Big Kid Pool

On Saturday, I decided to get the kids an early birthday present--a bigger wading pool! The two little ones are still the right size for Kevin, but Andrea barely fits in them. When she stretches out, she hangs over the edges! So, I got an 8' wide x 18" deep snap-set pool for them. Andrea was with us when we bought it; she was so excited, that Daddy had to put it up right after lunch!



Kevin isn't too sure about the new pool. First of all, we had just filled it with the hose, so the water was really cold! Here's Daddy and the kids doing ring-around-the-rosie in the pool; you can tell Kevin thinks it's a bit chilly in there!

He got used to it, but was still more comfortable when a grown-up was nearby.

I think Kevin was nervous because he can't get in and out by himself, either. The sides are too high. Even Andrea needs a bit of a hand. We are trying to think of something we can rig up so they can get in/out more easily. Andrea can do it if she has something to steady herself with (like a lawn chair), but Kevin needs a lift!


Daddy and Kevin were content to watch Andrea have fun in the big pool.

I think we'll have to leave out a little pool for Kevin, for now. :))

Busy Week!

From Father's Day to 3 appointments for Kevin, we've had a busy week!

Father's Day
On Father's Day, we went to Gram and Papa's for a nice brunch. We were also celebrating Uncle Tony's birthday, which was the next day. Andrea and Izzy put the candles on the cake (some were upside down) and blew out the candles before we could finish singing Happy Birthday!

The girls also helped Papa open his Father's Day presents.

Papa wanted a picture with all his grandkids. This is truly a candid photo! Kevin looks bored, Andrea is grinning at nothing, Hannah is spaced-out, and Izzy looks like she's being squished--but they all love their Papa. :))

Oh, just line them up on the couch and put on an episode of "Dora." It's all good.

Since it was such a nice day outside, Gram and Papa set up some water toys for the kids to play with, after brunch. First, there was bubbles for everyone!

Then, they made their way into the pool. Andrea liked doing the splits on the slippery pool liner!

Kevin found the pool a bit cold, so they gave him a separate bucket of water to play in. It was just his size! He also figured out how to fire the squirt guns. He was having a riot squirting the water into his mouth . . .

. . . and his eye!

Andrea wanted to try out the bucket, too. Ta-da!

Gram and Papa also have this palm tree inflatable that fills with water. It's perfect for the kids to stand in, and get a shower!

Our fun at Gram and Papa's tired us out, so we all went home for a nap. After a lazy afternoon, Daddy took us to Twistee Cone for some ice cream. When it was time to leave there, Kevin kept looking back, so I said, "Bye-bye, ice cream!" and he repeated, "Bye-bye, icee!" Then, all the way home in the car, he'd randomly pipe up with, "Bye-bye, icee. Bye-bye, icee."

Monday

On Monday afternoon, Kevin and I went for our first videotaping/critiquing session for the It Takes Two to Talk program. Our speech therapist was thrilled with Kevin's progress--and mine, too! He is initiating a lot more interaction, and using some small words to communicate, to make his needs and interests clearer to us. He repeats many small two or three word phrases with good clarity now. My progress was in having less of a "watcher" role, and more direct joining in the play with Kevin.

While we were doing that, Andrea spent the afternoon/evening with Gram and Papa, since Izzy and Hannah were there, too. As it was another nice day, they spent more time in the pool. When Andrea came home, it was bath time, but she told me she's already had a bath, in the pool. I didn't believe her, so I asked Papa if it was true. He said yes, that he gave them some soap in the pool, and they loved it! Leave it to a grandparent to bath the kids in the pool. :)) Here's some pictures that Gram sent me of their in-pool bath. The flamingo got a bath, too.

Tuesday: Kevin's MRI

Early Tuesday morning, we took Kevin into Met hospital for the MRI the neurologist had scheduled for him, to take a look at his brain structures. She did this just to rule out anything that might be causing Kevin's motor and speech delays. She said nothing is found in most cases; it's just a precaution. We're not sure when we'll get the results.

Kevin handled the whole thing really well. They had to put a monitor on his toe to check his vital signs. Then, they gave him two syringes full of yucky medicine to make him sleep, so he wouldn't move during the MRI. It took about 25 minutes before Kevin fell asleep, although you could tell he was feeling the meds almost right away--he was drowsy, giggling, and kept randomly waving his arms around and patting his head; you could tell he felt weird. After he fell asleep, they put the monitor on him again for a few minutes, then took him over for the MRI. Daddy and I were in the waiting room for about 40 minutes. Then, the nurse came out carrying Kevin, and saying he did great! He was asleep just long enough, and woke up well.

