Physical Therapy - Good News

Addison is now walking enough to only go to PT once a month. We find that she is walking more and more. If she is already standing (i.e. holding on to furniture) she will walk to where she wants to go. If she is sitting, she will typically crawl to where she wants to go. But if we say stand up and walk she will sometimes listen and do it. She always looks very proud of herself when she does it. They want her to continue to go to PT for a little while so that they can moniter her feet and make sure she doesn't pick up any bad habits. When she first started walking she was rolling her feet in and they want to make sure that that corrects itself. Otherwise we will have to put her in braces. The PT said that she is not rolling her feet in as much and asked if I had noticed to which I replied no, because I am to busy making sure she isn't going to fall over. Hopefully, it will fully correct itself.

Dentist

I took the girls to the dentist on Thursday. They both got a clean bill of health. She said that Regan has a perfect bite and that Addison's teeth are coming in perfectly. Regan let them scrape and clean her teeth. They told her they were putting sparkles on her teeth when they cleaned them, so she wasn't to happy that I was "washing off" the sparkles when I brushed her teeth that night. I told her I was putting more sparkles on, and she was somewhat satisfied with that. I wasn't to happy that they had to scrape her teeth so much, because we brush and floss every night. I asked the dentist about it and she told me to lay her down when we brush at night to get a better brushing. I thought Regan might be resistant to it, but she layed down on the couch and was waiting for me the first night.

Even after an excellent example set by her big sister, Addison still wanted no part of them being in her mouth. I truly do not know how they were able to count her teeth and see that there weren't any cavities.

Artwork

This is a few weeks old, but when I first found it I was to mad to post anything. Apparently, Regan decided one day to make my dining room table cloth her canvas. I suppose I should be happy that it wasn't on the furniture, but at the time I just couldn't believe it. She never does things like this. We have instilled in her that you only draw on paper and, up until now, she had always done it. So, after talking it over with a friend, I determined that taking her crayons away for a day would be a fair punishment. I really did not know what to do. I like to discipline right when something happens or not at all, but I didn't discover this little drawing until after the fact. I think it was effective, because she was upset and she hasn't done it since. Anyway, I am posting this now because I put the table cloth in the washer tonight and I thought I should preserve the artwork for posterity.

Weekend Pictures

Georgina's brother took some pictures at the christening. Here are a few.

Weekend

We had a very busy weekend in New Orleans for our newest nephew Colt's Christening. It did not start off well as Regan had Swim Lesson's until 4pm and then we got stuck behind an accident for an hour and a half. Needless to say I was a little tense when I got to New Orleans. However, holding little Colt helped to make it better. He fell asleep on me which my kid's never do. Anyway, it was a fun weekend. My kids didn't get as much sleep as they are used to, but they had fun. I forgot my camera, so no pictures. I do have to say that Addison seems to not like men that she is not familiar with which is better than her sister who didn't like men at all at this age. We were in the cry room with the kids for mass and Phil was holding Colt. Well, Addison loves babies and walked up to Colt (she is walking a lot more lately, but still crawls if she wants to get somewhere fast). As soon as she got to Colt and looked up to see Phil holding him she turned around and walked back to me. It is most funny to me how much she loves babies. She wants to hug all of them and sometimes I'm not sure that she is going to let go. Regan could have cared less if there was a baby in the room and will only pay attention now if her friends are paying attention.

Please do not lick your sister's face!

Some things you expect to say to your children... Do not jump on the furniture, pick up your toys, etc.. However, I never expected to say to Regan "please do not lick your sister's face." But I did today when she and her little friend decided that they were cat's and she started licking Addison's face. And Addison let her! Gross!!! is all I can say. We went to lunch after the park and towards the end the girls started getting restless. Ruthie (who Addison thinks is her best friend) took Regan's drink and was sharing it with Addison. I tried to get a shot of it, but never could get a good one. Which was not helped by the fact that as soon as the girls saw me taking a picture of their little sister's, they started asking me to take a picture of them.

