Nick found this hilarious website called www.yearbookyourself.com in which you scan a photo of yourself in and see what you'd look like anywhere between 1950 - 2000. Here's a little slideshow to laugh at:

Evals are OVER!

Andrew had his last eval on Thursday at the UMDNJ Hospital in Newark. After the developmental pediatrician observed him for an hour he said that Andrew is nowhere even close to being on the autism spectrum and believes his behaviors that we were calling "red flags" are well within normal little boy behavior. He did however diagnose him with "developmental language delay" and "developmental apraxia" both of which I'm relatively unfamiliar with but it sounds like he is expected to overcome these with continued speech therapy. I am so glad this whole process is over! The doctor requested that Andrew has a formal hearing exam due to his history of ear infections/eardrum rupture as this may be the cause of the speech and articulation problems. We will be doing that on October 14th.

In other news, we bought a new car a couple weeks ago. It's a 2007 Toyota Camry which will replace the 1989 Honda Accord. The Accord will be missed as it was the first car that I bought entirely on my own but considering it has 112,000 miles on it and the AC no longer works it will be nice for Nick to finally have something comfortable and reliable to drive around in.

My mom, Lauren, and I accompanied Andrew and his preschool class on an apple picking field trip. The kids all had a great time and we got lots of pictures. Now....what to do with 10 pounds of apples......

Preschool Time!

The last 4 weeks have been filled with different evaluations for Andrew. We have done several evals for the school district with hopes that he may qualify for the language-based preschool run by the school district. This preschool is a great program that continues to work with the children with their speech, articulation, etc. We won't find out whether he is in for a few more weeks. In the meantime, Andrew started at a regular, mainstream preschool last week. He LOVES it so far! It's 2 mornings a week, Monday & Wednesday. This will be great for him since he loves to be social with other kids his age. I dropped him off for his first day on Wednesday and he barely looked back to say goodbye. Also, more great news - Andrew is POTTY TRAINED! Woo hoo! Last Saturday we just decided to go for it and put him in big boy underwear and he is a natural. He just hops right on the potty and goes as if he's always known what to do. We're so proud of him.

Lauren is sprouting right up and she adores her brother. She has to do everything that he does and she also likes to torment him by taking his toys away from him. I'm able to have a little one on one time with her when Andrew is at preschool so we'll be able to go to the park and do other fun activities while big brother is having fun at school.

We had a nice visit with my Dad a few weeks ago. He flew out for 3 days and A & L got to visit with "Grappa". Just yesterday we drove by the hotel that my dad stayed in and Andrew said "Look Mom! Grappa's house!". I got a good laugh at that.


Arriving at his first day of preschool!


Playing in his classroom



Snack time at school


Lauren having a snack at home

And this pics is one of my favorites....They climbed into the coat closet and trashed it. When I got to them they were pretending to be asleep, even making pretend snoring sounds!

Evaluations

I think I have mentioned before that Andrew has been in the "Early Intervention" program. It is a program for toddlers under 3 years old that have a developmental delay. In Andrew's case, we were referred by his pediatrician at his 2-year checkup because he wasn't saying 10 words clearly and consistently. He had a speech & development evaluation in February and it was recommended that he see a speech therapist and a developmental therapist one hour per week (each). He has been doing great and has made vast improvements in overall vocabulary and is now speaking in 4-5 word sentences. His speech has become less and less of a primary concern although both of his therapists have noticed a few 'red flags' and recommended that we see either a neurodevelopmental pediatrician or a pediatric neurologist for a few more evaluations. Some of the concerns are that he has very fleeting and inconsistent eye contact unless it's on his terms, he is obsessive about trains, tracks, tunnels, & bridges and manages to find everyday objects and points out how they resemble train tracks, tunnels, etc. He prefers to play alone when in a group setting (library storytime, Gymboree, etc). Any of these behaviors could very well be personality traits and nothing more than that. So to make a long story short (too late?), we will be doing a few evaluations over the next 2 months. They are primarily done through play and observation and from there we can determine if there is anything to be concerned about. My feelings are that it would be better to have this done and find out there's nothing to worry about rather than delay it and find out later down the road that we should have intervened earlier. If the evaluations conclude that he is over 33% delayed in any one area or over 25% delayed in any two areas then he will qualify for a state-funded language & development based preschool very close to our house. They maintain a very small teacher to student ratio and focus on each individual child's needs. The goal in this program is to have them caught up with their peers before they go to kindergarten. What we DO know is that Andrew is very smart & perceptive. He knows and recognizes all of the alphabet letters, colors, shapes, and counts up to 12. His favorite number is 16, even though he can't count that far. If he sees a lot of something, marbles in a jar for instance, he'll say there are 16 of them (probably because it's the biggest number he knows). He's a very happy, energetic, eager and affectionate little boy. Did I mention he's the cutest, too? So, our first evaluation will be on Tuesday of next week. I will be sure to let you all know how it goes! Here's some pictures and a video of our latest art project. I put down some heavy duty paper and gave them paint and brushes and they went to town! Note- the video starts off sideways, after 3-4 seconds it changes though!

