Playing Daddy

And now...

Luke has strep throat.

This really is a rough week.

A Little Pick-Me-Up

February has been a stressful month for this Wilkerson family. It's been a stressful last couple of months really, but February has been the peak. At Luke's 3 year check up we discussed some concerns with Luke's pediatrician (speech delays and sensory issues) that she agreed needed to be addressed and helped. At the beginning of Feb. Luke started speech therapy and has since added 2 days of occupational therapy each week which means that we spend Mon, Tues, and Wed mornings rushing out the door to the therapy office.

Luke LOVES occupational therapy on Monday where he works on fine motor skills and some sensory exercises. There is a big pit of balls at the bottom of a slide that Luke absolutely loves to play in/on. His therapist can get him to do almost anything by promising some time in the ball pit. He tolerates speech on Tuesdays and really does pretty well. Wed. is his roughest day. He works with an occupational therapist who is an eating specialist with the goal of helping him accept more textures and a greater variety of foods. He gets VERY upset about new foods so there were quite a few tantrums today. It's going to be slow going, I'm sure, as the most progress she made today was to get Luke to smell a new food and touch it with a fork.

I feel quite overwhelmed by all of it. While the therapy is very helpful, one day a week for an hour each visit isn't going to be enough. I have to do a lot in helping him to progress, so there is a huge list of things I'm supposed to be doing with Luke, and it's just so daunting.

This month has also had lots of appointments with the school district because Luke is being evaluated for a special pre-school program provided through the public schools that provides speech services, etc. as part of the pre-school day. Friday is our last appointment before his big eligibility meeting with his IEP team. (He should start school next September.)

Add a nursing baby that won't take a bottle and doesn't sleep through the night, a couple of colds and it's been a rough month.

To top that off Jared has been very busy during February with journal, moot court, and school so he's been coming home pretty late much of the time this month. AND THEN he just got called to be the Elder's Quorum president! So now Sunday is full of meetings.

And the straw that broke this camel's back is Jared's moot court tournament that has taken him out of town until Sunday.

So I needed a pick-me-up. If I was really rich I'd get a sitter and escape for awhile. Oh, and hire a maid. But as it is we took a trip to Target where I let Luke do some of his favorite things. (He needed a pick-me-up too.)

We first checked out the big row of trash/ recycling bins and admired all their colors. Then we went into the bathroom to wash hands and let Luke stare at the vent in the wall that he is absolutely convinced is an air conditioner. And then we went to the food court for a soft pretzel and blue slushy.

Followed up by a trip down the hair dryer aisle where Luke got to pick up and examine every blow dryer. "It's off! Yep, it's off."

Micah was a good sport about the whole thing.

We ended the trip with a visit to the toy aisle where Luke got a new shape sorter and Micah got a little rattle. I threw in a Twix at the register, and we all came home a little happier.

Quotable Quotes

This week Luke and I made cookies. While I went to throw away the egg shells, Luke dumped half a box of baking soda into the bowl. I turned around and said

Me: Luke! You're causing all kinds of trouble!

Luke: I need the trouble!

During the week Luke has been singing "Follow the Prophet." Yesterday morning however he got it all mixed up and was singing "Follow the Puppy" which then turned into "Follow the Doggie"

Today it morphed into "Follow the Couch Off" after Luke fell off the couch.

SIDE NOTE: Luke did a lot of falling today. He also fell over the back of our pew and smacked his head on a strangers knee as he crashed to the floor and started to wail. So it turned out that our brilliant plan to help Luke behave better by sitting in a "contained" pew just ended up being a new way to distract/ annoy people in our ward.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Giggles and Wiggles

Self-Improvement

My new years resolution was to start learning again. I feel like since I've finished college and stopped teaching, I do very little to expand my brain. Plus I wanted to try some "new" things and improve myself in attainable ways.

So I talked it over with Jared who was totally supportive, talked to my friend Melissa about teaching me, and started piano lessons the end of last month. I've only had 2 lessons so far, but I love it!

At my second lesson

I'm playing out of the book Melissa used when she was 5 years old, so the songs are titled things like "Bone Sweet Bone" and "Mr. Frog Likes to Hop," but I find them a perfect challenge. I practice everyday using my friend Keegan's keyboard that she was so nice to lend me. My goal is to eventually be adequate at playing hymns and Christmas carols.

This just goes to show that moms are usually right. When I quit piano lessons when I was in my tweens or so my mom warned me that I'd regret it. I swore I wouldn't, but I do. I really, really do. I should have stuck with it when I was playing on her money. Hee hee But at least I'm learning now.

I'm also starting Spanish lessons with my new visiting teacher and friend, Blanca. We do a swap. She helps me with Spanish, and I "help" her with English. So far we've only gotten together one time, but we're meeting again this Monday, and hopefully we'll be able to keep it up every Monday.

I've also started running again. I'm up to running 2 miles about 5 times a week and have gotten to the point where going that far doesn't make me feel like I'm going to pass out. So that's progress too.

It's so nice to finally have something about MYSELF to blog about!

4 Months

Time sure flies! It's hard to remember life without Micah. Here are some of the new things he likes to do:

1. He finally supports his head well enough to sit up in the Bumbo seat we borrowed from a friend. I think he started sitting in the chair around 3 1/2 months.

2. He LOVES to chew on his hands. They are always in his mouth and always covered in slobber. He prefers his hands to his binky. In fact he only uses a binky to settle down before sleep. He usually spits it out before he actually falls asleep.

3. He started purposefully reaching for things around 3 1/2 months about the same time he started sitting in his chair. He's really good at grabbing things, but he has trouble letting go. So he often hits himself in the face with his toys when his arms flail, and he gets upset about it (see below.)

4. Micah smiles a lot and has been laughing for over a month now. He thinks Luke is really funny. Lots of times I think Luke is being a little risky climbing right over Micah, but Micah just laughs and laughs. Micah, like Luke, also thinks fake sneezing is hilarious.

5. He's started going to sleep earlier, usually by 10 which is great because he used to be awake until Midnight most nights. The downside is that he's also started sleeping shorter, usually 4-6 hour stretches instead of 6-8. Luckily he eats quickly and goes right back to sleep.

6. Micah's blocked tear duct seems to have finally cleared up, and he's much cuter when he's goop free. (He was pretty cute when he was goopy too.)

We had his 4 month check-up yesterday. Here are the stats:

Length- 25.5 inches (69%tile)

Weight- 14 lb 4 oz (32%tile)

Head Circumference- 16.25 inches (23%tile)

Everything seemed well at his check-up, but he's a little behind on some of his motor skills. The doctor was a little concerned that he doesn't push up on his arms yet. He doesn't put any pressure on his hands or arms actually, but I think that's mostly my fault because I don't give him much tummy time or leave him on his tummy for very long when I do. He just hates it so much! But I'm going to be pushing it a lot more from now on.