Quinn has been in speech therapy for a couple years now (can you believe it?). Anyway, he has made and enormous amount of progress. That said, he still uses "d" for most of the beginning th sounds with an occasional "f" coming out too. So, this is dis, that is dat, three is free, birthday is birfday, etc. Well...he is now saying this, that, there, three, thirteen. He got marked down in preschool because it sound like he was saying twelve, fourteen, fourteen, fifteen. He was saying "firteen" for thirteen. In the last 3 weeks or so, he has started trying very hard to say "th" and he has been successful. He started The Listening Program in November! I sure hope it helps with s, sh, j & ch. I can say this...it won't hurt!
Joe and I are listening too. You aren't supposed to do anything that requires a lot of concentration while listening (like reading, video games, etc.). I broke the rules last night and played "brickbreaker" on my phone (loser, I know but Quinn has me hooked). I beat my highest score (which was already higher than Joe's)!! I rocked! Okay, so what if it was brickbreaker, just think what I could accomplish if I tried something important :)
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Miss Jessica's Visit
Miss Jessica, a former teacher at My Gym and a family friend is visiting from Washington. She came last night and had a sleepover with Quinn in the tent (in the basement). That meant lots of reading of books. Today, Quinn and she spent the morning doing crafts in the craft room. Quinn is in heaven. All of this adult attention being sent his way. He is going to be very sad when it is time for her to leave.
Chloe calls Miss Jessica, "girl". "Mommy, is that girl awake?" "Watch me jump girl." It's quite cute and she can say Jessica when she tries. Jessica is amazed by Chloe's speech progress. She visited in September and has a video on her camera of us trying to get Chloe to say "sorry". One little word! Now, just 3.5 months later she can say sentences (okay, so they aren't perfect but she can definitely communicate). Remember, she started The Listening Program on October 6. What an answer to our prayers!
We are so glad (and surprised) that Jessica wanted to spend time in our chaotic but loving home! Now...we have to get Miss Emily (another former My Gym employee) to visit us - she just left the gym and we are so sad. Why do these girls have to graduate and get career jobs? Isn't acting like a 3 year old all day enough?
Chloe calls Miss Jessica, "girl". "Mommy, is that girl awake?" "Watch me jump girl." It's quite cute and she can say Jessica when she tries. Jessica is amazed by Chloe's speech progress. She visited in September and has a video on her camera of us trying to get Chloe to say "sorry". One little word! Now, just 3.5 months later she can say sentences (okay, so they aren't perfect but she can definitely communicate). Remember, she started The Listening Program on October 6. What an answer to our prayers!
We are so glad (and surprised) that Jessica wanted to spend time in our chaotic but loving home! Now...we have to get Miss Emily (another former My Gym employee) to visit us - she just left the gym and we are so sad. Why do these girls have to graduate and get career jobs? Isn't acting like a 3 year old all day enough?
Monday, January 5, 2009
Monkeys
For a long time Chloe would say "Monkeys" when she got scared. She would run out of her room and into ours yelling, "monkeys". We couldn't figure it out. Still don't understand it - she's never had a bad experience with a monkey :). We don't know if she "sees" monkeys or if she just uses it for "scared." Tonight her and I had a real conversation about it.
She got a Curious George stuffed animal recently. She calls him, "Monkey". Tonight, after we finished praying Chloe said, "I afraid." I asked, "What are you afraid of?" She said, "Monkeys." I teased her and said, "I better take this monkey if you are afraid of monkeys." She said (holding tightly onto George), "Real monkeys scare me." After I picked myself up of her bedroom floor and regained my composure, I explained we didn't let monkeys into our house and that they live in the zoo.
I didn't know she knew "afraid" and "scared". I didn't know she could differentiate between "real" and "not real". At least, I didn't think she could explain it. As I write, I still cannot believe the conversation we had. We had a conversation and we are doing that all of the time now.
On New Year's Day, we were walking (the one day in a row I stuck to my New Year's resolution to exercise) and Chloe looked over at the mountains (remember, she was born in CO and she is almost 4) and said, "Mommy, there's mountains."
God is answering our prayers all of the time!
www.thelisteningprogram.com
She got a Curious George stuffed animal recently. She calls him, "Monkey". Tonight, after we finished praying Chloe said, "I afraid." I asked, "What are you afraid of?" She said, "Monkeys." I teased her and said, "I better take this monkey if you are afraid of monkeys." She said (holding tightly onto George), "Real monkeys scare me." After I picked myself up of her bedroom floor and regained my composure, I explained we didn't let monkeys into our house and that they live in the zoo.
I didn't know she knew "afraid" and "scared". I didn't know she could differentiate between "real" and "not real". At least, I didn't think she could explain it. As I write, I still cannot believe the conversation we had. We had a conversation and we are doing that all of the time now.