Now THIS is how to BBQ

Last Saturday, Nick's boss invited all the employee's and their families to his house for a BBQ. This wasn't any old backyard BBQ. They had valet parking, it was completely catered along with an attended bar and they also hired a band. There were plenty of activites to choose from - swimming, volleyball, boat rides on his boss' private boat, or mingle with co-workers under the huge shade tent. Their house is right along the banks of the Navesink River and the view was amazing. They put together goodie bags for each of the kids their with a beach ball, bubbles, tattoos, etc. We had a great time! Here are some pictures....somehow I managed to be gone every time a photo was taken.

weddings, surgeries, and other musings

I now have an 18-month-old and a 2 1/2-year old! Some days I'm lucky to have gotten anything done, not to mention take a shower! Bear with me with the lapses in blog entries. Maybe some day I'll have time to bore you with daily blogs about what I did each day. So let's see....here's what has been going on the last few weeks.

Last Saturday, Nick and I headed up to Tarrytown NY for my friend Meredith's wedding. It was an 'adults only' event so Andrew & Lauren stayed behind with grandma and we enjoyed a 24 hour vacation. The wedding was in the evening at "Blue Hill at Stone Barns". It is a restaurant and organic agricultural center set in a beautiful, woodsy & rural area of Westchester County, just 20 minutes north of the city. An outdoor cocktail reception followed the ceremony and it was magical watching all the fireflies twinkle across the courtyard and over the nearby vineyards.

On Tuesday, Nick had an elective surgery on his right shoulder. He injured his shoulder 5 years ago and has had discomfort and reduced range of motion in it ever since. His arm is now in an immobilizer for the next 4 weeks. He has 5 incisions over his right shoulder and he's still in moderate pain. It's amazing all the simple things we take for granted having two arms and two hands. Right now he can't drive, tie his shoes, cut his food, etc. He'll be doing some physical therapy over the next few months and his doctor mentioned that it will likely be 4 months before he is fully recovered. We're both hoping for a quick(er)recovery!

Andrew & Lauren are just as busy as ever. Sometimes I wonder why I bother cleaning the house, they seem to follow me and undo whatever I've just done. The other day I came into the living room and found Andrew was "helping" by spraying the couch with window cleaner. I had mixed up 1 part vinegar to 1 part water and put it in an old windex bottle so the room smelled like pickles for the next few hours.

Andrew has turned mealtime into creative imagination time. Last night he wanted to eat a tunnel with his trees and snakes. A tunnel is a rolled up piece of ham, a tree is broccoli, and snakes are spaghetti. Never a boring moment 'round here!

Playing with trains is tiring!

Summer!

Summer is almost here and we've been a busy bunch!

A few weeks ago I picked up a used small brown table, the kind with a formica top. I got creative with it and painted it "barnhouse red" and stenciled the alphabet around the sides. Andrew and Lauren use this table for snacks and meals now and it's a great way for them to learn the alphabet & colors, too!

