Christmas at Gram and Papa Gagnon's

On Sunday, we celebrated our family Christmas with Gram and Papa Gagnon, Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Tony, and Isabelle. We had some snacks, and then we opened presents!






The girls got matching dollies. Izzy named hers "Hannah," after her baby sister in Aunt Stephanie's belly, who will be joining us by January 6th. Andrea needed help picking a name, too, so we suggested "Holly," since Andrea got her for Christmas. Mommy is already doing babysitting duties for Holly each night when Andrea goes to bed.


The Legend of the Christmas Ball



Once upon a time (actually, it was 26 years ago!), Rodney created a papier-mache Christmas ornament in his first-grade art class. It has since become a family institution. While Rod was still living with his parents, he would pull it out of the ornament box each year, and place it in a prominent position on their Christmas tree. When Rod and I moved into our own apartment, Gram passed on Rodney's beloved "Christmas Ball" into our possession. And each year, I stuff it somewhere in the back or the middle of our tree, so it is technically on the tree, if not greatly visible.


This year, I decided that Gram must have missed the presence of the Christmas Ball on her tree the past few years, so it was time for . . . The Christmas Balls, The Next Generation.



Naturally, Gram just loved the Christmas Balls that Andrea and Kevin helped me make for her. And yes, she displayed them prominently, on the front branches of her Christmas tree. :))


Having Fun

Andrea and Izzy play so well together. They always get extra excited now when they see each other, and they often walk around holding hands. :))

***

Before we left, Papa was making their Tigger toy bounce for Kevin. Kevin was kind of startled by it, and he would flinch sometimes, but mostly, he laughed at it. :))

Thanks for a wonderful Christmas dinner and all the family fun, Gram and Papa!

By Request: More Kevin :))

Okay, Grama Marty requested some pictures and videos of Kevin's progress, so here they are! Besides, it gives me an excuse to make up for lost time in terms of pictures and videos . . . there's been so little since I went back to work . . . sigh. So, I'm going to make the most of it while I'm on holidays!

Kevin Crawling on Hands and Knees, and Pulling up to Knees

Who Needs Toys? Just get them a Big Box!

Better Movement Means Getting into More Stuff . . .

His favourite thing right now is pulling up to his knees so he can press the buttons on the TV, over . . . and over . . . and over again. Of course, Andrea has a major meltdown if he interrupts one of her shows. He thinks it's the best joke when he turns off the TV in the middle of our programs, or changes the channels. He also pulls himself up to the Christmas village on the entertainment unit, and tries to play with that. He keeps us busy now!

He's been getting into the tree since it went up, but he's also started to sneak into the presents now. I love the fact that he's not only caught in the act, but he's shaking it, too!

Thank God They're So Cute

Kevin Snuggling with Momma's Foot

Kevin re-discovered the "Kneebouncers" site today--he loved it! He was initially excited because Mommy was letting him press the keys for once, but then he noticed the games were fun, too!

Let It Snow!

Here's a few shots after our first major snowfall this year, which came on Friday. It looks quite pretty when you can enjoy it from inside your home. We are supposed to get another few inches tomorrow. Well, at least it's festive. :))

Improvement in Movement :))

We have seen Kevin making good progress over the last two weeks. He started to do the traditional crawl on his hands and knees. Sometimes he gets going so fast that his back end can't keep with his front, and he ends up wiping out! I would say he does the hands and knees crawl about half of the time now. He still reverts to the army crawl when he's tired or upset.

Kevin is also trying to pull himself up on the couch. He can pull himself up to his knees 90 percent of the time, and then he'll stay there and play with me for a while. A couple of times, I've even seen him try to pull himself up to his feet. He's not quite ready for that, though; he usually ends up toppling over when he tries to pull himself up to standing. However, it's so great to see that he's trying, and he seems pretty self-motivated now.

The ladies from Children First visited us at home again yesterday, and were really happy to see this progress. They said that Kevin's trunk (mid-section) looks much stronger already. He still isn't saying too much, but he was in a good mood this time, and was smiling and playing with the toys they brought.

