What's my phone number?

I've really been working hard with Josh to learn his phone number. He keeps leaving 1 number out, but he's getting close. Well, last night, we had a conversation like this:

Me: If a policeman asked you what your phone # was, what would you tell him?
Josh: You would tell him...
Me: I won't be there.
Josh: Then, daddy will tell him.
Me: Daddy won't be there
Josh: Then Callie will tell him
Me: She can't tell him (being silly)
Josh: Then Emma will tell him.
Me: She can't tell him
Josh: Well, Joshy will tell him
Me: Exactly! You will have to tell him
Josh: Well, he can just take me home
Me: He has to know your phone number first
Josh: I can show him where I live!
Me: What if you're lost and you don't know your way back home?
Josh: xxx-xxx (says all but 1 # of his phone number)

This conversation goes on for a few more minutes and then:

Josh: Well, I'm just not going to get lost!! (after he still couldn't get all 7 numbers).

Good answer! HA! I hope he never gets lost!

Special Forehead

Josh told me yesterday that he knew how houses were built. He said they put up that gray stuff and then put bricks on it. So, I asked him how he knew that...the story he told me was quite interesting.

He said that when he wakes up from his naps at school, his forehead sometimes hurts...and when it hurts, it tells him things and it told him how houses were built! ??? He said he has a special forehead!

First of all, the hurting forehead concerns me...the "special forehead" freaks me out. LOL

I THINK he may be having sinus headaches. I need to talk to his teacher and see if she can help me keep track of how many headaches he's really having. He won't tell anyone when his head does hurt. He says that sometimes it hurts really bad and other times it doesn't hurt so bad.

Parent/Teacher Conference

I had my first Parent/Teacher conference yesterday. :)

Josh's class had to take an assessment test provided by the state to see if they're ready for kindergarten or not. They basically had to write their name, write some letters, draw a person with a body, draw some shapes, know colors, tell a story, etc.

Anyway, he did great on everything! Woo hoo!! He's right there with everyone else. The only concern his teacher has is Josh's refusal to speak out in a group. He can get painfully shy. He's really been working on being less shy, but it's hard for him.

His teacher has several shy children in her class and she really works hard to help them be more comfortable with talking during group time. She said she was a very shy child and knows how hard it is for them.

We're in the process of teaching Josh his address and phone number...not an easy feat! LOL I told him we would just practice calling his number. I made the mistake of saying, "We'll practice dialing your number". His first question was, "What's dialing?". Oops - I guess we don't technically "dial" anymore. LOL

His teacher said that he's very ready for kindergarten and will do fine. Josh told me this morning that when he goes to big school that he won't even be scared! :(

I also found out that they're going to do a graduation ceremony for the Pre-K class in August! They will all be in caps and gowns - the works!! How cute is that?!!

I like Hot Stickers!!!

We went to a new Chinese/Thai place last night for supper (Little Bangkok). Well, we ordered some potstickers. Josh has never tried them before, but he decided he wanted to try them last night.

So, I cut one up for him and he tastes it and says, "I like hot stickers!!!". :) He was so proud of himself for trying (and liking) something new!

He wanted me to tell our waitress that he liked the "hot stickers". He was so cute!!

Portraits

We went to Portrait Innovations for the first time this week. Wow! I'm really impressed at how well the pictures turned out!


Here's the link to all of the pictures: http://www2.globeserver.com/butler/2006/0218/index.html

Even Josh cooperated with these pics! It was nice because it was a very relaxed setting. Callie wasn't too thrilled about having her picture made, but Emma was having a ball. :)

I sure wish we had been going here from the very beginning. JC Penney's has done some nice pictures, but nothing like what we got on Saturday.

Josh's Favorite Restaurant

We were trying to decide where to go eat last night, so we asked Josh where he wanted to go.

He wanted to go to his "favorite restaurant in the whole world!". He wanted to go to the restaurant where you got your own food and didn't have to pay! LOL

He was talking about Ryan's. I don't guess he's ever seen us actually pay for the meal since we pay up front. In his mind, it was free because they brought you plates and you could get whatever you wanted. :)

I'm with him - I want to go somewhere where you don't have to pay!!

1 year well baby checkup

The girls had their 1 year check up today. Both are doing great.

According to the little assessment test you fill out, Callie's at a 15 month level and Emma's at a 13 month level in development.

Callie was 22 lbs xx oz (I don't remember the oz) and 31" long (50% for weight and 95% for height).

Emma was 17 lbs 11 oz and 28 1/2" long (below 1/3 for weight and 25% for height). Even though Emma's not on the chart for weight yet, she is gaining. She did lose a little during the stomach bug stuff going on.

Both girls did great during the exam. They didn't cry (much) until their shots. Callie cried a little when she had to have her throat checked.

Callie has a place on the white part of her eye. They think it's just a fatty deposit. It's been there for a couple of months. They said to just keep an eye on it and if it get bigger or changes color (gets darker) then we're to bring her in so they can refer her to an eye specialist. They said not to worry too much about it because that in itself is not indicative of any other known diseases.

My girls are just perfect! :)

Happy Birthday Sweet Girls!

Happy Birthday Callie & Emma! You're 1 today! It's been quite a year - one we'll always remember. Daddy, Josh and I love you!!

Reminder for Baby Books!

One of these days I'm going to update everyone's baby books!

