Stay-cation!

The weekend after Valentine's Day, J and I did a little stay-cation.  For Christmas, J had given me/ us :) a trip to Fredericksburg to do some Hill Country wine tasting.  However, when we realized that it was going to take us over 5 hours to get there, and we were only going to be there for two nights, we decided to postpone a Hill Country trip and instead be vacationers here at home.  While P spent some quality time with Share Share and Papa (a new name courtesy of P himself!), J and I went off to enjoy our city.

FRIDAY:
We spent the afternoon at the Perot Museum of Nature and Science.  It was our first time there, and it was very cool (the science teacher in me loved it!)  So many people had told me that I needed to take P, but my selfish science-nerd self wanted to go without my 2 year old so I could take my time exploring.

The dinosaur exhibit was one of my favorites.

As much as I love science, I was NEVER able to teach weather well.  Here I am in the earth science exhibit in the weather section reaffirming my inability to comprehend, let alone teach, weather concepts. :)

Probably one of the coolest exhibits was the gem and mineral displays.  We had to more or less sprint through them because they were closing the area for a private event, but next time I would make sure to get some additional time in there.  God is quite the artist!

Crazy that these are naturally occurring!



A huge geode.

View of downtown from the third floor.

A portrait from the third floor.

Cool sign on the biology floor.

View of the front of the building.

For dinner we went to Sissy's Southern Kitchen.  The food was great.  Our server was TERRIBLE.

 

 Fun pre-dinner drinks.

After dinner we headed over to Times Ten Cellars and enjoyed some wine and some good conversation.

SATURDAY:

We woke up and headed over to Bread Winners to start our day off right.

I, once again, had the banana bread french toast that I enjoyed the last time that we had a date weekend. :)  It was just as good as I remembered.

Then we went and saw Argo, which we LOVED.  I highly recommend it if you have not yet seen it.

J and I were pretty proud of ourselves for seeing the movie that then won best picture. :)

 

 

Then we headed over to the Mansion, which was where we stayed that night.

 Pretty lobby (picture courtesy of their website).

This is what our room looked like (picture courtesy of their website. :))

Vanity.

Bathroom.

Private patio.  

The high was about 59 degrees on Saturday, so we were able to keep our patio doors open and enjoy some fresh air while enjoying some wine and just chatting.

They brought us passion fruit iced tea and some chocolate covered strawberries.  :)

We had to eat them...they were a gift, after all.

 

 

Here we are for another early-bird dinner.  Because it was Valentine's Day weekend, restaurants all over the city were completely booked.  In order to try out some places we wanted to try, we had to go at 5:30.  So we did. :)

 {source}

We went to dinner at R + D Kitchen, which we had heard good things about.  It did not disappoint!

Unlike our server from the night before, our waitress on Saturday was awesome!  She even brought us some coconut shrimp sushi on the house so we could try it.

View from our table.

Since we got home so early, we decided to go hang out in the lobby and do some reading by the fire before we headed to the bar.  On our way out, we saw this sign on the door next to ours.  Needless to say, we did not go in the room.

J doing some reading.

My view from my over-sized stuffed chair.

Then we headed across the building to the bar for some live music.

(This was more or less the view from our table.)

The bar was really pretty, and the music was great.  Unfortunately, a fuse blew pretty early on, which meant the band couldn't play, so the evening was cut a little short for us...still fun, though!

SUNDAY:

The next morning we headed to The Grape for Brunch.  They were  named "Best Brunch" by D Magazine last year, so we had to check them out.

A little appetizer. :)

And a nice, light follow up. :)  The food really was great.  I'd love to go back.