One little Kevin-habit that I have noticed is that when he's feeling tired, or just cuddly, he will lay down and roll over onto his side, resting at the feet of the person he wants to be sucky with. Then, he pops his thumb in his mouth and snuggles against the person's legs/feet. It's too cute; he's like a little puppy dog! He was doing that with me yesterday when the ladies were over, and they thought it was adorable. Before they left, he crawled over to the physiotherapist (she was on floor level with him), rolled over, and cuddled up against her. She thought he was the sweetest thing; and generally, he is!

I'll try to get some video of Kevin's progress over the holidays.

Andrea and Kevin's Daycare Christmas Pageants

Kevin's Christmas Show on Tuesday, December 11

This was Kevin's first daycare Christmas show. I had a feeling he was going to cry, because he tends to be shy, and not fond of loud crowds. Well, Mommy knows best. As soon as the teacher brought him out and set him down on the stage, his face crumpled up and he let out a wail. Thankfully, Miss Magda realized that Kevin would stop crying if she held him, so she tried to hold him throughout the performance.


We were laughing because Miss Magda was jingling the bells with Kevin so quickly, in an attempt to get him to laugh! (As you can see, he wasn't convinced--but he did stop crying.)


Kevin settled in after a bit. I think he liked this song with the Santa Claus face, because he could hide behind it!

Kevin felt much better when his class was done, and he could hide in the back on Daddy's lap. I think it was more of an ordeal for him because he was still getting over his infection at the time, so he was extra tired and sensitive. He is back to his cheerful (if still a bit quiet) little self this week.

Andrea's Christmas Show on Thursday, December 13

Andrea was so excited about her show. She kept asking us every night, for a week or so, if it was her show yet. On the night we went to Kevin's, she had a meltdown when we arrived, and she realized it wasn't her turn! Andrea loves to sing and dance for people. Well, she finally got her chance two days after Kevin.

Imagine our surprise when we saw the program: Andrea had a solo! They didn't tell us ahead of time, so it was a complete surprise. She did great! She wasn't shy at all, and sang her part perfectly. We were so proud of her!

Andrea's Solo

Most of Andrea's Junior Preschool friends are shown above.

"Ring Those Bells"

"This Little Light of Mine"

"Happy Birthday to Jesus"

(I cut off the teacher's comment, before they started, as they gathered around the cradle: "Don't burn baby Jesus!" LOL Then Andrea drops her "candle" at the end!)

"My Peppermint Stick"

Andrea and her best friend, Sandra, enjoying their "Peppermint Sticks" at the end of the show.

This last one explained some things Andrea had said to me in the week before the show. She kept mentioning things like, "I get to hold my candy cane," and "Miss Dar is giving me a treat," and "Miss Dar let me have one lick of my peppermint stick today!" That last one baffled Daddy and I. We knew what she meant, but we wondered where she had learned the words "peppermint stick" for candy cane. Well, now we know!

Children First Helps Out

Well, I have to say, Children First is really helping us out this time. I mean, they did a great job with Andrea, but her situation wasn't as complicated; she did end up walking in time to move up in daycare, and all we really needed from them was the assessment and information about how to get the orthotics for her shoes. We've got a lot more concerns about Kevin. Not to worry--he's okay--it's just that we have more issues to deal with in his case.

On Wednesday, our Resource Consultant (basically, the person overseeing Kevin's case) came out to our house, and the Physiotherapist came with her again. Kevin was still sick that day, so they didn't really get to do physio, but we had a great chat and made some plans, and they addressed the one thing that is an immediate concern for us: daycare. Daycare has been putting on the pressure for Kevin to be walking in two months, to move up the the Toddler Room.

Well, yesterday our Resource Consultant called the daycare, and having worked with them for a long time, she put it to them bluntly: quit putting pressure on Kevin and his family to get him walking. Kevin needs to work on pre-walking skills before we can even think about him toddling; he needs to build up his muscle tone and work on his foot/hip/knee alignment. Thankfully, the people at our daycare are very caring and reasonable. They have said that they are tentatively planning on moving him up March 1st (which gives us an extra month), and that if he's not ready, they will not force him to move up, or leave the daycare (thank goodness!).

In the meantime, the physiotherapist and the speech therapist will be visiting him regularly at daycare, and doing some home visits, too. In fact, the Resource Consultant and the physiotherapist are planning another home visit with us on December 18. Also, the speech therapist sent home a package of games/songs/suggestions for us to help Kevin practice with his voice. A lot of the things we are already doing, but there are a few new ideas in the package.

