My Cowboys

Up and Over

Dexter has really begun to climb on everything although he still hasn't made it out of his crib! Yesterday, I was cutting some pizza on the kitchen counter when I heard Dexter say, "Dex on table." When I turned around, sure enough he was sitting on the kitchen table!

The Calm After the Storm

Dexter had just had a major fit for a reason that Ben and I could not figure out. I got some video of that (and it's funny if you're into that sort of thing) but this is much sweeter - Daddy comforting Dexter.

The Two-Year Old Landscape

We're not living in a mess. We're living in a collage.

Uncle Alien

When the cousins were visiting, Adam was interested in playing the ukelele (and he was pretty good!). We all got a kick out of him calling it the "Uncle Alien".

Mee Mee Eemee

I mentioned to the speech evaluation crowd that Dexter calls My Bologna "Eemee". I also mentioned that Dexter says, "mee mee," for "excuse me". I also mentioned that when Dexter wants My Bologna to move out of his way he says, "Mee mee, Eeemee." The speech therapist told me that that's normal, these are difficult words. She suggested that we tap out the syllables as we say these words and she and I did it with "My Bo-lo-gna" a few times together. Wouldn't you know that as soon as the team left Dexter started saying "My Bologna"!

Friends

This Saturday I had to work (and Ben had to work) so our friends Elissa and Jason offered to take Dexter to the Museum of Science and Industry with Ian. Then we all went out for a late lunch. I got a great report on Dexter's behavior. Elissa just sent photos of the boys. How cute is the hand holding?!

Evaluating Dexter

So 4 people showed up for Dexter's speech evaluation:

• Speech Therapist (totally polished young woman with a rock the size of an acorn on her finger who rolled up in a brand new BMW)
• Speech Therapy Student (totally unpolished, very sweet)
• Socioemotional Developmental Therapist (a foreign man in his mid-forties - accent seemed Swedish? - who was very warm and engaging)
• The Intake Coordinator (the women from the south side who had met with us the previous week)

Then there was Ben, Dexter, My Bologna, and me. We all sat in a circle on the floor in our front room and the therapists pulled out all sorts of objects: toys, pictures, books, puzzles, etc. Dexter was in fine form. Right before they arrived, he saw the garbage truck come down the alley - this is always very exciting for him - and he couldn't stop telling everyone, "Green garbage truck in alley!" Obviously, everyone was looking at as Ben and me like, "What's wrong with you people? Why are you wasting our time?" We knew right off the bat that he wasn't going to qualify for the state's speech therapy services but they went ahead with the whole evaluation.

Evaluation highlights included:

The student giving Dexter a teddy bear and a cup and asking him if he could give the teddy bear a drink. He promptly did. Then she gave him a little blanket and asked if he could put the teddy bear to bed. He put the teddy bear down on its back and covered him with the blanket, just its little head popping out (I was surprised by this because Dexter doesn't sleep with a blanket but I guess he's seen enough pictures of sleeping babies with blankets in his books to know). Then Dexter got up and went into the other room, got a Kleenex from the box, and came back and wiped the teddy bear's nose! Everyone was laughing. We explained that Dexter had been sick with a runny nose the past couple of weeks so we wipe his nose when goes to bed.

When the student gave Dexter a few Puffs, he knew to eat them. He even asked for, "More cookies".

The developmental therapist "played" lots of games with Dexter. Dexy easily completed the shape sorting and block stacking tasks. When the therapist gave Dexter blocks of certain colors and asked him to put them in the bucket of the same color, he did so. When the therapist gave him a green block and asked him to put it in the green bucket (and there was no green bucket), Dexter looked at the block, looked at the buckets, looked at the therapist and said, "No green."

When the therapist asked Dexter to do a task he had never done before, Dexter tried but couldn't figure it out. The therapist took the "game" back and did it while Dexter watched then gave it back to Dexter. Dexy sat and worked at the task until he figured it out 9and it didn't take long).

Dexter said all his colors, many objects, and correctly answered most questions. He stayed engaged and cooperative the whole time. The therapists concurred that Dexter was at and above age level for everything and did not qualify for the early intervention program. The developmental therapist said that he could tell that Dexter was loved and that he is secure in knowing that he is loved. It brought tears to my eyes. Ben and I couldn't have been more proud of our little guy and kind of proud of ourselves.

