big. full. wednesday.   August 13, 2008

today, was one of those mornings where you wake up to the alarm, wishing that you didn’t, but thankful, the girls were still sleeping, so you could hit that snooze one too many times before actually getting up and being productive!
we hit the ground running today. lots going on. some summer days are filled with nothings. today, quite the opposite. and i don’t just mean activity wise either!
there is a sweet lil family we’ve been hanging out with from mari’s mommy and me class this summer. her little friend, carisa, [who is weeks apart from our mari], has an older sister, kayla, who emi just adores! kayla will be entering k this fall. so, as we realize summer is quickly coming to an end, emi exclaims how she would love to have playdates with kayla, now that the two of them will be in school shortly, and won’t just have the lobby and front mirror room to play in. we will try to squeeze that in, emi!
during class this morning, mari just amazed me. she truly did. and she had all the love and support from the other parents who have now been with us over a year and a half ago. the ones that have literally seen her bloom and are now HEARING her do so in words as well! for a child like mari, who is still undiagnosed as far as her speech goes, it is very difficult for her to get out any sounds that require her to move her mouth horizontally. so you typically hear the lazy vertical sounds like AHHHHHH and UHHHHHHHH alot. well, prior to starting speech therapy, we barely even heard that. we’ve learned so much along this short journey. it is difficult for children who have things like apraxia or are simply delayed to end words in constanents [sp?]. ie: MAMA comes before MOM. and MAMA comes before MOMMY. because, it is also difficult to get the EEEEEE sound, since it is a horizontal movement for her. so, for those of you who may have questioned why start her in speech before she turned TWO, have we got news! today, after class, she YELLED out, *MOMMY, [pointed to her chest and rubbed it- the sign for ME], STAAAAAAAAAAAPPPPPP!!! [aka stamp]*. also during class, she is just babbling constantly now, and has always been a social one, so i think people just appreciate who she is, w/ or w/o words. and while on the air track today, out of the corner of my eye, with her teacher spotting her, she just went upside down and did her very own sommersault!!! applause and praise filled the air from all around us [again, this is a very supportive group], and she had this LOOK on her face, like I DID IT mommy, and just ran over and dove into my arms! she is also now having one of her FAVE toys gymbo, sign thank you to her, after she pretends to give him her milk cup. just the sweetest thing, again, proves it is all in His plan, and own timing. today more than ever, i knew i had a sign that all will be just fine.
after class, we said our goodbyes, and headed out to check out a local event in the mall. there was face painting, balloon animals, and a puppet show. mari grew restless, so we just walked around, got some starbucks, and ended up at target:) next, it was onto miss emi’s swim lessons. so proud of this GIRL. every year she comes more and more out of her shell, and this summer in daily swim lessons is giving her more and more confidence in the water. we are in the process now of setting up a private one on one lesson with her FAVE teacher. see how that works out. mari was babbling up a storm, as she was proudly watching her sister swim w/o the kickboard now, the 1/2 length of the pool! after swim, we grabbed some lunch, and headed to miss emi’s summer camp. it was the day they brought in a puppy and the kids went nuts! they loved the sweet furry friend, and of course, mari had to get in there, too! i was able to get some laundry done while mari took her nap, before it was time to pick up emi again! phew- and we moved her art class to a make up day. then, daddy got home just before we got back from picking up emi. and we played symphony and teacher teacher before heading out for a YUMMY italian dinner, followed by sweet treats from cold stone. brian and emi just returned from golfing- so off to watch the olympics now.

big. full. wednesday. thank you, God. such a wonderful way to get to spend our day!