Updates on the Kids

I'm getting really bad at blogging. Just too busy with other stuff I guess (like reading other blogs, reading home decor magazines, reading books, stuff like that). Anyway.

Zaylee has been getting really good at reading. We were stopped at a stop sign yesterday, and she read "dead end" on a sign, all by herself. She read "food" and "drug" on the Smith's store front. She reads little books to herself and to Audrey and Thomas, which all three really enjoy. Zaylee is also really good about helping. She helps me with the dishes, she helps to set the table for meals, and sometimes she helps to clear the table after we eat. She'll fetch diapers and wipes when I need to change a diaper, and is all-around a great little helper. Not all the time, of course, she still has her moments. But when I ask she is generally very good about doing what I say.

Thomas has been working hard in preschool, learning the routines and working on his language development. He has passed several goals on his IEP, and his teachers have given us lots of good tips for helping him here at home. Our goal phrases to work on now are "poopy" which he usually says as "hoohy," "I thirsty," and "happy faces" which are the fruit snacks that we stock up on, and he usually says as "hahy saces." So right now we're working mostly on the "p" sound. We're also trying to work on potty training. I was holding off until his communication skills were improved. Now they're improved enough to start. Ugh, I don't care for potty training, but I guess it has to be done. So far Thomas sits on the potty when prompted, but hasn't produced anything yet.

Audrey is becoming more and more a little girl, and less and less a little baby. I trimmed her bangs the other day, since they kept falling into her eyes. And now she looks all grown up! It's exciting to see her grow and learn new things. She mimics the cat by saying "mew." And to ask for something, she'll hold out her hand, make a grabbing motion, and say "I do! I do!" She loves it when I sit her on my lap and read her a book, usually over and over and over again. She is having a lot of fun with Joy and Jim and the cousins around, she loves to play with them and they have a blast making her laugh.