Since we couldn't eat any more, we went back to my parents' to pick up P.  He had had quite the weekend of fun, and when we got home for our nap, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep on the changing table while I was trying to get him ready for bed.  Sweet boy. :)

We had such a fun time and are so thankful to have family close by that enjoys being with our child!  We decided that a take-away from the weekend was that we didn't have to devote an entire weekend to hanging out sans the Peanut.  We could just (gasp!) go to a movie every now and then or go out to eat someplace that we've never been...earth-shattering revelations, I know. :)  Hopefully we'll be able to follow-through on some of those ideas!

PWE's 2! (Pretend it's Dec. 31)

Oh Peanut...how is it possible that you are two years old?  You obviously keep your mom so busy that she doesn't even have time to acknowledge your birthday on the blog (although this may also have something to do with your mom's (in)ability to prioritize and follow through on things), but let's just put the onus on you, shall we? :)

P, you are such a gift.  Your smile is contagious.  Your laugh, infectious.  Your snuggles and smooches, heart-melting.  Your silliness, endearing.  We can't imagine our lives without you.  You bring us SO much joy, and we simply love you to pieces. :)

Here are some important things to remember about you now that you're 2! :) (As a side note - I wrote this blog post 3 weeks ago, and as I look at the list of things you love, it's amazing to see what has changed in just 3 weeks!  The items in blue are things I've added in today as I reread what I had written.)

Things you LOVE:

• Mama
• Daddy (you ask about him all throughout the day)
• Your kitties (You call them A-yee and A-key.)
• ELMO! (you LOVE watching Elmo DVDs with music, and you've started carrying your plush Elmo around a lot and want him to sleep in your bed with you.  You kindly feed him a graham cracker bite every morning before you take your own bite, and Elmo goes down the slide just as much as you do!)
• Abby Cadabby (yes, she is a pink and purple fairy, but if real men can wear pink, real boys can carry around an Abby Cadabby doll.)
• Your paci (which you only have while you sleep, but when it's time to go to bed, you VERY WILLINGLY run (or maybe sprint) to your crib to fish out your paci...as well as your next favorite thing...)
• Your blankie (Grammy Share gave this to you before you were born, and now it acts as your pillow and a lovie).

Here you are with a few of your favorite things. :)

• Puzzles (You quickly mastered the Melissa and Doug ABC puzzle you got for your birthday and like to point out the letters P, M, B, and T.)
• Stacking things
• Playing outside (you LOVE to go to the park by our house)
• Sliding down your slide (what kid wouldn't want a slide indoors?!)
• Reading books - especially ones with good sound effects like Mo Willem's Listen to My Trumpet.  Other favorites right now include all the Llama, Llama books, I Couldn't Love You More, Going on a Bear Hunt, Heads, Tails, Caps for Sale, and Grumpy Gloria.  You also love books that have animals in them so you can do your animal sounds - like Boo Hoo Baby, The Cow Loves Cookies, and Moo Moo Brown Cow.  We recently went to the library and you got and love the book How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?
• Playing hide and seek/ peekaboo (you dissolve into hysterics when we play, and you try to get anyone you can to play with you!)
• Fruit (any kind!  You sometimes ask for things by name like apple, na-nas, and bub-berries. :)  We recently opened up a can of worms at the grocery store when I let you get some fresh fruit salad from behind the deli counter.  Now, EVERY TIME we go into the grocery store, you make it known that you want fruit.  I figure I used to get a free cookie every time I went to Tom Thumb, so why not let you get fresh fruit. :))
• Graham crackers (it's the first thing you eat every morning - and you asked for them by name yesterday for the first time! - although it sounded more like cack-er, or something to that effect.)
• Carbs, carbs, carbs (we currently have to hide our rolls at dinner because you want to eat yours...and ours.  You also still love your Wheat Thins and on the healthier side, sweet potatoes.)
• Mexican rice (seriously.  You will eat a gross amount of this stuff.  We decided that we're going to have to be responsible parents and limit your intake when we go out to eat.)
• Your extended family (you have started listing family members off...Share Share, PaPa, KiKi, B,-De, Pops! :)  It's so cute!)
• Music (you love to play on the piano - and thanks to the Elmo video - can play soft and loud.  You also love to sing songs and listen to "tunes," with He's Got the Whole World in His Hand, Jesus Loves Me, Driving in My Car, and Old MacDonald being at the top of your list. We found an Elmo and the Orchestra CD at the library, and you love listening to the orchestra play Flight of the Bumblebees, which you ask for by saying "Beez.  Beez.")
• Baths (your daddy gives you a bath every night, and you are always beyond eager to jump in!  You love to have him turn on the water - by asking for "wah-wah"- and have him pour it out of cups for you.)
• Your friends at church (including a favorite little girl who you can't get enough of. ;))
• Dancing (you have quite the dance moves...it mostly involves your upper body - we may have a conductor in the making.)
• Playing on my phone (which you ask for by name.  You like to sit in the chair in the kitchen and play with apps that have animal sounds while I make breakfast).
• COWS.  You are obsessed with cows.  We don't know why, but it's hilarious and endearing. :)