Since he couldn't eat or drink before the test, the nurse brought him some juice and cookies. Well, the effects of those meds took a while to wear off. He could barely keep a straw in his mouth, and kept missing his mouth when he tried to take a bite of cookie! Also, the poor little guy was so dizzy, that he was like a Kevin bobble-head; his head kept leaning and flopping all over the place! On top of that, he was babbling and singing like crazy. It was funny until we got home, and he wanted to play. He could barely crawl, and fell down every time he tried to walk! He wanted to play so much, and was getting so upset, that I finally put him in his crib with the mobile on, and he watched that for about 45 minutes. Then, he fell asleep for about 3 hours. Finally, he woke up refreshed, and was back to normal Kevin. :))

Wednesday: The Heat!

Although the whole week has been hot and humid, Wednesday was definitely the worst day. It was about 96 degrees, with a humidex of at least 100. I dressed the kids coolly for daycare, but they still came home hot, because both of them have their outside playtime in the afternoon right before we pick them up. Kevin was especially miserable, so when I changed his diaper, I took the rest of his clothes off. We were relaxing, watching TV, when I noticed he had disappeared. I found him in Andrea's room, curled up in dim coolness of her bed (the back rooms of our house tend to be much cooler).

Andrea thought he looked pretty comfortable, so she decided to join him.

Kevin and I started to play a little game, where he would hide under the blankets, and I would ask, "Where's Kevin?" He would pull the blanket away, and I would say, "There he is!" and he would repeat, "There he is!" However, his response was a bit muffled because he had his thumb in his mouth. :))

That night, I let Andrea stay up to watch the fireworks on TV. She was excited by them for about 5 minutes, then wanted to watch her own shows. I think she was a bit let down because she thought we were actually going in person to see them outside. She kept asking, "How can we go there?" I think we'll have to work out a plan to take her to see them downtown next year. We can't take Kevin though--loud noises always scare him. I think he would have a massive panic attack!

Today: Daycare Meeting

Today we had a big meeting at Kevin's daycare with all of his Children First service providers/therapists and his daycare teacher. They do this every six months to pull everyone together and discuss how we are doing in achieving the goals we set out for Kevin's progress. Overall, everyone is extremely pleased with Kevin's progress. He has blossomed over the past few months that he's been in the Toddler Room. He is walking fairly well, and communicating much better. The teacher said he is less timid about trying new activities, and really seems to enjoy doing crafts and circle time.

Our new goals for his motor skills are that he will gain more stability in his walking and balance, and refine his safety reflexes (such as regaining his balance after being bumped, and putting his hands in front of him for protection during a fall). For speech, we are hopig to increase his word usage and clarity. We are also adding an Occupational Therapy referral. We have noticed that some of Kevin's fine motor skills are a bit clumsy, such as when he's feeding himself (he can do it, but makes a huge mess), holding a crayon, or manipulating some small craft pieces. The PT also discussed the possibility of putting Kevin in a vest that would give more support to his trunk area, but I'm not keen on that. I talked them into putting that off until the fall, and seeing how Kevin's posture is then.

Kevin needs new shoes, too. His feet are growing! The teachers and PT noticed that his toes are hanging over the edge of his sandals. Oops! :))

Summer is (Pretty Much) Here

For the past few days, Andrea's been begging me to let her swim in her kiddie pools in the backyard. Yesterday, as it was close to 80 degrees outside, I cleaned up the pools and let her and Kevin play in the water after supper. They loved it! Kevin was in a miserable mood in the house (due to his mouth injury--see previous post), but when we got him into the water, his bad mood magically disappeared. And since there are 2 kiddie pools, they had lots of fun switching back and forth between one and the other. They thought that was pretty special.

Kevin tries to imitate everything Andrea does now, like trying to stand up and walk over the edge of the pool!

He quickly caught on that crawling out was still a safer bet for him.

My Mermaid (she was pretending to be"Ariel")

Kevin was getting a little silly with the water, dumping it all over himself (and Andrea, too!).

Kevin's diaper is full--I think it's time to come out!

(I forgot to change him into a swimmer diaper).

The kids decided they wanted to go on our little slide for awhile. Their wet suits made for an extra-slippery ride! I got a video of them zooming down the slide, and didn't notice what Kevin said until I was editing it today. I was nervous because the climber was so slippery, so I kept saying, "Careful, Buddy!" when Kevin was on it. Upon reviewing this video today, I noticed Kevin clearly says, "Bud-dee, care-ful!" just before he goes down the slide! :))

After Kevin went in the house, Andrea sat with me for a bit, enjoying the nice evening. She was sitting on the stairs, and suddenly noticed that her wet bum was making marks on the steps. Andrea likes making footprints; now, she has discovered "butt-prints!" (By the way, notice how many times she asks, "Why?" in 50 seconds.)

Another month gone by . . . and Kevin's Walking!

I'm hoping now that I'm off for the summer, I'll have much more time to post about all our summer events. We do have a lot of upcoming events: birthday parties, weddings, Grama Marty's visit, etc.