No Wonder the State is in Such a State!

Ben and I got a referral for a speech evaluation for Dexter because even though he seemed to understand every word we said, he wasn't too interested in talking. The doctor wasn't worried about him but we figured we would go through the state and get a free evaluation just to see if there was something more we could be doing for him. Little did we know that the process of getting an appointment would be such an ordeal. We started calling and leaving message in early January and didn't get a call back until the last week in January. We scheduled an intake appointment for February 2nd but when the blizzard came the coordinator did not (nor did she call). Another few days of calling back and we finally got another intake appointment. After a few minutes of questions about the pregnancy and about Dexter she was on her way saying that the speech therapist would call us to set up an appointment. That Friday, the therapist called and asked if we could do an appointment on Monday. I couldn't - too much work for Monday that couldn't wait. I asked if we could do another time that week and she said they were all booked up. "How about the next week?" All booked up. "How about the week after that? "All booked up. "How about the week after that?" "Well," she says, "We need to get this evaluation completed within 45 days." I argued that the first week in March was not 45 days since the intake and she said it must be 45 days from when we called...initially. I have to say I felt horrible that I couldn't just drop everything. I mean, what kind of mother am I to not be able to drop work and make my son my top priority? The poor therapist got an earful from me about this and reassured me that she would find another time for us. Honestly, I could have made time any day except Monday (especially since she was calling to schedule this on Friday afternoon!). We ended up getting an appointment for Wed last week and I was able to shift my schedule around so I could be there.

Sweet on Amanda

Dexter seemed to have a special fondness for Amanda. She was so great with him.

Cupcakes, Candy, Cookies, and Cousins

Ben's sister and her husband came to visit yesterday with their three kids, Amanda, Adam, and Aaron. Dexter started the day with a Valentine's party at his "toddlin' two's" class and was wolfing down a chocolate cupcake when I picked him up at 10:45am. His cousins were at the house when we got home so he had lots of buddies to help him work off his sugar rush. There was too much excitement for a nap!

The Emergence of No

For quite a while, Dexter has been very much a "yes" man. He happily replied "yes" to most questions. I don't mean to imply that he didn't express preferences. He communicated "no" when he didn't want to do something by shaking his head. But "yes" was the enthusiastic vocal response to most questions. This all changed on Wednesday when I asked Dexter if he wanted applesauce (generally a "yes" response question) and he said, "No." Now, Dexter puts his newly acquired word to good use, although not necessarily appropriately. Such as when I ask if he wants to go in Mama's car and he says, "no," and then promptly goes to get his shoes and coat. Then there are the times when I say, "It's time to change your diaper," and he not only replies, "no," but runs into another room. Don't get me wrong. I'm happy that he's learning to use more words to communicate what he wants (or doesn't want). I just hope that we don't have a phase where everything is "no."

Supergut

When Dexter's belly gets like this, I start rotating the larger sized clothes into his drawers - it means a growth spurt is on the horizon.

Big Snow

Dexter says, "Wow!" This was Thursday, as Daddy was shoveling the alley so we could get the cars out of the garage and get to work (and to Starbucks!). Our hero!

Puppy Free For All

The height of the snow has enabled the larger, bolder dogs to "visit" the neighbors' yards. We've had a visit from Biggie and My Bologna has gone visiting the neighbors as well. We're all digging trenches in the snow around the fences in the hopes of preventing escapes.

But My Bologna Loves It!

We're Not Going Anywhere for a While

Mama's Hat

Ben and I were surprised when Dexter came into the living room wearing Mama's hat saying, "Mama hat Dex".

Recovering

M.I.A.

Last week was a doozy. I was working like a dog on a report, My Bologna gashed his right front paw, Dexter had a 103 degree fever. Glad to say that I got the 178 pager out on deadline, My Bologna's bum paw is on the mend, and Dexter, while still a mucus-factory, is now feeling very energetic and affectionate (and sharing his germy-germs with the rest of us!).

If You Thought F-Hole Was Bad...

Wait until you hear Dexter say, "big truck." We're working on helping him properly pronounce "tr".