In terms of Kevin's communication, we are already seeing a big change in the past few weeks. He now waves hello and bye-bye without prompting, when he sees people coming or going; he tries to say bye-bye sometimes ("bah-bah"); he blows kisses when it's time for bed, or someone he likes is leaving (again, usually without prompting); he points at things he's interested in; he repeats some noises (growling, "ahh"--after a drink, "mmmm"--if something's tasty). We are trying to teach him Santa says, "Ho ho ho!" (he says "ha ha ha"). He also does Andrea's trick now, of going (crawling) over to the banister and giving someone a kiss through the bars, if they're arriving or leaving.

We also have a hearing test scheduled for January 20, and are looking into the possibility of blood tests to rule out any metabolic/enzyme problems (he does tire easily, but it's not a big concern--just a precaution--more to rule it out).

Well, now I can relax about the daycare. Maybe I can spend some more time getting Andrea to sit on the potty!

ANOTHER Festive Photo Fiasco!

Why did I think it would be different this time? Sigh. This was, by far, the worst photo session--wait, I mean SESSIONS--yet. The first time, Kevin cried so much that we had to re-book it! The second time, he cried the whole time again, but we managed to get him at least to not-cry (smiling was out of the question) for a few shots! Admittedly, it was the afternoon after the second attempt that I ended up in Urgent Care with him for a fever of almost 104, an ear infection in both ears, and infected tonsils. Ack. To get the few decent shots we could, it involved several falsely-cheerful (and slightly manic) renditions of "Wheels on the Bus," "Twinkle Twinkle," and "If You're Happy and You Know It" (oh, the irony on that one!). The pictures really tell the story.

Daddy: "Julie just had to get a family picture . . . sigh."

Andrea: "Cheese! . . . um, am I doing this right?"

Kevin: "If you take away my thumb, I will shriek."

Mommy: "For the love of God, can we get just one decent family picture together?!"

***

Andrea: "I am so cute, and I'm being a good girl."

Kevin: "Who are you people? What do you want from me? I want my mommy!"
***

Andrea, from our first photo session: she did a great job!

***

The originals really show Kevin's red and teary eyes, and Mommy's determinedly-gritting-her-teeth and over-the-top smile.

Maybe we'll have better luck next year. :p

Appointments and Assessment

It's been a busy week for the little Gagnon family.

Kevin's Assessment
On Tuesday afternoon, a speech therapist and a physiotherapist came out from Children First to do an assessment of Kevin's skills. His situation is very similar to what Andrea's was, two years ago: he has to be walking by the end of January, to move up to the Toddler Room in daycare. Otherwise, he will likely have to leave daycare for a while. My concerns about Kevin are even greater, though: he didn't start crawling until 3 weeks ago, and he barely says "Mama" and "Dada," let alone anything else.

So, the ladies came to our house to observe Kevin, and decide if he could benefit from services offered by their program, and their related providers. The visit went well. They were very positive about what they observed. They say that Kevin has a great attention span, he is very curious, he interacts well with others, and he has excellent emerging/foundation skills. So, yes, he's a bit behind the time-frame for certain milestones, but there's really no serious issues holding him back. Nevertheless, they do feel he will benefit from speech and physiotherapy sessions. They are starting him soon, and gave him priority status on their wait list, because they feel he's at a critical point in his development; with his emerging skills suddenly blossoming these past few weeks, it's the best time to build on them, and give him that extra boost.

The physiotherapist says he is definitely not ready to walk yet. She says we need to build up his foot and hip strength first, so she showed me some exercises to to with him. I explained about our daycare issue, and she was really annoyed (with them!). She said he may learn to walk sooner, but it won't be properly, and he won't be confident, if we don't let him do it in his own time. I agree, but what can we do? She said she'd talk to the daycare about it.

The speech therapist said we should practice sounds with Kevin, to get him used to using his voice. There's nothing physically wrong with his vocals, he's just not a talker! She suggested working on animal noises, transportation noises, etc. She even suggested we teach him a few simple signs to help him communicate in the meantime--but we are to SAY the word along with the sign, of course. She's going to start working with him on Monday at daycare, because she is often there seeing other children, already.