Baby Ducks!

We met some friend's at the park and we got the added benefit of seeing baby ducklings! I was so excited. They are to cute! I just wanted to pick one up, but thought better of it.

We Made it to Church

For a while it was hard for us to go to church, because Regan would get bored and announce in her not so quiet voice that she wanted to go home. Then it was impossible because Addison took two naps a day. And now I think we are finally to the point where we can go again. We took Regan to children's chapel. I still have a little anxiety anytime I drop Regan off somewhere new. As many of you know, she has horrible separation anxiety when she was a baby and she will still sometimes give us a hard time when we are leaving. Even Matt when he is going to work. But she waved and said bye mommy, which is so nice. I think she liked that she got to hang out with the "big kids." Addison was pretty good in church, although she did think it was funny when I would try to shush her. I don't think she was to distracting. When Regan came in from children's chapel it was like she had found her long lost sister. She immediately hugged her and I wasn't sure if she was going to let go.

Matt and I ran in a race on Saturday. Matt's mom came to babysit, which always makes my kids happy. And we are always grateful. It was a fund raiser for LOPA (Louisiana Organ Procurement Agency). It was so moving to hear the stories of children who had received organs at birth and Mother's whose children had donated organs.

One of our friend's who was running in the race with us had us all over for dinner on Friday. There little girl is 2 and has an older brother who is a year older than Regan. He doesn't play princesses with her, so I think she was happy to have Regan to play with. They have carpet in there play area and once again Addison was very interested in walking.

Matt took Regan to the Ragin Cajun's baseball game on Sunday. He is hoping that she will be a baseball fan, but I think (for now anyway) she goes for the ice cream.

Getting Ready

Addison has been wanting me to put a curler in her hair in the mornings when I am fixing my hair. She also loves to play with and wear my watch. She tries to get me to give her my ring, but I draw the line at my watch. And she definitely knows what to do when a camera is pointed her way... little ham.

Her favorite word right now is "baby" and she loves her baby doll that the Easter Bunny brought her.

Addison Physical Therapy Update

Addison had taken a few days off from wanting to take steps. I only thought Regan was stubborn. Addison takes it to a whole other level. Well, we went over to my friend's house the other day and she has carpet and suddenly Addison was interested in walking again. I am convinced that she does not like walking on our wood floors, because she knows that if she falls it will hurt. She also has "sensory" issues. She does not like sand or grass and today the physical therapist was trying to get her to play with a ball that has little tenticles and she wanted no part of it. It was actually kind of funny. If you tried to hand it to her she would turn her head. Once her toe hit it and she jerked her toe back like it was fire. The PT doesn't think I need to be worried. She thinks it is just a matter of exposing her to it. She said that her stability is much improved this week over last week. She thinks she will be walking within a few weeks, but said that you never know with Addison. She said that Addison had the ability to walk a couple of months ago, but she does everything on her own terms and in her own time. I have no idea where she gets that from. : )

The Mind of a 3 1/2 year old

I'm sure that most of you know that Regan sleeps with a whole collection of various stuffed animals. She tends to take inventory and will call us to bring her whatever she is missing. Well, two Christmases ago she got a stuffed Santa from one of classmates at MDO. It was part of the sleeping collection for a while, but has not been for a while. So, the other night I was laying down with her for 1 minute (more like 30 seconds since she has no concept of time) and she asked me where her Santa was. I did not know where he was and I had no intention of searching for him in the other sea of stuffed animals in her playroom. I told her that I didn't know, but that we would find him tomorrow. So she says to me in a very concerned voice.... well, am I going to have a Christmas?

Birthday Party

We went to a birthday party today after school. It was fun, but I am exhausted. And we have another one on Saturday.

