walking, shoes and school!

Zoe started taking consecutive steps early last week. She's had great balance for awhile, but never was interested in walking. So, Tuesday she takes her first steps, and Wednesday she is literally walking all over the house. It is the darnedest thing I've ever seen. She is still wobbly, of course, but she gets incredibly mad when she falls.

We all know Zoe is a great eater, which translates into having a few healthy chubby rolls here and there. This includes her feet. She has several pair of super cute shoes that she can't wear because the little fat pad on the top of her foot prevents the shoe from going on. She has Robeez, which fit, except for around the ankle. So, she's pretty much gone barefoot her whole life. Which is fine, I've never really put shoes on my kids unless they need them. But, since Zoe is walking she now needs them. Cody and I took her to Stride Rite last night because they are the only brand I know that offers W and XW widths for kids. Zoe needs an XW and they had exactly one pair in the store. And they were sneakers. I was hoping for something more like a sandal since it's summer so I opted to come home and look around on the internet. So far I've only found one brand other than Stride Rite that offers XW in kids' shoes. I'm completely confused, because I know of more kids that have chubby feet than don't, so I'd expect a bigger variety! I was also hoping for something with a very flexible sole, and the shoes I've found so far that would fit her have the very hard sole. So we're going to have to figure something out... she isn't into having anything on her feet to begin with and I think she'd boycott walking if I put a really hard sole on her foot.

On Friday I met with the school district to discuss Rhys's schooling for next year. Until the age of three the state provides services through ECI (Early Childhood Intervention), with all services provided in your home. After their third birthday, the child is transferred to the school district and no longer receives ECI. A couple weeks ago we had Rhys's evaluation with the ISD. Friday we discussed their "findings" and finished the paperwork. I'm so very excited about this program! The teachers and staff are great, and I think it is going to be wonderful for Rhys. He will go M-F from 8:10 to 11:10 a.m. I asked for bus transportation to and from school (even though we only live a mile or two away) because (a) it will be much easier than me toting three kids up there every day, but most importantly (b) I think it will be an official start/finish to Rhys's school day. The various teachers each established many goals specific to Rhys, that they will work on throughout the year. He will be in a classroom setting with approximately 6-8 kids and they will do things such as music, circle time, work on personal hygiene (washing hands, etc.), snack time, and various other activities. Even though a lot of therapy is integrated in the daily routine, he also qualified for OT/PT 1x every other week, speech 2x a week and vision 2x a month. This is above and beyond the private therapy we are in the process of setting up for Rhys. All the teachers have told me they see a lot of potential for Rhys's development so again, Cody and I are very excited for him to get this opportunity.

finally updated!

Okay, so we've been busy. You'd not think me sitting on the couch required much effort, but it does! Just kidding. If Zoe's pregnancy was all waiting around, relaxing (is there such a thing with a high risk pregnancy?) and staying off my feet, this one is completely opposite. Even with daily help I am still up and down all day long. Oddly enough this hasn't (yet!) made a difference with contractions, etc., but I can definitely feel it in my legs, feet and back this time around. Of course my, ahem, 2 pounds per week weight gain could also be contributing to that. We've got seven weeks left, and counting! And we're so excited to meet our new little guy.

I know it's usually the way things work, but I feel like this little man is getting the shaft. R&B of course had new everything since they were our first. By default, since Z was a girl she had nearly everything new as well, but this one is just getting hand-me-down everything. Not to mention he's going to eventually be sharing one of his sibling's room so I can keep a dedicated guest room for a while. So, other than a few to-be-personalized-once-we-have-a-name items we're just rolling with it and will probably have to stop to get newborn diapers on the way home from the hospital. :)

Both the kids have just gotten over the crud. Z I think has just had allergies, since hers was a clear, runny nose, with lots of sneezing, itchy eyes and occasional coughing. Poor Rhys ended up on breathing treatments and antibiotics for wheezing and a possible ear infection. Oh, and he threw up in the lobby of the doctor's office. It was awesome!

His transition from group swim lessons to private lessons was a bit rough at first. Even though it was the same activities and the same instructor he screamed for the entire first two sessions.

Now he gets upset when I first hand him over, but he quickly gets over it and enjoys himself. He's actually doing well attempting to float on his back, and he's monkey crawling with two hands! Which is a big deal for him since he previously only wanted to grab on with his left.

We really love his teacher. She is fantastic with him. Everyone at the swim club knows who Rhys is now, I think mostly because of the situation with his CP. But, it's kind of funny to see random staff who I have never met say "oh, yeah, that's Rhys".

Our wild child is oh so close to walking. She stands independently and will take a step or two, but as soon as she realizes what she's doing she either dives towards you or sits down. She keeps it interesting around here to be sure. She is a drama.queen!

She had her first sucker the other day and absolutely loved it. Of course there isn't much this little lady doesn't like. We are so thankful she is a good eater. I just hope our newest addition is half as good an eater as she is.

And because we are parents of the year, we forgot our camera at Zoe's first birthday. Instead of driving back home to get it, a friend offered to let us use theirs. We just got the disk, but I now can not find where Cody stashed it or uploaded the pictures. So, here are a few I could find. Z and her cousin Ian, who were born only a couple hours apart, shared a birthday party.

now we know

Now we know to move the crayons to a higher shelf.