Interview

I did a little interview with the kids last week. It's really cute and does a good job of showing Alex's speech problems.

State Fair!

Today we went to the New Mexico State Fair!  This always marks the start of the Fall season for me, which I love.  We have the same routine every year - we go to the petting zoo and feed and pet the goats, cows, ponies and the occasional rare animal (this year was a yak - last year was a baby zebra).  Then we do the pony ride.  Last year Alex cried when we put him on a horse, but this year he was all about it!  He loved riding the pony! 

Then they have and Old McDonald's farm where they go through the motions of working on a farm - picking apples, riding the tractor, gathering eggs, milking the cow, harvesting vegetables, etc.   Then they get a bag of sliced apples for all their hard work!

After that we visit the 4H area to see all of the babies - chicks, ducklings, piglets, puppies, kittens, etc.  We also visit the stables to pet the horses.  Then we enjoy some good, greasy, fair food - pizza, indian fry bread, funnel cake, etc!  Sometimes we go through the convention center to see all of the homemade goodies, but this time we were too tired by then!  Here are pictures of our day:

White Sands

This weekend we went to White Sands National Monument to attend the Star Party. It's an annual astronomy event that my husband usual attends by himself. This time Aurora and I went with him. It's the only time of the year they allow anyone to camp on the dunes. It was very cool!

On the first morning, we were the only ones up and watched the sun rise over the dunes. We also went to the NM Museum of Space History and the IMAX theater. But Aurora spent the majority of the time sledding down the dunes. We gave her a whistle (to call for help) and a glow stick and let her do her own thing. She sled day and night!

Labor Day Weekend 2009

We had a jam packed Labor Day weekend! On Saturday, Aurora had dance class and then she had a birthday party to go to. Birthday parties at this age are so crazy! So many kids running around hyped up on sugar. They had a pinata and the kids just kept beating the pinata long after they candy had spilled out of it. Wow! That's why I get the pull string pinatas!

Sunday morning, we had a play date with Megan and the boys. I brought over the dress up box and the kids played dress up - it was hilarious! I'll have to post pictures when Megan sends them to me. In the afternoon we had a BBQ with Grandma and Grandpa K. I forgot to take pictures, but it was lots of fun. That night the kids stayed the night with Grandma and Grandpa so that Mom and Dad could have a night to ourselves.

Today we picked up the kids and headed to the Rio Grande Zoo. They had a lot of babies - giraffes, snow leopards, and a baby elephant that was born weighing 300 pounds! We watched the bird show and the kids got to hand a zoo donation (a dollar) to a resident cockatoo. They thought that was great! We got it on video:

This afternoon we met Grandma and Grandpa S. at the park to play and BBQ. The kids learned how to play Frisbee, collected pine cones, and were chased all over the park by Grandma and Grandpa. I think they will sleep great tonight!

Phonological Disorder

I realized that I haven't really said anything about Alex's speech, and since I am trying to document the kids' milestones as much as possible, I thought I should do a post on it.

As a baby, Alex had severe reflux and constant ear infections. He was always congested. He was on several different meds for reflux and "preventative" antibiotics that basically did nothing for his ear problems. After many, many doctor's appointments, ENT appointments, and hearing tests he had ear tubes put in at 14 months. He grew out of the reflux around 18 months and was weaned off the meds.

He didn't really start using words until after his ear tubes were put in, and was very difficult to understand. At 18 months our pediatrician referred us to Early Intervention. They assessed him and agreed that he had a delay and began weekly occupational and speech therapy sessions.

Today he talks a lot and uses sentences, but it is difficult for people outside of the family to understand him unless it is in context. He generally leaves off the beginning or ending sounds. With blends (br, st, sn) he will do one sound or the other, or leave it off completely. 'Snack" is "nak", "milk" is 'nilk", "Diego" is 'iego'.

A few weeks ago we had him tested to see if he qualifies for a local preschool that specializes in speech problems. He was diagnosed with a 'Severe Phonological Disorder'. It basically means he does not use sounds appropriately for his age. At nearly 3 years old, outsiders should understand him 75% of the time. That does not happen. They are positive it is because of his ear and congestion problems during the most critical time to learn sounds. His comprehension and reasoning, however, is way above average. During the test he understood concepts and questions at a 4 year old level. I thought that was awesome.

So he qualifies for the preschool, but for their phonological classes (which are 3 hours, 2 days a week) they prefer them to be 3+ years and somewhat self sufficient. So the current plan is to keep with the weekly sessions from Early Intervention, and then put him in the more intensive preschool session in January. We'll evaluate everything in December and make sure that is still the best option for him.