Things you don't LOVE as much:

• Having to be patient (surely not an inherited trait from your mother.  For example, you don't do well if you have to wait for a meal...)
• Milk (you more or less refuse to drink it now)
• Sweets (except for popsicles and gingersnaps, you refuse to eat any kind of dessert.  We don't know how you are our kid!)
• Riding in your umbrella stroller (i.e. shopping with mom, although you're usually okay in a cart.)
• Being asked (forced?) to do something you don't want to do/ go somewhere you don't want to go (although your dad points out that most people are this way :))
• Going to the doctor 
• Having the iPhone taken out when the intention is not for you to play with it

Newer things you're doing:

• Helping us clean up your toys!  You are really doing SO well at this! 
• Using a spoon really well (this was hit or miss for a long time.)
• Drinking from an open cup (also hit or miss, but you're getting better)
• Helping around the house (ahem...when asked.  You happily "make a basket" by throwing your dirty clothes in the hamper and throwing away trash.  You also have started helping me move clothes from the washer to the dryer and have started sorting clean silverware.  As of recent, you have actually asked to sort the silverware by standing next to the silverware drawer or the dishwasher and saying "Help!")
• TALKING!!! (a whole blog post on this to come)
• Playing pretend (you really like your new kitchen)

 Stats:

• Height: 35.5 inches (80th percentile)
• Weight: 29 lbs. (60th percentile)
• Head: 19.75 inches (90th percentile) 

We had planned to have an Elmo party for your second birthday with family and a few friends, but I got so sick with a stomach bug that we had to cancel. :(   I just felt (and still feel) awful about it!  Everyone told me that you're two and that you wouldn't know any different, but I just hate that we weren't able to celebrate you and show you how much we love you!  (Not to mention the fact that we don't have the quintessential birthday pictures!)

Even though we didn't have your party, we did celebrate you alongside Grammy Share and Aunt KiKi on their birthday.  We did sing "Happy Birthday" to you, and you did have some Elmo cupcakes from your sweet cousin Whitney, so it's not like your day went completely unnoticed.  I just wish we could have done more!

 Here's the inspiration for the Elmo cupcakes that we found on Pinterest (but I can't find the link...don't sue me!)

 And here's the finished product. :)

 How cute are these??? :)

 Here you are on your birthday morning! :)

Peanut, Peanut, Peanut...we love you more than words can say.  Thank you for all the joy you bring to our lives!  We look forward to the year ahead knowing it holds great things.

Love,
Mama and Daddy

Delayed

Delayed.  It's a word we use and experience all the time.

If your flight is delayed, it can be a blessing if you're running late or a curse if you have a connecting flight.

As a kid, a delayed start to the school day because of inclement weather was such a treat!

Then there's delayed gratification - like when my best friend's mom told me to hang in there when it came to ski school (which I DESPISED when I was little) because when I was older, I would be able to ski with the boys. :)  Or eating all your veggies so you can have dessert.

