Speechless

Today was the day. H had two ladies come over and evaluate him for speech and general toddlerisms. One was a speech pathologist the other an occupational therapist. They were both very nice and H took to them right away, even though it was 1pm and he was desperately sleepy. They had him when they pulled the first ball out of there many bags. 

Like I've mentioned before, we have been concerned with H's lack of language. And all the books and pediatricians speak of a language explosion that just never exploded. My deepest fear was that there was something more, something trickier and more permanent that was at the root of this delay. No parent wants that to be the case, and I can totally see how getting on the denial train is the easier route. But, it's better to know and learn ways to help. 

H seems right on level with everything OT-wise, if you have ever seen Harry with a ball you are not surprised by that. He did qualify for speech and articulation help. Which means that he is entitled to weekly in-home visits by a speech-path for an hour to teach strategies that H can use to develop skills. I asked her if this would have any long-term effects, and she says he has a good prognosis of having his own language explosion within a year and being up to speed by kindergarten (whoa, even writing that H will be in Kindergarten is a scary thought, time moves!). He might need speech during pre-school if his articulation demands it. I took speech for a few years due to my lisp....hopefully they are better now that they were then. 

So there it is. He charmed them with his smiles and dance moves, and overall happy attitude. I know he'll get the whole talking thing soon :)

Summer Series: Part 5 of 6

This past week was a winner. Not only did it cool off a bit, back down to high 80s for the most part, but we had our summer camping trip! I picked a place I'd heard was good from a co-worker. It was in Manistee, which was a little farther south than last summers trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes and well, less roughing it. Our little campsite seemed huge because all we put in it was this tiny little tent we got from our registry 4 years ago :)

But it did the trick well enough. The sight was on an old apple orchard and was steps away from Lake Michigan. How can't you love this lake?

These steps were a good hike for a short-legged H. Bear. But he made it and happily went right into the water (soaking his diaper entirely, we hadn't changed him to his water wear yet). He was big into throwing sand, burying my feet and walking way out into the sandbars with Jon.

My favorite parts of the trip were getting a giant ice cream from the House of Flavors (it was called Eskimo Kisses: coconut, fudge and truffles, ahh!), building our fires and walking around the cute city of Manistee. It was like a cross between Turku, Finland and Holland.

Also, earlier that week thanks to the in-laws we got to see one of my old favorites at Meijer Gardens. Fiona Apple was still way cool :)

So, for the 5th week of my summer vacation I am planning the following:

Blueberry Picking Round 2

Burley ride and sleepover in Jenison

Cleaning up the crazy in my backyard

Playdate with H's bff

Library visit

Summer Series: Part 4 of 6

Week 3 has flown by in a flurry of excitement. Although we didn't manage to get to the beach again we did almost everything, and more, that I wanted to do. We even took advantage of a BOGO coupon to the Children's Museum downtown. I've been there once before with H last year, but he has been several times with his babysitter and buddy Eli. It felt odd to be shown around by a 2 year old. He maps places really well.

We attempted the 4th of July fireworks. A friend of mine invited us over for a backyard viewing and we went trying not to have any expectations of H.

We made it til 8:30.

Next year I think will be the year :)










This week is full of my kind of adventures :)

Fiona Apple concert at Meijer Gardens
Camping Trip to Manistee for 2 nights!
Enjoying the much cooler temperatures, whew, 100+ is not fun unless you live on a beach

In other H news: We're going to be evaluated at Early On soon for his speech. It's a little funny feeling as I've never done, or thought about this before. But H is pretty close-lipped (literally, he talks through a closed mouth), points his way through the day, and acts embarrassed when I ask him to try saying something (he'll slap his head and cover his eyes). This is not my specialty. I know how kids act when acquring a second language but I'm at a loss.

In all other aspects H is thriving and speeding along. I'm fairly sure he's just a late talker. But we'll see, and if nothing else it'll be interesting to see what a baby speech pathologist does to evaluate a 2-year old. 

All Things Green

 Yes, this is my first real year of solo-gardening. Last year my goal was to do absolutely nothing to the backyard and see what grew. A lot grew. But nothing that I could eat and nothing that I particularly loved.

I began thinking about what I wanted to grow and where I'd grow it. Because the side of the house was crazy looking, and overgrown with a whole lot of daffodils and whatnot I decided that would be the best place for my sun-loving things. I bought 3 cherry tomato plants, a cilantro plant and a package of lettuce seeds and went for it. Before-->

Tomatoes!














Lettuce! (slightly wilted in 100+ heat)

Additionally, I hacked out a piece of sandy land in front of the gazebo to try and grow some really random things. These are pepper plants, fennel and spinach (from left to right). I'm still asking myself why I chose fennel? What will I do with all that!?

Here is my one crowning achievement- butternut squash! H even helped by dropping the seeds into the ground after I'd dug up all those flower bulbs and ugly ferns, mounded the dirt and pointed to where he should drop the 5 seeds. These lovely plants will hopefully give me enough produce to make a bunch of butternut squash soup so that we'll enjoy it in January :) Way better use for a raised bed than daffodils I must say.

Oh, I guess I lied about nothing being here before me that was edible. This is one full grapevine! And I mean to eat as many of these as possible.

Summer Series: Part 3 of 6

I will try not to mention that this week marks mid-summer to my very short 6 weeks off. That's all I'll say about that. Instead, I'll put on my happy face-------------> and tell you all about the lovely things I've gotten to do during week 2.

I got to swim with this handsome man (and his father) in Lake Michigan. We even were able to walk all the way out to the poles that signify You've Gone Too Far! because of the amazing sandbar. H was not as willing to jump in as I hoped, it is a little early for it to be warm warm in the water. So we ended up picknicking, kicking around an inflatable ball and digging in the wet sand.

We made it to the zoo with our friends on a perfectly not-too hot day. H was especially loving the fish and penguins. And he was very gentle petting the little pygmy goats.

It was a successful week all around.

The line-up for Week 3 is as follows:

raspberry picking
Fulton Street Farmers Market
Beach Day #2
Library Toddler Storytime
Several good burley rides (I need to get it in gear as my first ever Century is fast approaching!)
watching the Tour de France, a lot of tennis and Olympic trials

A Blast from the Past

H's mind will be blown when I tell him about living in the olden days of sub 2000s. It seems comical even now to think that my parent's hulking, brown conversion van had a sweet car phone, that I didn't have a cell phone til college, that I had to step away from the computer for several minutes while it noisily dialed up.  You just can't commit to any one piece of technology. It'll change next year.

But some things stick around and feel the same regardless of however long you've been away from it. Like the best friend that you fell out of touch, it just feels normal and easy to get right back to talking to them when next you meet. Lake Michigan is like that in a way. The dunes are always moving but it all feels the same. H, Jon and I drove to a beach I've been going to since I was a little girl. It's so surreal to see your own child experience your own past experiences, like seeing double.

That same feeling happened last night at my 10 Year high school reunion. That double-vision of seeing people you knew (or didn't recall knowing) all jam-packed in a bar. I made the rounds talking to many familiar faces, but just as easily found myself happily sitting with those friends that you can just fall back into natural conversation.

Yay for friends like these :) 



 That shirt and pizza just says it all :)