Andrew started peewee soccer a few weeks ago. He is probably the youngest in the class hence maybe the reason he'd rather pick the dandelions rather than kick the soccerball but at least it's a reason to be out and social with other 2 & 3 year olds.


We've also started a Gymboree class once a week for both Andrew & Lauren. They LOVE it! It's an indoor gym with all sorts of climbing equipment and they do lots of singing, bubbles, and tactile exercises. It's a 45 minute class and they're always excited to get there and they're in tears when it's time to go.

The weather has warmed up and we've had 90+ degree temps the last few days. The heat isn't that bad but when the humidity is high it makes it almost unbearable to be outside. Luckily between the beach and the "sprayground" there's always a fun way to cool off. Here are some pictures of our day at the beach (Saturday) and the sprayground (today)

Amish Country!

We went for a drive yesterday to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania - otherwise known as Amish Country. Oh, and by the way, it's pronounced LANK-ister. I've always thought it was Lan-CAST-er but apparently I was wrong. It was about a 200 mile trip each way from our house. We used Nick's new GPS receiver to help direct us which relieved me from map-reading duties so I was able to sit back and enjoy the scenery. Lancaster County in general is very bucolic and seemed to give us a sense that we had been transported back in time. Life just seems slower and more simple from the urban lives we're so used to. The Old Order Amish culture is very fascinating and so very different from our mainstream lives. Horse drawn carriages carrying Amish families are a common site and at one point we were the only car on the road behind 3 carriages. They do not drive cars, use electricity, watch television, or have telephones. They believe the use of these modern technologies would intrude into their home lives. Farming is a way of life for the Amish and preger to use farm equipment drawn by horses or mules. The women wear very plain dresses with white aprons and white bonnets. Their clothes are fastened with hook and eye clasps since buttons are considered decorative. They speak an English dialect called "Pennsylvania Dutch" which is English with a strong German influence. It was a very interesting and beautiful drive, meandering the roads of Lancaster County. It is one thing to just read about their culture and lives but for me to see it first-hand was quite a different experience.





In the meantime, Andrew & Lauren were in the backseat making these faces:




Along the way we stopped at the National Toy Train Museum in Strasburg, PA. Holy Cow....Andrew could have stayed all day. There were thousands of model trains all along the walls and huge working model trains that we could operate by pushing a button. He was so thrilled to be in such a wonderland of trains. We may need to upgrade his train collection from Thomas Trains to the real Lionel Model Trains someday. Next door to the museum is the Red Caboose Motel & Restaurant which is a line of 19 cabooses which have each been renovated and turned into motel rooms. Andrew loved seeing the "life-size" cabooses and even climbed up the stairs of one to have his picure taken.









We then headed for Gettysburg which was about an hour away. Along the route we hit some pretty heavy traffic. Many semi trucks were suddenly surrounding us on the highway. We noticed people with lawnchairs were camped out along the side of the road, all watching the trucks (and us) drive by. There was a lot of honking and waving and fanfare, etc. We really weren't sure how we suddenly ended up in the middle of a huge semi-truck convoy parade but that is exactly what happened. We eventually saw an advertisement for "The Make-A-Wish Truck Convoy" AKA "The World's Longest Truck Convoy". Yay. Not the traffic we were hoping for. That's when the GPS came in handy and we hit the "Reroute" option. The detour took us along some side streets of the town of Lancaster and we saw some interesting buildings/houses along the way.






We ended up at the Gettysburg National Military Park and strolled through the museum which was filled with antiques and relics from the Civil War. Overall it was a nice day and a beautiful drive. There is so much more to see that I'd love to go back sometime, maybe stay in the train motel for Andrew's sake!





Andrew & Lauren update:

Andrew finally started his speech & developmental therapy a couple weeks ago. He has speech for an hour on Mondays and developmental therapy for an hour on Wednesday. He absolutely loves it because the therapists brings fun books and activities for him so it's more like playing rather than anything. They were both quite surprised that he was qualified for the early intervention program since his speech has greatly improved since the evaluation we had a few months ago. He is quite a social little guy and is always excited to have them over and is always very chatty with them...even if we're not always sure of what he's saying.