But being told - on paper - that your child is "delayed."  There's something about the way that word feels as a parent when attributed to your sweet little baby that is hard to digest.  Even when you know it to be true.

On December 20, P was evaluated, per our request, by ECI (Texas' Early Childhood Intervention program), because we had concerns over his expressive language.  By the age of 2, the average child has 50 words.  At 23 months, P had one word - mama.  No animal sounds, no mimicking, just mama.  Well, mama and lots and lots of gobbledygook, but as cute as it was, it wasn't doing us much good in the communication department.

Even though this child has been read to, sung to, and talked to (almost without ceasing :)) since the day he was born, he was not showing normal language acquisition.  At his 18 month appointment, I was asked if he had 6 words.  I asked if using the word "boom" in 6 different ways counted. :)  They told me not to worry about anything and that closer to two years, we'd probably see a boom in his vocabulary.  We didn't.

And thanks to social media, I became more and more aware of all of the things my friends' kids were saying that mine was not, and I began to get worried.  We talked to the pediatrician at 22 months and agreed that getting him evaluated was the first step.  People always asked me about his hearing, but I knew the kid could hear things...so that wasn't the issue.

Two evaluators came out to see P on Dec. 20 - a speech pathologist and another child specialist.  They did lots of activities with him over the course of an hour (and asked me a TON of questions) to check his development in 5 areas:
1) Social
2) Cognitive
3) Adaptive
4) Fine and Gross Motor Skills
5) Expressive and Receptive Language

According to them, a delay of 0-25% is considered "normal" because kids develop at different rates.  P's results came back within normal range except for expressive language, which showed that he had a 39% delay - equivalent to that of a 14 month old's language skills as a 23 month old.  That sort of delay qualified him to receive services through ECI.

So it was a good news/ bad news situation.  Good news: P was going to get additional help from experts!  Someone would come to our house once a week to work with him for 45 minutes and talk to me for 15 minutes.  Bad news:  Not only was my child just labeled as "delayed," but this opened up can of worms that got thrown into a deep, dark hole where I willing followed while asking the following questions, "WHY does he have such delayed speech?  Is it my fault?  What else could we have done?  Will he ever talk?   How will this affect him later on down the line?"  And on...and on...and on...

I would be lying if I said I didn't cry.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't expecting the worst.  I would be lying if I told you I didn't wish that P was like all my friends' kids who were able to sing songs and speak in little sentences and ask questions and COMMUNICATE with their families.  And I would be lying if I told you I didn't feel alone.  So I won't lie. 

I cried. 

I expected the worst. 

Selfishly (and embarrassingly), I desperately wanted for P to "be like all the other kids..."

And I felt so alone.

I lived in my dark hole for a few days, every once and a while coming up for air to talk to a dear friend about it and look at things from a more logical and unemotional perspective.  I was able to process that one of the things that made this all so difficult was because I didn't know a single other person who had gone through something like this.  Throughout the first two years of P's life, any obstacle I faced was met with a commiserating, "I've been there," from at least one other mom...and it's those "I've been there's" that make you feel like 1) you're not alone, and 2) that there's light at the end of the tunnel.  They are a life-line for desperate mamas!  And I didn't have that.

And that was really hard.

But I'll tell you what I did have...I had a husband who loved me, comforted me, and reassured me.  I had a friend who told me that "God chose us to be P's parents and would equip us with what we needed to take care of him."  I had a friend who applauded my bravery for staring this obstacle in the face and getting my son the help he needs.  I had a cousin who talked me off the ledge with humor, and knowledge, and love.  I had family and other friends who were supportive and understanding.  But more than anything else, I had God who put it on my heart that though the world might see P and use the word "delayed," He looks at P and says "all in My perfect timing." 

