Okay, Mommy's brain is fuzzy right now from exams/new block overload, but there are a few updates which I need to post while I have two spare seconds.
Andrea's Potty Training Breakthrough
On Friday, January 2nd, I simply decided to quit the diapers with Andrea (during the daytime). I was pretty nervous, and pretty certain it was going to be a disaster like every time before where I claimed it was time for "firm" potty training. But a miracle has occurred: Andrea is doing GREAT with her potty training this time. She has not worn diapers during the daytime since the 2nd, and she has had very few accidents. For the first few days, we had to ask her frequently if she had to go to the bathroom; now, she tells us. We were all amazed by this sudden turn-around; I guess she was finally ready! At home, we still have to help her a bit because she prefers to use the grown-up potty with a potty seat, but at least she always tells us when she needs to go. Daycare was obviously thrilled with this development, and sent home all her diapers. (They also said she will be moving up to the Senior Preschool Room as soon as there's an opening. They said she's "Top Dog" in the classroom, which means it's time for her to move up!) We only use diapers at night, and sometimes for naps. We are so proud of her, and believe me, Andrea is extremely proud of herself! She likes to show her underwear to everyone (yikes!), but we're glad she's excited about the whole process now.
JK Registration for Andrea
We register Andrea for Junior Kindergarten on February 10th. She's been in daycare since she was 14 months old, but still, this is taking a while to sink in. I seriously can't believe we're registering her for JK in a couple weeks.
Kevin's Appointments and Assessments
Yesterday, we went to the pediatrician for another follow-up on Kevin's development. This time, he seemed a bit more concerned about Kevin not walking yet. He said he's sending us to the JMCC for an assessment. Yep, another assessment--different organization, same deal. ;p
Today, we went for Kevin's hearing test at Met Hospital. The problem is, he has an ear infection, which was only diagnosed (and medicated) yesterday at the pediatrician's office. So, when the lady did Kevin's tests, the results weren't reliable. He had congestion and fluid in both ears, according to the readings. Well, there's a good chance that's caused by his ear infection. Therefore, we had to make an appointment for a re-test in eight weeks, to see if the fluid is always there, or if it is just the ear infection causing it. For now, she said his hearing is borderline-normal and that his right ear seems a bit weaker than his left. But then again, it could just be the ear infection. Thus, the results are inconclusive.
In terms of his work with the Children First organization, we are waiting for assessment results from them, too. We should be getting those at a meeting on February 4th. In the meantime, he's been getting speech and physio visits from them, at daycare. The speech therapist says he's still not making much noise (which is true), but we have seen a few little developments. He is starting to copy some animal noises for us, even if they are a bit garbled. We can get him to imitate moo, woof woof, meow, baa, quack quack, and sssss (snake). I have also gotten him to say "Papa" (grandpa) a few times. He loves to hum little tunes, so I try to get him to "sing" using the sounds he's best at, like "da-da" and "na-na." He's pretty good at that, too. As for his physio, he's still not pulling himself up to standing, but when you put him in standing position against a walking toy or something that moves, we've seen him take one or two shaky steps (but this has only happened twice). I saw him pushing himself up to standing on the arm of the couch today, kind of like he does in the bathtub. But in these cases, he's not really standing, because his upper body is bent over to hang onto whatever he's pushing himself up from. It's awkward to describe, but you can see what I mean in that tub video in the previous post.
Andrea's Potty Training Breakthrough
On Friday, January 2nd, I simply decided to quit the diapers with Andrea (during the daytime). I was pretty nervous, and pretty certain it was going to be a disaster like every time before where I claimed it was time for "firm" potty training. But a miracle has occurred: Andrea is doing GREAT with her potty training this time. She has not worn diapers during the daytime since the 2nd, and she has had very few accidents. For the first few days, we had to ask her frequently if she had to go to the bathroom; now, she tells us. We were all amazed by this sudden turn-around; I guess she was finally ready! At home, we still have to help her a bit because she prefers to use the grown-up potty with a potty seat, but at least she always tells us when she needs to go. Daycare was obviously thrilled with this development, and sent home all her diapers. (They also said she will be moving up to the Senior Preschool Room as soon as there's an opening. They said she's "Top Dog" in the classroom, which means it's time for her to move up!) We only use diapers at night, and sometimes for naps. We are so proud of her, and believe me, Andrea is extremely proud of herself! She likes to show her underwear to everyone (yikes!), but we're glad she's excited about the whole process now.