Lauren's horrible teething a few weeks ago ended up also being an ear infection. She had her routine doctor visit and she's in the 95th percentile for height and weight. She's a big girl!

Free to a good home: 1 Teething Child

Lauren has 4, yes 4, teeth all coming in at once. They aren't even all the same teeth..the top two second front ones are both about to poke through, 1 bottom one and then a random molar is coming in on one side. Not fun! Needless to say, she's having a rough time and is clearly in pain. Tylenol & Motrin are our friends! Anyone want to take her until next week? We'll take her back when her teeth come in. Promise.

Andrew's latest is that he says "bess yooooo" for any sneezes. He also says it for anyone that coughs, too. He'll say it after he sneezes and then say, "I neeze" (I sneezed) It's really cute, so cute that we have resorted to pretending to sneeze just to hear him say it.

I have been looking around a bit for a preschool program for him. He's so ready to be in a little structured play environment, playing with kids his age, doing art projects, etc. I found a great preschool less than a mile from our house that I will be enrolling him for next school year. It happens to be in the rear part of a Jewish Temple although the pre-school itself is secular. Most schools here run on a school year schedule so they start in September and go through June. He'll be in the youngest class of 2.5 - 3 year olds. It's 2 mornings per week, 9 - 11:30am, which will be a great time for me to run errands, catch up on house stuff, ....or take a nap.(or whatever Lauren will let me get away with) I can't wait to get him started!

The weather is getting better each day, Spring is here! Along with the warmer weather though, the bigger bugs are out in full force. Goodbye friendly, tiny, & conservative little California ants and hello big fat NJ mafia 'kick your ass' ants. The ants are just huge. The variety we have in our yard are about 1/3 inch each with big, fat bodies. They move very quickly and are almost as bad as spiders on my 'eeewwww' list. The flies are as big around as nickels, and they bite. I think they are called horse flies? Oh well, I'll learn to live with them all in exchange for warmer weather. (although I will soon be complaining, yet again, about the stinkin' humidity)

A Visit From Tori!

On Tuesday morning, Tori and I got up very early to take the train into NYC in hopes that we could successfully get into the Regis & Kelly show. We arrived at the studio at 6:45am and proceeded to stand in the standby ticket line. We thought our odds were pretty good since there were only 15 people in front of us meaning that 15 ticketed people would have to not show so we could get in. Unfortunately after waiting in line for 2 hours and 15 minutes a woman came out to announce that there were no seats available. We did get a couple of surprises, however, during those 2 hours. Regis walked right past us and into the building (he smiled and waved) and Diane Sawyer got out of her black Mercedes (equipped with a driver)and she walked right towards us with a sympathetic smile and said "It's so cold out here, how do you guys do it?". I hope she didn't mind that I snapped her picture as she was walking up. I felt very papparazzi-ish. After all of that excitement we headed over for Rockefellar Plaza where they were filming the Today Show. We arrived in time to see them film the last segment on Spring fashion.



The highlight of Tori's trip was supposed to be on Thursday night in which we had 3 tickets for Legally Blonde. Unfortunately she woke up that morning feeling awful and it progressed into a terrible headache as we were preparing to leave for the city. I felt terrible for her because I know how much she was looking forward to going. Nick tried to call the ticketing office to trade our tickets for another evening but they were non-refundable/exchangeable. We were still able to use 2 of the 3 tickets because I took my mom to see it while Nick stayed back with Tori. Ironically, she woke up the next day feeling totally fine again so of the whole week to get sick that was the absolute worst 12 hours to be out of commission. The show itself was a lot of fun although I have the main chorus still stuck in my head....it goes something like "Omigod, Ohmigod you guys...." over and over

It was a nice week to spend with Tori and Andrew & Lauren had a lot of fun being with her. Maybe now (well, at least Andrew) they're old enough to remember her and know who we're talking about when we say "Tori". She went home this morning and left before Andrew & Lauren woke up. When Andrew got out of bed this morning he looked around for her and I told him that she went home. Andrew's reply was "Oh, Gosh!" in his sad voice.