Apraxia is a very slow moving therapy.  We literally do the same thing every single day.  But we are seeing the rewards, so we are motivated and are sticking with it!!!!!

FAST...

For some reason today, I've had the classic Ferris Bueller quote in my head:

"Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop to look around every once in a while, you may miss it."

Caitlin is growing up so fast...I'm trying to really hold on to all these moments as my "baby" turns into a toddler right in front of my eyes!

We were in the car on the way to music class and I turned around and saw her...and I sort of realized she's not a baby anymore.  I mean, I know she's over 2 years old...but I feel like I actually captured the exact moment I saw her as a toddler.  And yes, there may have been a little bit of sadness and panic in me...but more just enjoying this time and the fact that I am able to be with her watching her grow every day!!!!

And then on Friday morning, I was woken up to the sound of "Hi Mama!" in which I groggily (is that a word?) said, "Hi Caitlin" followed by "CAITLIN?????" ...because until this moment, she was still in her crib and couldn't get out until I got her.  Below is her re-enacting the moment....

Her great escape!

So on Sunday, Rob changed Caitlin's crib into a toddler bed.  And if you are wondering, he did it without telling me because he knew I would have tried to hold onto the crib for a few more weeks...and he was totally right!

She is so cute in her big girl bed!  Last night we went to check on her after she fell asleep, and she had tons and tons of animals in her bed with her!  I wonder how many times she got up to get a new stuffed animal!!!!!  The funny thing is, this morning, she was crying in her bed wanting me to come and get her.  Not sure if she thinks she has to stay in it, or if she likes the comfort of me getting her in the morning.  Either way, I'm happy for this!!!!!  Oh, and she somehow just FELL out of her bed (she's still awake, I'm trying to get her to nap, not going so well) but didn't fall making her great escape.  Who knows!!! 

And if you are wondering...YES, we made it through 2 kids without a video monitor...and YES, I'm in the market for one now because I can't help but think "What the hell is she doing in there????" 

In other Caitlin news, she just finished up her music class.  She loved it and did so well.  We start Mommy and Me Ballet in a few weeks...I think this will be my 4th session in Mommy and Me ballet between the 2 girls...and I've dreaded each one more than the one before...but they love it so much!

Dancing like a clown in class

She just looked so darn cute running!!!!!!  I love her!!!!

And one more first:

Her first braids!!!!  How cute is she!  I think this weekend is her first haircut.  I've been holding on to these baby curls, but think we've hit the max!  LOTS of pics to come!

Oh, and speaking of firsts....there's a BOY in our family!!!!!  B and Mo had an adorable baby boy, Patrick William!  He is the cutest, sweetest, cuddliest thing!  We've already got to meet him twice, once in the hospital and once in home...and we love him so much already!  I don't have any pics because I was too busy loving on a new baby to get out my camera, but as soon as I can, I'll get a picture! 

Congrats B and Mo!  And welcome Patrick!!!!!!!

And to end this post....a "sweet" picture of my sweet baby  Caitlin!

A Birthday Memory

We thought of you today,
But that is nothing new.
We thought of you yesterday
And will tomorrow, too.

We think of you in silence
And make no outward show.
For what it meant to lose you
Only those who love you know.

Remembering you is easy,
We do it everyday.
It's the heartache of losing you
That will never go away.

-Unknown

Happy Birthday, Grandma!  I hope you are with grandpa and your sisters and brothers having a big piece of cake...the girls are sending you cards later so watch for them...they will be with purple balloons!   :)  We love you and miss you every day!

Caitlin's Journey

I have been thinking and thinking and thinking about blogging about Caitlin's journey...and haven't quite figured out how to begin in...so today I was inspired to just start somewhere!!!

Caitlin has been struggling with speech since birth.  She never babbled.  At 6 months, she had tubes placed in her ears and we were told she should begin babbling within 2 weeks.  Nothing till 12 months!  At 12 months she was just beginning to babble so we had her evaluted for speech, but she didn't qualify.  At 18 months, she still had no words so we had her re-evaluted for speech and she qualified.  We began speech with her once a week for 6 months and saw NO progress.  It was frustrating to say the least.  At 6 months, we had a 6 month follow-up where I was prepared to complain about how it's not enough and she's not getting the help she needs....but the conversation quickly turned. 

Caitlin's speech therapist said she suspected Caitlin had Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS).  I had never heard of this...and I have my master's in Early Childhood Special Education.  Well, you can imagine how long I was up that night reading and reading and reading about it.  For the first time in 2 years, I felt like someone finally figured Miss Caitlin out!  Everything I read was like reading Caitlin's story!  I knew instantly that her speech therapist was onto something.

Apraxia is a really hard thing to explain. In fact, I'm part of an online support group and a local support group for moms of children with apraxia and it's probably the number one question..How do you explain it?  Basically it's a neurological disorder in which the brain and the lips are not insync.  So the child knows what she wants to say, but her mouth doesn't make the connection.  It's very similar to adults who have had a stroke (I know it's sounds scary that way, but it's a good comparision) because they lose their ability to talk and they need to be taught it all over again.  Caitlin is the same.  She knows everything she wants to say, but her mouth isn't able to make the shape/sound.  So we have to teach her to make every sound...and it takes a lot of practice!  One comparision her therapist made was to cars.  She said most kids' speech is like an automatic car...they just hear something and say it.  But Caitlin's speech is like a stick shift car.  She has to learn each sound...and put them together. She can't get to 3rd gear without getting to 2nd gear...and she has to get all these gears together to get to 4th or 5th gear.  But with practice, it becomes easier and easier. 

Caitlin hasn't been officially diagnosed with anything yet because in IL, you don't need a diagnosis until you are 3 because from birth to 3 is covered by Early Intervention (which Caitlin is in now).  We are not sure if/when she will be diagnosed.  She may never need a diagnosis...we shall see.  However, in January her speech therapist began a program for children with Apraxia with Caitlin (It's called the Kaufman Protocol...I will blog about it soon).  Caitlin receives speech 2 times a week for 45 minutes.  She's been following this program for 2 months now, and we've seen more progress in these 2 months than all 6 months of speech prior. 

I have been wanted to share about Caitlin's journey...but more importantly to document Caitlin's journey for ourselves.  I wasn't sure how to begin, but I found a great blog http://jakes-journey-apraxia.com/ and I was inspired.  So every Wednesday, I am going to blog about Caitlin's journey. I will discuss where she's at, what's working for her, and what's not.  My hope is that I will be able to one day show Caitlin how hard she worked and what a strong, smart, special girl she is!  So Wednesday will begin our updates on Caitlin!