Addison has always been a pretty affectionate baby when it comes to us, but now she is starting to spread her affection around. On Tuesday at dance class she insisted on hugging a little boy baby several times. Then she proceeded to try to eat all of his snacks, so I just thought she was buttering him up. Well, today at the Birthday Party one of her little friends showed up and she hugged her and wouldn't let go. The picture is of Addison trying to hug the little girl, Ruthie, or asking her to pick her up... I'm not sure which.

T.V. Does Not Rot Your Brain

Open any parenting book or magazine and it will tell you how t.v. is not good for kids. Personally I think that it is a conspiracy of parents who did not have the luxury of t.v. to occupy their kids. Sorry, but sometimes it is a lifesaver. But trying to be a good stay at home mom I try to limit t.v. to morning and night. I think that everything is okay in moderation. Although, now Regan watches t.v. for rest time because she doesn't nap anymore (and if she does she is up until 9 and 10 at night) and I need a break. However, I have been reminded over and over that kids can learn from t.v. (Matt always says that t.v. is what made him smart and I believe it because he has taught himself how to cook mostly from watching food t.v.). Today was no exception. We went to chik fi le for lunch and Regan got a little shark card toy. You put the shark card in this plastic thing and it has a question about the shark on the front and the answer is decoded on the back. So, Regan says about one of the cards "Mommy, is that a whale shark?" I looked on the back and it was a whale shark. So, I thought for a minute. Did I already read it to her, but we had just put it in the decoder. I knew I had never told her about them, because I have never heard of a whale shark. Then I realized that she had probably seen it on Go Diego Go (her new favorite show for rest time). I asked her and she said yes, that they have spots and lines on them. Apparently it was the "mystery fish" one day.

Addison Taking Steps!

Addison can take about eight to nine steps consecutively. We are hoping that full on walking is around the corner!

Cute Picture From The Zoo

This is a little out of order, but Georgina just sent it to me and I couldn't resist putting it up. It's so cute. I am also hoping to post some more pictures from Easter when I get them.

Spring Break

We had a really good Spring Break. I know it was good, because Regan didn't want to come home and both of the kids are sick. : ) It was jam packed. We were in Florida for Easter Weekend. Then we were in New Orleans for the week. We had playdates, I took Regan to see Horton Hears a Who, and we went to the zoo. Yesterday when we were leaving Matt's moms she cried and she told Matt on the way home that she doesn't have fun at our house. We are trying not to take it to personally. : ) We called Granny once we got home and she was much better after she talked to her. Granny told her that she could call today and she was very excited to call her after school. Of course, she is sick and didn't go to school today so I think she has forgotten about it.

I took the kids to the doctor this morning. They think Regan has strep throat. She has had a fever off and on since Saturday and was up this morning at 2am. Addison has allergies and I think being around the cats for the week made them worse. She is showing the same symptoms that Regan did in regards to being allergic to cats, although I think her's might be worse. They gave her a breathing treatment in the office this morning and she was still wheezing afterwards. We are still to give her the abuteral for wheezing (through the nebulizer), but they are giving her another drug to take as a maintenance through the Spring that we have to give her twice a day for a week and then once a day.

Beach Pictures

We are in Florida at my Aunt Carla's and we took Beach Pictures today. I think we got a few good ones. Aunt Carla knows the photographer, so she was able to snap some pictures. These pictures are some of the ones that she got. It was a little challenging with the kids. If Addison was smiling then Regan was looking at the sand. Addison did not like the sand at all. And towards the end she got pretty fussy. She was the happiest when we were in the parking lot leaving. There were kids there taking pictures in their prom dresses and one asked if she could have a picture with Regan. Regan was more than happy to take a picture with the princess.

Regan Playing Ball with her Dad

The last hit is the best. I can't believe that this is my daughter, because I was never good at keeping my eye on the ball. However, she is still a princess. Please notice the tiara in her hair and ignore the pajama shirt that is a little to short. : )

Regan Dancing

Video from Regan's Dance Class. I think she needs a little practice.

Addison Playing

I made this video a while ago, and never put it on the blog. I decided to go ahead and post it, even if she is a little cranky. Enjoy!