On New Year's Day, we were walking (the one day in a row I stuck to my New Year's resolution to exercise) and Chloe looked over at the mountains (remember, she was born in CO and she is almost 4) and said, "Mommy, there's mountains."
God is answering our prayers all of the time!
www.thelisteningprogram.com
The Listening Program
Chloe is starting her 10th album of "The Listening Program" this week. In May her biggest word was "Baboo". It had no meaning. It was like a baby saying gaga googoo. We knew she'd say Mommy & Daddy next because our speech therapist told us. She was right. It's a natural progression, it is just very delayed for Chloe. From May to October things didn't change much. In fact, at the end of July, Chloe had 39 words. The list included stuff like - hi, bye, mommy, daddy, no, poopoo. Pretty basic stuff.
On October 6th, Chloe started The Listening Program. We were huge skeptics! It cost over $700 and what could listening to this music do to help her??? We were so skeptical that we spent another $800 that we didn't have to go to the training for providers. We had to know more. We left our training in Denver in complete shock at the case studies we had seen (video) and read. The CEO of Advanced Brain Technologies actually conducted the training. It was so amazing that Quinn, Joe and I are all on the program.
It is now January 5 and Chloe is speaking in sentences. We had her IEP (school) recently and her speech therapist said her goal has changed from putting the final sound on words (she only said "ba" for bed, bird, blanket, etc. and "ta" for table, toy, town, etc.) to utterances of 5 or more.
Chloe is now speaking in sentences!!!! Her teachers send us notes almost every week saying that they are astonished by Chloe's language. Her speech therapists are amazed! Joe's mom visited for Thanksgiving and couldn't believe the improvement in Chloe's speech (she hadn't seen her since August). My parents visited for Christmas and my dad commented that Chloe's language is improving daily!
She asks "why?" at least 100 times a day now! Never thought something like that would make me so happy!!
Some other changes we have noticed...
Chloe isn't falling all of the time. There seems to be a real improvement in her balance.
She used to freak out if you tickled her softly or played with her hair. Now she is constantly saying, "Tickle me Mommy (or Daddy or Nanny or whoever's willing).
Brushing her teeth was one of the worst parts of our day! Joe and I would argue over who had to do it. It's not a problem anymore! She stands there with her mouth open almost as well as any other child.
Her relationships are improving. She doesn't hit as much as she used to (she still hits some). I think this has to do with improved ability to communicate.
She has also started to eat some meat - she ate a piece of turkey bacon the other day. Her first ever. Tonight she ate a piece of deli ham. It's progress.
The program has been used for so many things - Down Syndrome, Autism (lots of studies), auditory processing disorder, stroke patients and more. It has truly been a blessing in our lives!
If you want to know more, you can go to: www.thelisteningprogram.com.
On October 6th, Chloe started The Listening Program. We were huge skeptics! It cost over $700 and what could listening to this music do to help her??? We were so skeptical that we spent another $800 that we didn't have to go to the training for providers. We had to know more. We left our training in Denver in complete shock at the case studies we had seen (video) and read. The CEO of Advanced Brain Technologies actually conducted the training. It was so amazing that Quinn, Joe and I are all on the program.
It is now January 5 and Chloe is speaking in sentences. We had her IEP (school) recently and her speech therapist said her goal has changed from putting the final sound on words (she only said "ba" for bed, bird, blanket, etc. and "ta" for table, toy, town, etc.) to utterances of 5 or more.
Chloe is now speaking in sentences!!!! Her teachers send us notes almost every week saying that they are astonished by Chloe's language. Her speech therapists are amazed! Joe's mom visited for Thanksgiving and couldn't believe the improvement in Chloe's speech (she hadn't seen her since August). My parents visited for Christmas and my dad commented that Chloe's language is improving daily!
She asks "why?" at least 100 times a day now! Never thought something like that would make me so happy!!
Some other changes we have noticed...
Chloe isn't falling all of the time. There seems to be a real improvement in her balance.
She used to freak out if you tickled her softly or played with her hair. Now she is constantly saying, "Tickle me Mommy (or Daddy or Nanny or whoever's willing).
Brushing her teeth was one of the worst parts of our day! Joe and I would argue over who had to do it. It's not a problem anymore! She stands there with her mouth open almost as well as any other child.
Her relationships are improving. She doesn't hit as much as she used to (she still hits some). I think this has to do with improved ability to communicate.
She has also started to eat some meat - she ate a piece of turkey bacon the other day. Her first ever. Tonight she ate a piece of deli ham. It's progress.
The program has been used for so many things - Down Syndrome, Autism (lots of studies), auditory processing disorder, stroke patients and more. It has truly been a blessing in our lives!
If you want to know more, you can go to: www.thelisteningprogram.com.
Monday, October 27, 2008
They Crack Me Up!!!
I was looking through a few of our October pictures and thought these were so funny! There are more to come! These guys crack me up! Quinn is obsessed with gourds this year! I think because he learned about them at the pumpkin patch. I have about 22 pictures of gourds in my October photo files. He wants his photo taken with everything and by everything.