We will also be seeing a resource consultant who will be in charge of Kevin's case. She's the same one we had for Andrea, so it will be nice to be dealing with a familiar person. Actually, we have the same physiotherapist, too.

Andrea's Allergist Appointment
This morning, Grandma and Grandpa took Andrea to the allergist for us. The issue was whether or not she could have the flu shot. He (the doctor) told us before that she was allergic to eggs, but not severely allergic to them. People who are allergic to eggs can't have the flu shot, because eggs are part of the base of the serum. However, with Andrea's asthma, it would be dangerous if she got the flu.

So, the doctor decided to test her for the egg allergy again (the skin scratch test). This time, the result was negative. He said it was probably a "transient" allergy--she had it once, but now it's gone. We have never seen her react to eating eggs, so I'm not sure she ever had the egg allergy; but who wants to take chances? It's good to know for sure, now, that she doesn't have the egg allergy.

Once they knew she wasn't allergic to eggs, the doctor gave her a flu shot (well, half a dose--it's her first time getting one. Kevin only got a half-dose too). Apparently she cried quite a lot :(( , but was soon consoled by Grandma and Grandpa, and an Ariel Princess bandage.

Kevin's Pediatrician Appointment
This afternoon, I took Kevin in for his follow-up with the pediatrician, who we saw three months ago. Kevin weighs 24 pounds. (I didn't hear how long he is.) The pediatrician looked Kevin all over. We talked about the progress he's made in the past few weeks, and also my concerns that more progress is needed. Well, Dr. G. seemed confident that Kevin is just fine. He must have said, "This is a completely normal child!" about 10 times. He said he sees no signs of any hormonal, chromosomal, or cognitive issues. He said Kevin "is just taking his time. He'll do it when he wants to!" He said he wouldn't even say that Kevin has any delays. I was so glad to hear that!

I told Dr. G. about our involvement with Children First. He seemed to have an amused toleration for it. He basically said, "Well, they're just doing what they have to do," and seemed to be suggesting that he didn't think Kevin needed any extra help. I think he saw my hesitation because he said, "It won't hurt him. Might as well do it."

***

So, there it is . . . we move forward, with our two little munchkins who like to do things when THEY feel like doing them! :))

xoxoxox

Don't get to say it enough lately . . . very busy, very tired, often grouchy and stressed . . . but I love these guys with all my heart!

***

P.S. Kevin started crawling about 2 and a half weeks ago. There will be more updates about him soon . . . he has a Physiotherapy and Speech assessment this week, and a follow-up with the pediatrician. We are also going to book a hearing test soon.

P.P.S. Andrea's doing better on the potty. It's still inconsistent, but there's been progress.

Two Birthdays!

Caitlin's Surprise 16th Birthday Party
On Saturday night, we went to Aunt Donna and Uncle Greg's for Caitlin's surprise 16th birthday party. Yes, she was truly surprised! A big part of the surprise was a visit from Grama Marty, especially for her 16th birthday. (Remember, Rod had picked Grama Marty up from the airport on Halloween night? That's why!)

Aunt Donna, Caitlin, and Grama Marty***

We had fun waiting for Caitlin to arrive, too. There were plenty of people there: some family, and a lot of Caitlin's friends! Andrea was shy at first, but when the big kids started showing her how to blow her party horn (and totally egging her on to blow it every two seconds), she had a blast!


Daddy and Kevin, waiting for Cait's arrival

Caitlin greeting Kevin (while Grama Marty tempts him with a pepperoni!)

***
They had a bonfire and DJ at the next-door neighbour's for the teenagers, so we went out for a few minutes to say goodbye before taking the kids home. It was chilly out there!

Grandma Gagnon's Birthday

The next day, we celebrated Grandma Gagnon's birthday. The girls "helped" Grandma open her presents (got into them is more like it!).Grandpa ordered pizza, and he made a cake for Grandma all by himself! Of course, it was decorated more with the kids in mind, with sprinkles and Smarties and all kinds of fun decorations . . . :)) YUMMY!

Halloween 2008

Andrea was SO excited for Halloween this year. For about a week before, she started asking, about 20 times every day, "Is it Halloween yet? Can I wear my new princess dress?" She also practiced trick-or-treating with me and Daddy (pretending at home), and would ask us every night, when it was dark out, if it was time to go get candy!

