Something Different

Christmas, as anticipated, was a lot of fun. We had Keith's parents and brother over for breakfast, and then we went over to my parent's house (with my brother and his family) for dinner. Owen and Sophie must have been pretty good this year, as they did pretty well in the gift department (although not too spoiled I think). Owen received games, puzzles, a train set, Winnie the Pooh figurines, and, of course, Cars merchandise (see Keith's post on that subject, forthcoming).

Besides the gifts, it was a lot of fun to see family. Keith's brother is a volunteer fire fighter in Kansas, so he brought his hat, gloves & boots for Owen to see, which he got a big kick out of. I was also happy to see how well Owen played with his cousin Ben, who is one and a half years old.

The new toys help keep Owen busy, who's favorite phrase these days is, "Mommy, I want to do something different!". Owen enjoys crafts, so I'm constantly trying to be creative with the materials we have. I now think twice before throwing anything out. I saved some of the wrapping paper from Christmas so we could cut out the pictures and glue them on construction paper. I'm trying to figure out what to do with some of the bows.

Although it's hard with crafts, I try and find activities that Owen can actively participate in. Owen is more of a watcher than a participator. He refuses to even color with crayons or markers, saying, "No! You do it!". I haven't asked his teachers about it yet, but he does come home with projects supposedly colored by him. I'm sure it's part of his shy personality, but somewhere along the way we must have trained him to do that. So now we are trying to untrain him of that, without upsetting him too much. When I ask him why he doesn't want to do something, he usually says "I can't", or the amusing "I'm too busy", which makes me laugh cause I have no idea where he gets that from.

If he's busy at anything, it's talking. Keith and I wonder if all 2-3 year olds ramble on like he does. He talks so fast and about such random things that you have to concentrate to keep up with him. But, of course, most of you will never believe me, because he is so shy in a lot of circumstances!

Sophie is doing pretty well, although we've received more confirmation that she is developmentally behind. Her developmental pediatrician said that movement wise, she is like a one month old. Which is disheartening given that she's been home for 3 months, but understandable with all that she's been through. The good news is that she is progressing in her development, smiling and laughing more and tracking things. We are making an effort to give her more tummy time and other physical activity, and she will be starting physical, occupational, and feeding therapy soon. Her nippling has not improved, so we are hoping her scheduled swallow study in a few weeks will shed some light.

Owen is done with school for the year, so tomorrow starts a four day weekend for us. We don't have any plans for New Years, which is par for the course since we've had kids. I usually try to do something special for New Year's Eve dinner, so right now I'm planning on making this a cooking weekend: soup, muffins, and since Owen gets a kick out of saying "Holy Moly, Guacamole!", guacamole. I'll try and get Owen involved when possible, which will hopefully keep him occupied for a time. Until I hear the inevitable: "Mommy, I want to do something different!". :-)