For now, this update will focus on Kevin. He is officially a walker! He toddles all over the place now. Naturally, he still has the unsteady toddler gait, and he's had some pretty nasty falls. Yesterday at daycare, he tripped over a chair and hit his mouth on a table, so he's got a fat lip, swollen gums, and a bruise under his nose. He cried when he was eating this morning, because it still hurts. :(( I try to remember that it's part of learning to walk, but I feel so sad when he gets hurt. However, it certainly hasn't stopped his progress! He started taking steps in May, and by the start of June he was walking short distances between furniture. Now, he walks all over the place! So, for the record, I guess Kevin started walking at 22.5 months.

Here's the video that most of you have seen, from about 10 days ago, of Kevin really starting to walk on his own. He's already gotten much stronger and steadier, although Andrea and I have given him the nickname "Tipsy Walker!"

Kevin still laughs a lot when he walks. He also plays games where he tries to "chase" Andrea, and they both laugh and scream like crazies. Now, Kevin is even starting to dance! Usually he'll hold onto the TV or something to keep his balance, but sometimes he lets go and twists from side to side. It's too cute. I haven't been able to get video of that yet, but you can be assured I'll get it soon.

Kevin is also talking more, too. He imitates our words at the most surprising moments! Andrea had put on a pretty dress the other day, and I said she looked very nice. Kevin suddenly piped up, saying, "Ver nishe! Nishe!" He also imitated me when I was helping him play with some toys in the tub: "Mama opeh?" (Mama open) and "Mama cos" (Mama close). He is also starting to sing some words of his toddler songs, instead of just grunting, like "seem" (stream) and "eem" (dream) in Row, Row Your Boat. He also tires to sing the alphabet, although the only letters I can distinguish clearly are C, G, I, S, V, and X. His favourite song is Baa Baa Black Sheep, where he sings "Baa Baa," "seep" (sheep), "woo" (wool), and "esshir" (yes sir). He also tries to count, too. His clearest numbers, for some reason, are 6, 7, and 8 ("sees, seveh, eat"). I love hearing his little voice, even if it's not so clear at times.

Andrea's doing well, too. Her favourite question is "Why?" and she wants to know about everything! On July 2, she'll be moving into the Kindergarten Room at daycare. She also is having a lot of fun getting Kevin to repeat her words and gestures, since he's starting into the parrot stage now. The sibling rivalry is definitely still there, but I think she's beginning to see Kevin as more of a playmate now. :))

Red Bull Air Races: Windsor, 2009

On Sunday, June 14, our family, the Robinets, and their friend Adam went to the Red Bull Air Races, which were hosted by Windsor this year. The races took place at the riverfront. Our tickets got us general admission seating at Dieppe Gardens, where we found a shady tree to sit under, and had a decent view of the race course. Since the races started at 1:00 PM, we got there a bit early, and had a picnic.

Daddy supervising snack time

Kevin: always loves a good snack!

The Races

Briefly, the planes go through a course of air-filled gates/pylons that is situated on the river. For some of the gates, they have to fly straight through, while for others, they have to turn sideways, or weave in and out. Hitting an air gate gets them a time penalty. The air gates are made of a fabric that rips apart as soon as it's hit, so the pilots don't get hurt. This particular set of four gates was right in front of our viewing area, and as the wind picked up, several pilots hit one of these gates. (I didn't manage to catch any of those on film, though it was fun to see!)

(Joe Louis Arena--home of the Detroit Red Wings)





flying the course in front of the Renaissance Centre, Detroit
The Kids

The kids did amazingly well, considering the late night before, and an afternoon of watching planes. They weren't very interested after the first few went by, but found ways to amuse themselves.

Kevin was constantly crawling/walking away on the grass, so we were constantly chasing him; he also enjoyed several stroller rides from Daddy.

Andrea wanted a stroller ride, too, but she's too big for it now; Daddy gave her a horsey ride instead. He looks so resigned.

Andrea and Chloe had fun playing games on/with the picnic blankets.


They made their own horsey ride out of one of the blankets!

Meanwhile, Kevin continued to play in/with the grass. He was fascinated. You'd think the child had never been outside/seen grass before!

Daddy bought some licorice for the kids' treat. Kevin had his little piece sticking out of his mouth and was wiggling it around with his tongue. He thought he was pretty entertaining!

Daddy also provided much of the entertainment for the little ones. Here, he and Chloe are making a hat exchange.

Ahh, rest time? Not exactly. Kevin was wrestling with Daddy and crawling all over him.

Andrea: quiet and contemplative--a rare thing indeed.

After we left the races, we had an uphill walk back to the car. Andrea got pretty tired; our friend Adam helped her with a piggy-back ride up the hill. Then, she fell asleep on the short car-ride home. I wonder, did her late-night party of the evening before have anything to do with this? :))

***

Video of a Race Flight

I tried to get a video of someone flying through the course, for those of you who may not have seen this before. I apologize for the shakiness of some parts of it; it's hard to film a plane that's travelling over 300 km/h with a basic digital camera! It gives you an idea, though, and you can hear the announcers clearly in the background, and the sounds of the plane flying by. It was fun to watch.