Swimming Lessons and some more...

Quite a random picture huh???  Well this little piece of heaven has saved swimming lessons!  ;)  I got a babysitter for Rowan and I was so excited to have some special time with my little man.  And we also planned these lessons with Emmie and Kristi, so I thought he would be so excited to have a friend there!  Well, we started out great last Tuesday blowing bubbles, kicking, floating...although he would not jump.  Thursday was a disaster to say the least.  He screamed the whole time, cried and held onto me for dear life.  Sooooo, his therapist came up with this idea yesterday.  A simple tupperware container with a slit and 10 pennies.  Every time he did something he was supposed to do, he got to put a penny in.  He filled it up two times and got two treats.  He was SUPER excited and totally understood the whole idea behind it.  I was so proud of him and it made the morning so much fun!  I think we may need a few of these around the house too.  ;) 

We have been spending TONS of time at the pool as a family and also during the day with friends.  I LOVE IT!  Last Friday night, we went after dinner and even gave the kiddos showers there (well sorta cleaned them up) and put them right to bed when we got home at 8.  Sunday we spent the whole afternoon at our community pool and yesterday we met Kristi, Emmie, Elizabeth, and Kate at their community pool.  Liam played REALLY well with the girls and Rowan was her sweet, well-behaved self.  She just loves watching the older kiddos.

Saturday morning, Rick took Liam to the Lowes' Build and Grow class while Rowan and I went to a Stella and Dot jewelry party at Kristi's house.  They both had a BLAST!  Rick said Liam did great.  He got a free apron (pictured above) and Rick is going to buy him a tool each time they go.  Last week was a hammer...which MUST stay in the garage.  ;/  Each child also gets an iron on patch every time they attend.  Great little program and it is FREE! 

This is what they built...

HA!  Not sure what the heck it is but it swivels and kicks!  ;)

So of course, the good ol' tool bench that has been collecting dust in the corner of the playroom is now his fave toy again.  And Miss Rowan is right there with him...at his feet all.day.long.  I feel kinda bad for the guy.  Her favorite toys are balls and tools.  Sound like she has a big bro or what?!??!
He is so sweet with her (most of the time!). 

Rowan is standing on her own for about 10 seconds at a time and it continues to get longer every day.  She is cruising along the couch and really trying to take a step.  AGH!  I am not ready for her to walk yet.  Looks like we may need to invest in her first pair of shoes soon!  She is still such a HAPPY baby!  So pleasant ALL of the time.  She is waving hi to everyone and saying "HI" when she does.  She had to wave to each and every person in church last Sunday...likes to be noticed, of course.  And she kept waving at the priest and yelling "HI" until he acknowledged her after he was done speaking.  We sit in the front row because it is good for Liam, but not sure it is the best with a talking Rowan.  ;)  She also said "kick" at the pool on Sunday when I was telling her to "kick, kick, kick" in the water.  Her little voice sounds so cute.

Liam has had an AWESOME week!  He is talking in all two word phrases now and adding extra words here and there.  He yelled "Baby, time for dinner" when we were all sitting down last night.  So cute!  He also is saying YES!  FINALLY!!!  He knods his head with it and I just want to squeeze him.  When he wants something that I have or that the baby has, he says "(the name of whatever it is--ex. puffs) too"  This is also a big step for him.  We went to a birthday party last Saturday night and his behavior was great...not a lot of frustration and for the first time, he was initiating play and not just imitating.  Again, HUGE steps!!!!  We are anxious for our second appt. on Thursday to hear the opinion of the unbiased psychologist. 

We did receive some bad news from our insurance company today.  They are not willing to cover any of his therapy except speech and even that is only till the age of 3.  Quite ridiculous if you ask me...it is considered a "mental health disorder"...really?!?!??! 

I also emailed the developmental preschool twice in Frisco and they have yet to get back to me.  :(  There is no phone #, so it is the only way to contact them.  Very frustrating, but we are still so hopeful about everything. 

He will be tested by the school district in August and he will receive free services (speech and I think ABA therapy) through them starting January.  They even have a bus to pick him up and he could qualify for up to 5 days, but we will not that know until he is assessed.  So, we are now thinking he will attend St. Francis as planned, and continue ECI speech and behavior therapy through January until he starts with the school district.  We hope he can still attend St. Francis at that time as well, but we will have to see.  We also ordered a great book that the dr. had recommended.  It has awesome ideas for interventions to use at home on a daily basis.  And I am very anxious for his ECI re-evaluation on August 4th...we will be able to see exactly how much his language has improved and I have a feeling it will show great gains!!!!

We are looking forward to the Splash Pad tomorrow with my St. Francis MOMS group, the dr. on Thursday and hopefully FAC with Elizabeth and Kristi, Kate and Emmie after, MOMS meeting here on Thursday night with WINE!  ;) and Friday a playdate at our Meadow Hill pool with Ashlea and Allie in the morning.  My sister also finds out the sex of my new niece or nephew on Thursday---cannot wait to hear!!!!!

This Saturday we have another bday party.  Next weekend we have a date night.  The following weekend I am running another 5K (which I am TRYING to train for without much luck ;/ ) and the weekend after that my bestie Kate is coming KID FREE for the weekend to visit us!!!  Such fun and exciting things to look forward to!

Have a wonderful week all!