We've entered into the packing stage of "absolutely everything can get thrown into a box now!". It seems you wait for a month or two before you finally get to this stage. Up until now you pack what you can. Now you pack everything else. I think I prefer this stage. I don't have to search the house for things I can sneak away into a box without any of the family members noticing and asking about it.
The problem with this stage of packing is that life gets really confusing if you are around the ages of 2 or 3 1/2.
If you are 3 1/2 (technically 3 3/4...but I'm not sure I'm ready to have my baby be 4 yet, so we'll keep at 3 1/2, ok?), you trail Mom around the house asking a million questions: where will we live in Minnesota? Will we live in our blue house again? Will all my toys come with? Can we bring Yaya & Ahma (her grandparents)? When it seems that all the questions have been used up OR Mom seems to be getting a bit annoyed at the questions you switch to asking Mom if she can stop and play with you. This usually works for a few minutes before Mom gets sidetracked and starts packing again. Oh well...
If you are 2, you are a little more confused over everything. Why doesn't Mom have as much time for us right now? Do I like that? I don't think I like that. Maybe if I whine a bit. Maybe if I ask to be held a lot. Maybe if I snuggle even more. Surely one of these tactics will work and life will return to normal.
And if you are Mom you are trying to juggle all your roles: Mrs. Move-a-lot; Wife; Mom; Teacher; Studier of the Word; Did I miss anything? Oh probably. Maybe I'll find it when we unpack.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Music to our ears!
The long awaited words have finally come! Katie can now say - and know what she's saying - *drum roll please!* - oh come on, this deserves a drum roll! Promise! Anyways, Katie said, "Da da!" Actually it went something like "Da Da...DAD!" and then the next day she added "Ma ma!" and then today she added "Chja chja" (Ok, all you Chinese speakers out there can nail me on this one! How do you spell this?!) which means "Big Sister" in Cantonese. She also attempted YaYa (Grandpa, Henry's Dad) when he stopped over for supper tonight.
It's taken so long to hear those precious words, but worth the wait. Perhaps even more exciting was seeing her confidence that she has now. She is not timid when she says these words now, but very excited!
So these are Katie's current words:
More
Down
Open
Uh-oh
Dad
Mom
Chja Chja
and possibly Yaya
(and yep, that's the order she's learned them in)
She is still waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy behind on speech development, but seeing her be able to make these words is great! When she said Dada a few days ago it was like a little light bulb turned on as she discovered she could actually talk like the rest of us! Silly girl!
It's taken so long to hear those precious words, but worth the wait. Perhaps even more exciting was seeing her confidence that she has now. She is not timid when she says these words now, but very excited!
So these are Katie's current words:
More
Down
Open
Uh-oh
Dad
Mom
Chja Chja
and possibly Yaya
(and yep, that's the order she's learned them in)
She is still waaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy behind on speech development, but seeing her be able to make these words is great! When she said Dada a few days ago it was like a little light bulb turned on as she discovered she could actually talk like the rest of us! Silly girl!
Monday, February 23, 2009
Emily's Prayers
Probably about two weeks ago Emily suddenly stared to deeply love and desire prayer. We had not been forcing her to pray out loud figuring it would develop on its own time. Emily is a wild, energetic, enthusiastic little girl with a sparkle in everything she does. But she is also very shy and gets embarrassed very easily. I think this is why praying out loud has been a slow development for her.
But as I was saying, about two weeks ago Emily suddenly decided she could pray! (Perhaps it was after memorizing the verse, "God is my helper, I will not be afraid"?) Her first real prayer had both Henry & I in tears, "My Dear Jesus, Thank you for the food, thank you for the playground, thank you for the round round slide, thank you for my mommy and daddy, thank you for my sister, thank you for the food, thank you for my family. Amen" All this with her eyes squeezed tightly shut (we've actually never made the girls close their eyes during prayer time, but they've picked it up at Sunday School I think). Since this first prayer of hers, she's enjoyed praying. She's stopped during her play to pray. She's prayed for different family members. Some days her prayers are full of "thank you's" and other days she's asking for help for different people. All I know have touched God's heart as they have touched ours.
