Worn Out!

Well we definitely had an eventful Thursday. First I had to go to the dentist, lots of fun. James and the kids came too because right after we had to take Clay to get his hearing aids adjusted. The audiologist was pleased to hear that Clay hasn't really been trying to take them out. There are 3 levels they can turn his hearing aids up to and he was at a 1. Since he was doing well we it was turned up to 3. James noticed this morning that the hearing aids where mixed up and on the wrong ears. So I'm taking Clay back on Monday to make sure that they are set up right.

Elizabeth did the funniest thing when we got to the IHC building that the Primary Children's Rehab Center is where we meet with the audiologist. She gets out of the car and looks where we are and says, "sticker". The audiologist gives Elizabeth a sticker every time we come and she remembered. She even said sticker when the audiologist called us back to her office.

We were out all afternoon, so Elizabeth didn't get her nap. She fell asleep in the care for about 5 minutes, and then was up the rest of the evening. Since she didn't take a nap she was in bed around 7. I had picked up some different movies from the library that day also so we decided to watch Strangers On A Train. I'm not that big on old movies, but we both liked it (James really likes Hitchcock movies). Anyways, we were really into the movie for the last 30 minutes and didn't even notice that Clay just fell asleep in his toy. It was so cute.

Clay loves to stand up now. I'm pretty sure he'll be crawling within the next month too. He's definitely trying hard enough. I wish he could be on his tummy more, but sometimes Elizabeth is too hyper to put him on the floor.

Elizabeth started doing this for some reason. James pushes her butt so he does a somersault and she thinks it's the best. But for today she was content to just do this instead of being pushed over.
She remembered that Blue's Clues was on and calmed down to watch. She loves Blue's Clues so I pick up a DVD for her ever week from the library. She even participates, (if you've ever seen the show you'll understand what I mean). She likes Dora The Explorer too.

Random Pictures

James and Clay took a nap together

The kids playing




Clay is almost to the point where he sits up on his own. He does pretty good in the boppy pillow. He likes to reach for toys all the time too, or anything within reach actually. He pulled James' glasses off yesterday.

My children are so weird! Yesterday Clay was laughing at anything I did. Of course Elizabeth is the same. As soon as she finds something she thinks is even remotely funny she'll do it over and over and over again.

And of course with Clay being at the stage where everything goes into his mouth, he was more than happy to play along with Elizabeth.

And of course it can't be summer unless I've chopped all my hair off. I didn't cut my hair off last year but usually every year when it gets hot I chop a substantial amount of my hair off. This year I literally cut it all off. I'd say a good 7 inches at least. I love it though, it's easy to manage especially with the kids.

Hearing Aids!

Clay finally got his hearing aids today. The audiologists where very excited to fit Clay with the hearing aids. He's the first person they've ever fit these particular hearing aids with. The only difference is the actual hearing aid that rests on the back of the ear. It's smaller than the initial model they showed me when we had his ear molds taken. Clay is such a good baby. He sat still while the hearing aids were fitted and then again while James and I practiced putting them in. And he doesn't seem to mind them either. He hasn't tried to pull them out at all. As you can see from the pictures the hearing aids are blue. They have a ton of colors to choose from. I went with a color rather than clear or skin color so that if Elizabeth or him knock them out I'll hopefully be able to find them easier. We'll see how this first week goes.

We are already noticing an improvement. He turns to sounds now which is great. He's a little more quiet today, but I think it's because he's so intrigued by all the new sounds he's picking up. He's very quick to laugh now, even more than normal. He's a very happy baby!

Another Clayton First

Well Clayton tried cereal for the first time the other day. He didn't really dig it. We did get some fun pictures of him though. Hopefully he'll start eating cereal soon. He's eating more often now. Another nice thing is that he's switched over to fast flow bottles which is so nice! He can eat 6 oz in about 10 minutes now. Saves me a lot of time.

Some Fun Pictures

Well my little man is growing up. He's finally to the stage that I can dress him in almost entirely 3 to 6 month cloths. Although all the pants are still way too big on him. I think he's going to be like Elizabeth. She always outgrows cloths length wise before anything else. This is a picture of him in his little floor bassinet. He managed to roll onto his tummy so I guess that the bassinet will be heading to the storage shed now.

Elizabeth likes to imitate me. So the other day when we got home and Clay was out of the car seat she started trying to buckle her baby in. She can actually buckle it right too! She's a patient kid.

Clay and Elizabeth during "Signing Time". Clay focuses enough now to watch it, so we watch one of the more advanced DVDs (like colors, or ABC's) in the morning and then a basic one in the afternoon. Elizabeth would watch it all day if I would let her.

Elizabeth's newest way to "play" with Clay is to stand in front of him while he's strapped in this chair. She likes it because he'll start kicking his feet when she's in front of him. They both think it's funny and giggle a lot.

Bubbles!

While I was at the dollar store the other day getting a calendar to keep all the DR appointments organized I decided to get some bubbles for Elizabeth. Well they are a huge hit! We haven't been outside much yet, but today we all decided to go outside since it was warm out. James blew bubbles, twirled around and chased after Elizabeth and she loved it. The simplest things entertain her. She even tried to blow a few bubbles herself, but instead got a taste of the bubbles instead. I was expecting her to make a face and spit, instead she goes, "Mmm, yummy" Ha ha, what a goofball.

Clay seemed to enjoy being outside too, and I got to put him in his cute hat.

Happy Birthday James

James' birthday was on Wednesday (14). He turned 27. Unfortunately he had to work because he had a training seminar to go to. So we celebrated the next day. James got a lot of nice things, but most of them he got early. He got a new cell phone (in February) because his old one wouldn't hold a charge for more than 10 minutes. And I also bought him 2 suits because Mr. Mac was having there buy one for $249 get the 2nd for a $1 sale. And of course DVDs, and music. Elizabeth enjoyed "writing" in his card too.

The cake didn't turn out the way I planned. I thought with James being home I wouldn't get so distracted. I was wrong. I was doing something new so Elizabeth wanted to be in on the action. I really enjoy making the cakes for birthdays though, so it was still fun. And it was a heck of a lot cheaper than buying one! (it's a ocean themed cake in case you can't tell from the photo).

This was the first birthday since Elizabeth's (because we didn't really do anything for mine) so the whole cake thing really intrigued her. As soon as dinner was over she went into the kitchen and kept saying "cake, cake, cake". She loved watching the candles being lit. And as you can see she's ready to eat some cake and not stain her outfit.

I put 27 candles on the cake and James was teasing me saying I was going to set off the smoke detector.



And finally cake! This made Elizabeth's day.

Strange Request

One day a while back James was being funny and strapped Clayton's car seat toy to Elizabeth's wrists. I think he was trying to get a rise out of her, but funny thing was she thought it was hilarious. So on Mother's day she comes up to me with the car seat toy and says, "On." So I strapped the toy on her wrist and she just giggled and laughed. In fact she started to cry when I tried to take it off.

Another thing that Elizabeth is doing now is putting herself to bed! I am so lucky! Part of me loves it, but I really miss out on the cuddle time I would get with her before bed. Now once she has a clean diaper, pj's and her teeth brushed she wants to go to bed. I even tried to cuddle with her tonight and she threw the biggest fit, started crying and saying, "bed!" So she walked to her room, climbed on her bed, gave me a kiss and said, "Night." She's funny.

She also got a new "toy" recently. We were at the dollar store getting a few things and I saw these candy dispensers that are an exact replica of a Wii controller. So we got it for Elizabeth so now she has her own controller. She even tries to put it in the Mario Kart steering wheel.