***

Anyway, Andrea got to have a little early Halloween fun. Aunt Stephanie and Isabelle came over a few days before to show off Izzy's costume, so I let Andrea and Kevin put theirs on, too.

Excited Princess!

Dragon Baby :))

Cute Little Cousins (Izzy is a chicken!)

***

Daddy brought home a pumpkin for Andrea on Thursday night. She was thrilled. It was perfect timing--we had just finished watching the episode of Max and Ruby where they carve their pumpkin! Andrea designed the face, and Daddy carved it for her. She even helped remove the pumpkin guts!

***

They don't get to wear their costumes to daycare on Halloween. The kids' daycare has a "black and orange" day instead, so I bought them matching "Mommy Little Pumpkin" t-shirts. ***
Here's my cuties together on Halloween night: the Princess and her Dragon!

***

Daddy and I took Andrea and Kevin to visit Great-Grandma Maurice; then over to Mike, Michelle, and Parker's for a few minutes; and then we visited for a bit at Gram and Grandpa's. Soon, we were working our way back home, and trick-or-treating along the way. I pulled Kevin in the wagon, while Daddy took Andrea to the houses. Andrea was so funny; more often than not, she would greet our neighbours with "Happy Halloween!" when they opened the door (instead of "trick-or-treat"). Of course, they thought she was precious! When we got home, the kids and I handed out candy (Daddy left to pick up Grama Marty at the airport). Andrea was a great helper. She wanted to hand out the candy to everyone! It was funny to see her handing out candy to kids twice her size. Again, they thought she was adorable. Kevin was a good boy, too. As long as I kept feeding him chips and candy, he was quite happy to sit outside with us!

Mini Update: October

Mommy's finding it a lot harder to get on here and do frequent updates. Working full time with two little ones is taking a lot more out of me than I expected! I feel bad about not keeping up the blog like I always did, but it's just too much right now. Things are going fine; I simply don't have that extra time/energy anymore. I am trying to get the important events up here, though.

***

Overall, things are pretty much status quo here. Kevin has started to do a bit of an army crawl, and took a few steps the other day while I was holding his hands. He also raises his arms when we say "Touchdown!" He likes to colour with crayons/markers. Grandpa G. says that he has gotten Kevin to say "Papa," but I haven't heard it yet. (Gram says she heard it yesterday.) Besides that, he is a quiet, generally content little guy who seems to be doing things in his own good time. I'd like to see more progress, but there's not much I can do at this point. We have a follow-up with the pediatrician we saw two months ago, in about a month.

Kevin still enjoys feeding himself, and yes, he still throws it all off his tray when he's done. (We need to work on that.) Last night, he had lots of fun with his pasta. You know pasta is always a huge mess with the little ones, but Kevin was totally hamming it up!

Silly Guy! ;-)

***

In Andrea news, we are starting to have some hope that the potty boycott is gradually disappearing. We got Andrea to poop on the potty twice in the last four days, and that's the first time she's ever done it! Of course, we still have to go through 5 changes of clothes a day whenever we try the panties . . . but still, we'll take any encouraging signs at this point. Daycare is working hard to encourage her progress, too. Like her teacher said, though, a month or two can make a world of difference at this age; maybe she'll be ready soon.

***

Andrea is very much into playing pretend now. She likes to pretend to plant a garden and pick flowers; go to the store; make a trip into outer space; cook and eat food, etc. She also likes to make "tents" and "forts" in the living room with chairs and blankets. Lately, she's become interested in being a "ballerina," and she dresses up in her princess clothes and dances all over the place. She likes to put on little shows for Daddy and I. She's now obsessed with "helping," too. Whatever Daddy and Mommy are doing, she wants to help. I find this sweet, but difficult. I want to encourage her to be helpful, but at the same time, it often takes more time and makes more work to let her help. So, I try to find little things she can do like pressing the buttons on the microwave for me, or putting things in her room, or getting things for Baby Kevin. She drives me nuts sometimes with her whining and her stubbornness, but she is at a really cute stage right now. We are amazed at some of the things she says ("I think NOT, Mama!"). Thank goodness she can make us laugh all the time!

***

Here's a video of Andrea entertaining Kevin. She jumps, and then he jumps, and he always gets so excited when she plays with him!