The Boys

I realize i've been posting a lot about knitting and spring cleaning and various other things but haven't given an update on the boys in a while. So on that note ......

As some of you know, we brought Houston to a speech pathologist back in January because we (and his pediatrician) were concerned that he wasn't talking much yet. He says a lot but most people don't understand him and it's frustrating for everyone. And because he is so much bigger than the average two-year-old, people think he is older and expect more from him. (if he keeps this up he is going to be VERY tall) She basically said he's a delayed talker and will probably need some articulation therapy when he gets a little closer to his 3rd birthday. Apparently he tries to use his lips to make sounds instead of using his tongue. She gave us some things to do at home to excercise his speaking muscles. My favorite is putting peanut butter on the roof of his mouth and watching him lick it off. Fun stuff! So now that you have the background .... here's the update: He is speaking much, much better. He's made amazing progress just in the past two weeks. People other than myself are finally starting to understand what he is saying and that is great stuff. He knows his colors now too, which I am very proud of. Part of his home therapy is to ask him lots of questions all the time that don't have just yes or no answers. So we talk about colors a lot and he has picked up on them very well. He knows pink, red, green, blue, purple, brown, yellow, orange and white. He can almost count to ten and he is getting pretty good at the alphabet. Oh yeah ... and he can do the Gator Chomp with the best of them. That's my boy! :)

Brody is 9-1/2 months old and weighs about 20 pounds now. For a baby who was 12 pounds at birth, he has ended up being pretty average as far as size goes ... but physical development has been a different story. He's been crawling all over the place since he was only six months old. He is pulling up on everything and he will walk across the room if someone is holding his hands. He is getting more and more confident each day and has started to pull up and then let go to stand on his own. He and his brother both love music. It's the cutest darn thing, I tell ya ... as soon as I turn on music Brody starts bopping up and down. He's loves to dance! And so does Houston. I'm looking forward to them being old enough to take some music lessons. We have a lot of instruments in the house and they both love them better than any of thier toys. Houston's favorite is definitely the drums but he also "plays" the keyboard and guitar just about every day. Brody loves the keyboard because it is easy for him to "play" some music on and he is oh so proud of himself when he does. He pushes the demo button on the keyboard which plays song for him and he sits there bopping up and down and clapping his hands. Too cute!

And speaking of the boys .... Brett is going to have his first night alone with them on saturday. It will also be the first night i've spent away from Brody and only the second night i've spent away from Houston. Don't tell him I said so, but I think Brett is in for a rough night. I feel a little guilty about leaving Brody since he is still nursing but I know he'll be okay. He eats plenty and really doesn't nurse that often. He does like to have his milk in the middle of the night though ... which is where it's going to be tough for Brett. He doesn't nurse to sleep though, he prefers to rock, so that makes it easier for me to leave him. Houston always nursed to sleep so for anyone else to get him down for the night, or even for a nap, was quite a chore. You may be wondering where i'm going without my family in tow so I suppose i'll fill you in on that as well. I'm going to a knitters slumber party! How cool is that? (i'm easily amused, can you tell?) Knitting, wine, chick flicks and female friendship ... does it get any better than that??? Oh yeah ... and add some Gator Basketball Final Four action! :)