Words the girls are saying (before age 1):

Emma - Mama, Bye Bye (that's about it)

Callie - Dada, Mama (sometimes, but not often), Bye Bye, Duck, Quack Quack (kack kack), Bite and aye aye aye (more of a sound than a word). :)

Books!!!

Callie loves her books!! She seems to have a couple of favorites...she digs them out of the pile and then brings them to me to read. :) What a smart little girl!! Emma loves to be read to, too, but she could care less which book it is. :)

Once Callie has found her favorite, she wants it read over and over and over and over again...It's really funny. She has a fit if you stop reading it. If I put the book down, she immediately picks it up and hands it to me!! She gets so excited when I get to a part she likes. She just starts laughing! I think she really 'gets it'!!

Birthday Celebration...Round 1

We went to Kingsport over the weekend to celebrate the girls 1st birthday! They'll be 1 on Thursday. I can't believe how fast this year has gone!

We spent last weekend with Phil's family and we will spend this weekend with my family.

The girls looked just "thrilled". They were so tired and overwhelmed, but I think they really had a good time this weekend. I know Josh did! :)
We got a little bit of snow in Kingsport and Phil and Josh were able to get out and play. Josh had a blast! Phil had fun, too, until he fell. He sprained his hand a little bit. I think it's feeling better, but it was pretty painful for a day or 2!

We're spending this week trying to clean the house (ha). The only time we seem to get it really clean is when we're having company. Oy! Hopefully, we can get it all done before Thursday. Wendy is coming in then. :)

What did she say?

I guess yesterday was Callie's day to shine.

Not only was she standing on her own, playing peek-a-boo on her own, standing and playing patty cake at the same time, etc. She's also "talking"! She said "bite" while she was eating and "duck" when she was playing with the duck! I don't remember Josh talking quite this early - I need to go back and check out our journal from way back then. :)

Callie is obviously very proud of herself, too. Everytime she does something, she just looks at us and laughs with pure joy like "look at me!!".

On another note, what good are baby gates if they can get around them? LOL We actually have a piece of a play yard propped up between their pack n play and our leather chair. It's a pretty secure setup, except for one thing. The girls can move the end of it just enough to crawl out of it.

Actually, before Emma realized she could do that, she found out if she moved her toy basket, she could crawl under the table to get out.

Geez! I don't remember Josh being quite that "mobile". He always stayed where he was suppose to!

Peek a Boo

Callie kept throwing her hands over her face and pulling them away and laughing. It took me forever to realize she was playing peek-a-boo! :) Funny, funny girl! She's never done that before!

Then, she wanted to stand up on her own...so, she does. :) She stands up on her own long enough to play peek-a-boo 2 times. She's been trying to stand on her own, but it's always just a matter of a couple of seconds. This time was much longer ...walking is getting very close, isn't it?

Emma doesn't seem to care if she stands alone yet. Maybe that's a good thing. I'm not sure I can handle both of them walking. It's hard enough with them crawling around!

Mama, Bye Bye

Callie & Emma were in the nursery yesterday at church. When I left, they said Emma kept saying, "Mama, bye bye" and waving her hand! AWWWW!!! Poor Callie just cried. :(

How could these 2 girls be any more different?

Callie has this new thing. When she sees you, she throws her head back and has this big open smile on her face. Then, if you do it back, she gets tickled and keeps doing it. It's so funny!

I asked Josh this morning which letter they would be talking about at school. Well, instead of telling me, he starts "saying" his ABC's (as opposed to singing them). I was impressed...he's been able to sing them for awhile, but I've never actually heard him say them. That's good news since they have to say them in kindergarten. :)

Tentative Surgery Date

I got "the" call from Dr. Little's office this morning. Right now, they're having me pencil in March 31 for Emma's surgery. They still need to confirm with Dr. Lucas, but it looks like it could be a go. All 3 doctor's involved in Emma's surgery are doing the exact same procedure on another patient that same morning, so they'll all be at the hospital anyway.

I expect Sarah from Dr. Lucas' office will call me in the next day or 2 to verify and confirm the date.

Since the surgery is on Friday, I'll probably take Friday and Monday off so I can be with Emma during the most critical days of her recovery.

ENT Update

Emma had another ENT appointment yesterday. They did another hearing test and found out she still has mild to moderate hearing loss (which we knew). She has a lot of fluid in her middle ear.

Anyway, they're scheduling her for tubes (again, which we knew). It just seemed so definite when we were filling out the paperwork yesterday. She'll have the tubes put in during her next palate surgery which will probably be next month. The plastic surgeon is in the process of scheduling the surgery, but they have to get 3 drs together (plastic surgeon, dentist and ENT). The dentist will make a new appliance for her mouth. This one will be so much better because it will be 1 solid piece. The one she has now is an expander, so it's 2 pieces held together by a screw. It's expanded as far as it will go now.

Emma is in for years and years of surgeries, I think. :( I've resigned myself to this fact, but every time a surgery gets closer, I get sick to my stomach. I know each surgery will make her better and better. This one will greatly improve her hearing. The soft palate surgery will greatly improve her speech. She's a real trooper!

Looking at both girls, I think God knew that Emma was the one that could handle this. He gave her a personality that won't stop. :) She's going to be a strong little girl! Callie will probably always be a little more cautious of people (just like Josh).