Beach Fun

I am thrilled to report that all THREE girls are enjoying the surf and sand here in Holden Beach, North Carolina.  I had many reservations about Adeline's time out on the beach put they were soon but at bay.  She walks barefoot in the sand, digs in it and doesn't have a problem with it covering her body.  Each day, Adeline is getting more and more aggressive with the waves.  Lila thinks she is one of the big kids and runs full force into the waves.  I believe body surfing is her latest milestone. She actually times herself with the waves.  Pictures are hard to come by for both Savannah and Lila.  They are too busy in the ocean to stop and smile for the camera.  I guess it is a good sign.

Guess Where We Are?

West Chester University Swim Lessons

Savannah just completed three weeks of swim lessons at West Chester University.  She went from not swimming to swimming a full lap and treading water for 2.5 minutes.  She swam daily and commented about how hard it was.  They really have the kids moving the entire time and eventually only in deep water.  This is the same child that was "kicked out" of swim lessons at our local YMCA at three years old.  It is also her only experience organized swim lessons.  Three weeks and I BELIEVE!



After watching Savannah swim for two weeks, I enrolled the twins for the last week.  Technically, the lessons run for two full weeks but our vacation cut into the last half.  The beginners start with learning how to jump into deep water, righting themselves on their backs, and using only their arms to get to the side of the pool while remaining in the float position.  Both girls passed!  I was amazed and, oh so proud.  I should mention that they passed with tears - at least some during each session.  Adeline has a much harder time due to motor planning and vestibular fear.  Lila did really well from day one if the cries are ignored.  By the last day, she was jumping in on her own accord which demonstrated her courage.  Of course and Ernie present was waiting in the wings.

Here is Adeline being "forced" in the water. She looks like she is drowning but she isn't. She makes it to the side and grabs the wall! Painful to watch but successful at the same time. (Remember, this is her 5th day of lessons!)


Here is Miss Lila showing her perfected float.




Both little girls will repeat the beginner session next summer so that they are completely at ease in deep water before starting their arm strokes.  Savannah just needs to work on endurance because next session will start in deep water and each child will spend the entire 45 minutes swimming laps.

Hot Air Balloon Festival

This past weekend was our local hot air balloon festival.   Miss Charlotte's family joined us for an evening filled with face painting, dancing, balloons and fireworks.  The girls are at a perfect age to enjoy the festivities while allowing me to do some hands-off parenting.  How nice it was to watch the girls walk around, laugh, and dance in lieu of "hold me," "I want up," and in general clinginess.  Charlotte and Lila were hand in hand from the get go while Savannah and Adeline enjoyed some shoulder time from both Daddies. 

After a picnic dinner, we were off to the vendor booths. The girls were anxious to get their faces painted. We also splurged and let them buy some treats. Of course Lila was in love with the ducks. The girl loves a good duck. Much to my chagrin, I purchased our first "gun." I didn't even realize the bubble gun was shaped like a gun until after the purchas. I was more focused on the fun bubbles that Adeline wanted to make.

We ended the night with a close up fireworks display. It was the girls' first show. We are always at the beach on the 4th of July so this was a great opportunity for us. Again, now that we are older, we can push the bedtime without too much concern. Lila loved the lights but was overwhelmed by the finale. It put her in tears. I will admit that is was long and very close. Adeline made Alex keep his hands over her ears but was pretty much a stress case for the entire show. We will see what she thinks of the random fireworks on the beach in a couple of weeks.

Here are some other photo ops of the night.

The Not So Dreaded IEP

For those of you who have children with learning differences, you understand the power that an IEP holds over you. Luckily, for us, IEP's have been nothing more than putting into words all the needs and differences Adeline has. Our state/county has a fantastic - dare I ask if there is a better one - 3-5's preschool program. Adeline was met head on and many of her differences have lessened or subsided due to the aggressive and personal approach taken by her development preschool classroom.

Last week, I had the privilege of attending Adeline's IEP meeting. I was a bit nervous at the beginning of the meeting because her teachers and therapists don't beat around the bush when talking about their students. Often these meetings put me right back into the NICU where I so desperately wanted the doctors to tell me that I was going to carry both my babies out of the NICU and that they were both going to walk, talk, and know what love is. Where is that magic 8 ball when one needs it?

I started the meeting by asking each person to share if they thought Adeline had made more, less, or an expected amount of progress. There was a resounding MORE! I was so happy to hear that she is much more than they thought she would be upon meeting her on the first day of school. They remembered when it was hard for Adeline to walk down the long halls with her backpack on or how it was a very slow process to get Adeline to navigate the field to the playground. They happily reported that she runs ahead with some of the other kids now! After sharing many of these examples they all seemed to come back to her personality. Each person commented on her determination, patience, and remarkable perseverance. That is my little girl!