If you have ever received artwork from Chloe, you can see she puts her heart & soul & fingers & hands & arms & face & clothes into it! She loves finger-painting (I use the word "finger" loosely).
No hike would be complete without a soft pink baby.
"Quinn, are you seriously posing for a picture when you are supposed to be throwing the ball back into the game?"
I don't know why he is in the dryer!
"Quinn, are you seriously posing for a picture when you are supposed to be throwing the ball back into the game?"
I don't know why he is in the dryer!
If you have ever received artwork from Chloe, you can see she puts her heart & soul & fingers & hands & arms & face & clothes into it! She loves finger-painting (I use the word "finger" loosely).
Friday, October 24, 2008
A Fresh Perspective
On Tuesday night we had Chloe's parent teacher conference with Ms. Heather. Ms. Heather and Ms. Nancy are suching a blessing in our lives! I came home feeling re-energized, especially given the week I had just had. Chloe is talking more, focusing more, and her fine motor skills are improving. She is saying some simple sentences (I think repeat myself in these blogs, sorry). For example, "I want baby show home." (I want to watch a baby show when we get home.) She is making friends. When I walked into her class for walking field trip to the pond, she was in line at the door holding hands with her friend, Marcella.
We still have a ways to go. At the field trip to the pond, I ended up having to carry her the entire way back while her peers held onto the loops and walked together. She kicked and hit at school yesterday. Last night she dumped an entire box of noodles all over my bedroom floor (don't ask). BUT...every improvement is so encouraging. If we could just improve her aggressive behaviors, everyone would benefit, most of all Chloe! Please keep praying!
Miss Heather gave us a handprint poster we did in her class the other day. It has Quinn's hands, Chloe's hands and my hands. In the middle, she pasted a poem. She said, we were the only parents to whom she gave this poem. This is Ms. Heather's first year of teaching and I am really proud of her. She stepped outside the public school bounds to give us this poem that contains words like heaven, Lord, etc. I am so glad that her and Ms. Nancy are Chloe's teachers. Oh yeah, yesterday I asked Chloe who she played with at school and she said, "Thella" (Marcella) and "Nanthy". She loves Ms. Nancy.
Here's the poem.
HEAVEN'S SPECIAL CHILD Author presently unknown
A meeting was held quite far from earth,
It’s time again for another birth.
Said the angels to the Lord above;
This special child will need much love.
Her progress may be very slow,
Accomplishments she may not show.
And she’ll require extra care,
From the folks she meets down there,
She may not run or laugh or play,
Her thoughts may seem quite far away.
In many ways she won’t adapt, and she’ll
Be known as handicapped.
So let’s be careful where she is sent, we want
Her life to be content.
Please, Lord, find the good friends who, will
Do a special job for you.
They will not realize it right away, the leading
Role they’re asked to play.
But with this child sent from above, comes
Stronger faith and richer love.
And soon they will know the privileges given,
In caring for their gift from Heaven.
Their precious charge, so meek and mild, is
Heaven’s very special child.
We still have a ways to go. At the field trip to the pond, I ended up having to carry her the entire way back while her peers held onto the loops and walked together. She kicked and hit at school yesterday. Last night she dumped an entire box of noodles all over my bedroom floor (don't ask). BUT...every improvement is so encouraging. If we could just improve her aggressive behaviors, everyone would benefit, most of all Chloe! Please keep praying!
Miss Heather gave us a handprint poster we did in her class the other day. It has Quinn's hands, Chloe's hands and my hands. In the middle, she pasted a poem. She said, we were the only parents to whom she gave this poem. This is Ms. Heather's first year of teaching and I am really proud of her. She stepped outside the public school bounds to give us this poem that contains words like heaven, Lord, etc. I am so glad that her and Ms. Nancy are Chloe's teachers. Oh yeah, yesterday I asked Chloe who she played with at school and she said, "Thella" (Marcella) and "Nanthy". She loves Ms. Nancy.
Here's the poem.
HEAVEN'S SPECIAL CHILD Author presently unknown
A meeting was held quite far from earth,
It’s time again for another birth.
Said the angels to the Lord above;
This special child will need much love.
Her progress may be very slow,
Accomplishments she may not show.
And she’ll require extra care,
From the folks she meets down there,
She may not run or laugh or play,
Her thoughts may seem quite far away.
In many ways she won’t adapt, and she’ll
Be known as handicapped.
So let’s be careful where she is sent, we want
Her life to be content.
Please, Lord, find the good friends who, will
Do a special job for you.
They will not realize it right away, the leading
Role they’re asked to play.
But with this child sent from above, comes
Stronger faith and richer love.
And soon they will know the privileges given,
In caring for their gift from Heaven.
Their precious charge, so meek and mild, is
Heaven’s very special child.
Friday, October 17, 2008
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