JK Registration for Andrea
We register Andrea for Junior Kindergarten on February 10th. She's been in daycare since she was 14 months old, but still, this is taking a while to sink in. I seriously can't believe we're registering her for JK in a couple weeks.
Kevin's Appointments and Assessments
Yesterday, we went to the pediatrician for another follow-up on Kevin's development. This time, he seemed a bit more concerned about Kevin not walking yet. He said he's sending us to the JMCC for an assessment. Yep, another assessment--different organization, same deal. ;p
Today, we went for Kevin's hearing test at Met Hospital. The problem is, he has an ear infection, which was only diagnosed (and medicated) yesterday at the pediatrician's office. So, when the lady did Kevin's tests, the results weren't reliable. He had congestion and fluid in both ears, according to the readings. Well, there's a good chance that's caused by his ear infection. Therefore, we had to make an appointment for a re-test in eight weeks, to see if the fluid is always there, or if it is just the ear infection causing it. For now, she said his hearing is borderline-normal and that his right ear seems a bit weaker than his left. But then again, it could just be the ear infection. Thus, the results are inconclusive.
In terms of his work with the Children First organization, we are waiting for assessment results from them, too. We should be getting those at a meeting on February 4th. In the meantime, he's been getting speech and physio visits from them, at daycare. The speech therapist says he's still not making much noise (which is true), but we have seen a few little developments. He is starting to copy some animal noises for us, even if they are a bit garbled. We can get him to imitate moo, woof woof, meow, baa, quack quack, and sssss (snake). I have also gotten him to say "Papa" (grandpa) a few times. He loves to hum little tunes, so I try to get him to "sing" using the sounds he's best at, like "da-da" and "na-na." He's pretty good at that, too. As for his physio, he's still not pulling himself up to standing, but when you put him in standing position against a walking toy or something that moves, we've seen him take one or two shaky steps (but this has only happened twice). I saw him pushing himself up to standing on the arm of the couch today, kind of like he does in the bathtub. But in these cases, he's not really standing, because his upper body is bent over to hang onto whatever he's pushing himself up from. It's awkward to describe, but you can see what I mean in that tub video in the previous post.
***
Okay, so that's it for now, until the next round of appointments/results come in, or the next developmental breakthrough for one of them, or the next just-plain-cute thing they do. Here's some recent pictures of the munchkins relaxing. :))
Daddy is helping Andrea stand up straight, and balance on her skates, by resting against the boards. Daddy is so proud of his little skater!
Andrea and Izzy have been joined at the hip this Christmas season. Whenever they are together somewhere, they have so 
BIG HUGS!
Jocelyn opening her gift from Kevin
Poor Kevin is NOT loving all the holiday excitement. Whenever people come over to visit, or we go somewhere to visit others, Kevin gets very upset, and cries. We noticed this first at the kids' Christmas shows earlier in the month, and thought it was just something to do with being at daycare at night, but I'm getting concerned that there's something more. Kevin is not handling the new people and places well. Every time, someone he is close to has to take him away to a quiet area to get him to relax. On Christmas Eve, he had an especially bad meltdown during the gift exchange. I took him upstairs to Great-Gram's spare room, and laid on the bed with him. He was too wound up to sleep, and when I tried to lay him down alone in the crib, he screamed. So, I spent the remainder of Christmas Eve in Gram's spare room, snuggling with Kevin. I took the picture above while we were cuddling. In a way, it was very sweet to have some snuggle time with my Buddy, but on the other hand, it kind of put a damper on my Christmas Eve festivities.
Well, at least one little person certainly enjoyed Mommy's cupcakes! Uncle 