Once done with the anecdotal part of the IEP we moved on to writing goals/outcomes. It is necessary to be specific regarding Adeline's needs and how each need is addressed and measured. Here is what we came up with.

1. Adeline will respond to 10+ verbal directions containing the following concepts during small group activities 4 out of 5 times.

prepositions
negatives
categorization
qualitative concepts (5)

2. Adeline will consistently communicate through the use of 4 to 6 word basic sentences using :

pronouns - he, she, we, it, they
possessive pronouns - his, her, hers, its, theirs
articles - a, the
is/am + verbing
simple past tense

(Right now Adeline communicates using high content words which convey meaning but usually leaves out smaller parts of speech.)

3. Adeline will improve her social and emotional skills during the school day in order to: independently initiate simple back and forth games with 1-2 peers taking 2-4 turns in a 15 minute free play session.

(Right now Adeline is social and engages in play but doesn't initiate play in the classroom. It should be noted that she initiates play at home.)

4. Adeline will improve her fine motor and visual motor skills to imitate a closed circle, a cross, square and correct facial scheme using her preferred dominant hand and holding writing implements in a modified tripod grasp in 4/5 opportunities.

(Adeline just started imitating a closed circle this week!! She is able to correctly place facial scheme using wooden pieces but doesn't have the dexterity to draw one on paper. She switches hands mid activity.)

5. Adeline will improve her bilateral hand skills to cut a 5" straight and curved line to 1/2" accuracy.

6. Adeline will improve her gross motor play by:

walking a 3" beam for 4'
jumping down 10"
jumping forward 12"
rising up from the floor through a half kneel position
running 10' in 12 seconds

(Currently, Adeline needs assistance on the beam, jumps forward 8", down 6", and runs 10' in 16 seconds.)

7. Adeline will consistently speak in an audible voice.

(Currently she uses a soft voice that can barely be heard in the classroom.)

I am pleased the the above goals seem within Adeline's range of achievement. I fully expect her to plug away at the list. By doing so, she will close the gap even more which puts her that much closer to her mainstream peers!

Happy Summer Country Style

We welcomed in the first day of summer at our once neighbor-now barn owners', new homestead. We dined in a 1830's farm house, picked both red and black raspberries, gave the horses some Adeline love, roasted marshmallows for smores, and chased lightning bugs. What more could one ask for?

Pay special attention to the country style roastin' stick. . .

I would be thrilled to call all five of these girls my own. We love Miss J and Miss L dearly!

And yes, that is Miss Adeline asking to hold a lightning bug!! She was the only one not fast enough to catch them on her own.

For those of you who don't get to experience the joy of lightning bugs, here is a video that shows a few flashing their lights.

Happy Father's Day Daddy

For a guy that was raised with very little girl factor, I couldn't have picked a better Daddy for me three very lucky girls!

Adeline's Special Day with Thomas

Adeline was the last of the three girls to experience a special treat with just Mommy or Daddy.  Daddy took The Belle to see and ride Thomas the train in Strasburg.  Miss Adeline was very excited.  She kept asking if the Thomas was going to have his smile, his number one, and his smoke stack.  I am pleased to report that my answers of yes were fully supported by the amazing Thomas replica.  Although I wasn't there, the pictures make Thomas look just like the little train I see floating around my house.

Because I wasn't there, I will let the pictures do the talking. . .

Sesame Place

For an end of the school year treat, we took the girls to Sesame Place.  Savannah still loves Elmo and Lila remains head over heels for Ernie.  Adeline enjoys all the characters.

Savannah still believes and it breaks my heart to know that one day her Elmo will come crashing down.  She asks lots of questions like, "Why doesn't Elmo talk to me." and "What was that string on Big Birds arms?".  I saw the hesitation in her eyes when we got up close and personal with our first character.  Her smile disappeared while she stopped dead in her tracks.  Alex and I held our breath waiting for what was to come.  Her need to believe helped her rally and soon she was right back where she was when we walked into the place.  We asked Elmo when his birthday was and he found away to tell us with his fingers.  Luckily, he stopped by and hugged Savannah during the character parade, something I didn't see happen to another child.

Lila got to see Ernie up close and personal for pictures and then, once again, found a way to get his attention during the parade.  She got hugs and kisses and was so happy.

The park was crowded and the weather was warm.  Somehow we found ourselves inside the gates for more than seven hours.  We were able to swim and do the water park activities.  The twins really enjoyed the pools and going down the water slide with Daddy (they really did love the slides even though their faces make them appear scared out of their minds - double click for a good close ups).  Savannah surprised me and went down by herself!  She is really growing up.