I can tell though, that she is really getting comfortable in her praying. Last night she prayed, "Dear Jesus, Thank you for all these things and all my stuff. Amen" :)
But as I was saying, about two weeks ago Emily suddenly decided she could pray! (Perhaps it was after memorizing the verse, "God is my helper, I will not be afraid"?) Her first real prayer had both Henry & I in tears, "My Dear Jesus, Thank you for the food, thank you for the playground, thank you for the round round slide, thank you for my mommy and daddy, thank you for my sister, thank you for the food, thank you for my family. Amen" All this with her eyes squeezed tightly shut (we've actually never made the girls close their eyes during prayer time, but they've picked it up at Sunday School I think). Since this first prayer of hers, she's enjoyed praying. She's stopped during her play to pray. She's prayed for different family members. Some days her prayers are full of "thank you's" and other days she's asking for help for different people. All I know have touched God's heart as they have touched ours.
I can tell though, that she is really getting comfortable in her praying. Last night she prayed, "Dear Jesus, Thank you for all these things and all my stuff. Amen" :)
Friday, February 20, 2009
Little Katie
We have discovered a few things about our non-verbal Katie. Nothing to do with her being non-verbal, but interesting all the same! Katie is a non-talking 2 year old who potty trained in record time, knows her shapes, and today I just discovered also knows her colors! She is quite a remarkable little girl. Although she doesn't talk, she is constantly observing everything going on (something her Mommy could learn from! :)
Oh and Emily has something she wants to say, here she is:
emily aAmy HEnnry KAtie hgytjrfyr4hfrg4fhrjfyhrfnhrbhefgnrefbgd
Oh and Emily has something she wants to say, here she is:
emily aAmy HEnnry KAtie hgytjrfyr4hfrg4fhrjfyhrfnhrbhefgnrefbgd
Friday, February 13, 2009
Katie's Speech Therapy
Ok, before it is two months and no update, I had better squeeze one in! (I can't believe I last posted on December 15th! That's terrible!)
Katie is now in speech therapy...or we are in speech therapy! Henry & I are taking classes to learn how to help teach Katie to talk! There are 4 classes that Henry & I take and 2 meetings with Katie and us with the speech therapist. Katie is officially a "late talker" which basically means her receptive language is quite high while her expressive language is quite low for her age. She understands everything - in fact she basically potty trained herself in 3 days!
So at home we are working with Katie throughout the day simplifying our language, giving her key words, even using sign language to help. During the next 4-6 weeks we should see quite a lot of progress. If we do not, then this would indicate something else is going on. It is possible there is also a oral something component...you would think I would remember what the "something" should be! Basically it would be that her mouth muscles are developed fine, but there's some connection between her brain and her mouth that needs "therapy". It would mean that over the next 2-3 years Katie would need quite extensive speech therapy. Pray that we would start to see some progress! Right now, 2 weeks into it, Katie has maybe one more word - which would bring her grand total of words up to 2!
Katie is now in speech therapy...or we are in speech therapy! Henry & I are taking classes to learn how to help teach Katie to talk! There are 4 classes that Henry & I take and 2 meetings with Katie and us with the speech therapist. Katie is officially a "late talker" which basically means her receptive language is quite high while her expressive language is quite low for her age. She understands everything - in fact she basically potty trained herself in 3 days!
So at home we are working with Katie throughout the day simplifying our language, giving her key words, even using sign language to help. During the next 4-6 weeks we should see quite a lot of progress. If we do not, then this would indicate something else is going on. It is possible there is also a oral something component...you would think I would remember what the "something" should be! Basically it would be that her mouth muscles are developed fine, but there's some connection between her brain and her mouth that needs "therapy". It would mean that over the next 2-3 years Katie would need quite extensive speech therapy. Pray that we would start to see some progress! Right now, 2 weeks into it, Katie has maybe one more word - which would bring her grand total of words up to 2!
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