This is not a surprise to the Father.  P is fearfully and wonderfully made - from his beautiful blue eyes, to his precious giggle, to his intricately wired brain that, in HIS perfect time, will allow P to share all those little thoughts that are running around in his head.  And until that time, I will trust that God has a perfect plan and has this all under control. 

Now - there is light at the end of the tunnel.  Within a few weeks of P's evaluation and before he started meeting with a therapist, little words started coming out...one of the first ones being "Dad-Dee!" :) (Needless to say, J was thrilled...and so was I!)  We also built up quite the arsenal of animal sounds and started saying "wah-wah" while in the bathtub to request that the water be turned back on and "nah-nuh" one morning while eating breakfast to request a banana...and so on and so on.

In fact, a new word is added to the kid's vocabulary almost every day, which of course makes me happier than I can express! :)  I now find myself in an interesting place, and I think it's a place where God is helping me to work on something that as a mom I really struggle with - and that's comparing my child to everyone else's.  Here's an example:

One of the first things we worked on with P was using "yes" and "no" appropriately.  J and I joked that we felt like the only parents in the world who have had to teach their child the word "no" :), and not to worry, he picked it up pretty quickly.  So on the one hand, I am having a party because my kid is using "yes" and "no" and is able to let us know things he wants and doesn't want.  This is a big deal!  Our lives are transformed by these two small words!  I want to tell everyone I know about it!  And then there is a moment where I stop and realize that most of my friends with kids P's age experienced this sort of thing AGES ago with their kids.  And for a brief moment, my excitement lessens, and I start to question even telling anyone because compared to other kids, who are singing songs and having conversations, this is nothing.  And I hate to admit that there are moments where I believe that lie about my sweet child.  That we don't have time to celebrate these little successes because we have so much we have to "catch up on." 

Thankfully, during those moments, the holy spirit works in me, and I am able to STOP COMPARING my precious P with anyone else and CELEBRATE who he is - just how God made him to be.  Now, I'm not super woman.  At the moment I don't watch Facebook posts with descriptors like "My Baby Singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," because I know where my mind and heart can go.  And I can't really describe it, but there are so many times when I could be comparing P, and it's like my head isn't even allowed to go there.  Praise God.  The past two months have been filled with so many celebrations over new words, and for the most part, I have been able to enjoy them because they are gifts from God, answers to prayer, and because they are words that are coming out of the mouth of MY little boy.

For awhile, part of my nightly prayers with P was that God would give him his little voice and that he would give us the patience to wait on His timing.  I have seen this prayer being answered over and over again, and I am grateful because God is sovereign and always comes through.

From Always, by Kristian Stanfill
Oh, my God, He will not delay.
My refuge and strength always.
I will not fear, His promise is true.
My God will come through always, always."

Something that is good...

 

 

This is a list of things that I am thankful for over the past 24 hours:

1)  Yesterday P took a 3.25 hour nap and woke up smiling.

2) Went to dinner at Chuy's and did our part to help celebrate National Margarita Day (who knew!?)

3) Went to said dinner with dear friends and their girls who we haven't seen in forever.  So fun to catch up!

4) Our child was a rock star at dinner - he was on his best behavior, ate all his food (including some carrots and apples alongside the chips and rice), and we were able to have conversations with other adults at the table because he was self-sufficient.  :)  So nice!

5) Went over to our friends' house after dinner and watched our child dance and run around and play with yellow balloons with our friends' kids.  It's hard to imagine life before these kids came along.

6) Watched Top Chef - Final, Part 1.  I love Top Chef.

7) Had a good night's sleep.

8) J had a step-down week, so he was done with his bike ride by 9:15, and we were able to enjoy a family breakfast of pancakes and eggs.

9) I tried out a random Pinterest recipe for "healthy pancakes" - 2 egg whites, 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 a banana, 1 tsp vanilla, a dash of cinnamon, and a dash of salt.  Blend in the blender until smooth.  Put it on the griddle...and they're pretty good. :) (Not to worry, they were just for fun to try - we thoroughly enjoyed Trader Joe's Pumpkin pancake mix for the majority of our breakfast!)

10)  J and I laughed til we were both in tears while sitting at the breakfast table.  P didn't know what to think. :)

11) Went as a family to the library.  J played with P while I looked for books. :)

12) Found out that the library has quite the collection of Elmo DVDs.  Hooray!

13) Found an "Elmo and the Orchestra" CD that has Big Bird teaching Elmo about different instruments and sections of the orchestra with famous classical music clips.  He loves it, and every time he hears Elmo's voice he says, "El-mo."

14) Enjoying the beautiful sunny weather!

15) Tried out another recipe from Pinterest - A Chocolate Peanut Butter Nutter Butter concoction that looks good (and should taste good based on the leftover mixture on the spoon that I couldn't let go to waste). :)

16) Made a sopapilla cheesecake for a wedding shower tomorrow, and it smells divine. :)

17) Found a Tim Keller podcast on iTunes and have been learning while cooking.

18) Going to enjoy an evening with dear friends tonight that we haven't seen in a while.

19) Thankful for parents who call and say, "How come you need a babysitter tonight, and you didn't call us?!" :)

20) God is good.  We have SO much to be grateful for.

Happy Saturday!

December and January through the Lens of my Phone

 This was on the tag of the Singing Jingle Bell Elmo that P got from my cousin. :)  Seriously?!?

Sq. 1 Christmas party.  Thankful to still have these women as a part of my life.

 I hosted the Christmas Party for the girls in my Sunday school class...we had a great time, and our house was clean and decorated for Christmas by Dec. 4. :)  Pretty flowers courtesy of Trader Joe's.

 Blankets make very good hats.

 

Playing in the backyard...acorns + yogurt tubs = fun.

 P loves to snuggle his kitties. :)

 One morning when J and I weren't quite ready to get out of bed, we went and got P and brought him into our room to play.  He proceeded to leave and come back with the Wheat Thins box.  Think he was hungry? :)

 Signing that he would like more singing from the Elmo ornament.  Thanks, Aunt Ann. :)

 I swear he stacked this totally on his own.

He is rightfully proud of himself.

 This was totally on his own, too.

  

 My crafty Christmas present for J.

 The many faces of P at Mi Cocina...

Obviously doesn't like something.

 Yum!  Water!

 Cheese!

 Where did everybody go?

 I love being with my family! :)

 Taking a wagon ride in the house - it was freezing outside.

 LOVING his new slide.

 Hanging out at Cabela's.  He loved the fish.

 A legit wagon ride outside...with yet ANOTHER monkey that sings.  This time it's to "Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting."  Once again, thanks, Aunt Ann. :)

While visiting my grandparents for "Pizza Thursday," P always wants to go and run the halls.  This was the first time he really took notice of the stuff that people have out by their doors.  He came back with this longhorn that was as big as him! :)

Pretty sky on the way to Pizza Thursday.

 My sweet, sick boy taking a nap at 10:45 in the AM.  That's how I knew something was really wrong.

 Does this look like the face of a kid who feels well? :(

 Poor guy had a low-grade fever for 4.5 days and was just miserable.  

We watched more TV than we ever had before...which turned out to be a bit of an issue once he was feeling better.  He thought we could just watch TV (or "dd" as he calls it) every minute of every day now.  Not an easy habit to break...

 There was LOTS of snuggling.

 We took lots of baths because it helped with the congestion.

 Starting to feel better!  (You can tell he hadn't been eating by his lack of tummy. :(  Not to worry...he fixed that in a hurry.)

 Catching some water.

 Love this kid.

 He LOVED riding the elevator at the mall.  We seriously went up and down 12 times, and he absolutely would have done it all afternoon.

Elmo is his new buddy.  He gives him graham cracker snacks in the morning, puts him down the slide, and brings him out and about with us from time to time.  Here we are at the grocery store.