What a difference a year makes.

A year ago we started the whole process of having Zack evaluated because of his lack of speech. Well what a year we have had with him. From the time of the first evaluation in January 2008 to the second one in June 2008 he still hadn't had any improvements in his speech. Still the same 5 words he was saying for over a year. Finally in late July a therapist started coming to the house to work with him once a week. He took to her immediately which is why I believe he has done so well. By the end of August he had added 9 more words to his vocabulary. I was thrilled to say the least.
Now just 4 months later you can not keep this child quiet...at all. There isn't anything he won't at least try to say. Even if he doesn't say it right or perfectly he is still doing incredibly well. I would say he talks in sentences but that is a lie...it is more like paragraphs!
I look back and think wow I couldn't wait for him to talk so we could communicate more than just with some sign language signs that we used. Now there are days I wish he would just keep quiet for 2 minutes. (I feel like an awful mom for saying that)

Here is a conversation that happened today.
Zack ~ "Mommy, where Daddy"
Me ~ "He's working"
Zack ~ "Why?"
Me ~ "So he can make the pennies" (long standing phrase we have with Zack since he gets pennies for his piggy bank)
Zack ~ "Mommy...So Why?"
Me ~ "So we can live in the house we live in"
Zack ~ "Um So Why?"
It went on like this for 5 minutes before I finally just said "I don't know".

I can handle the "why" questions but the "So Why" is just flat out annoying the crud out of me.

I fear that when he starts school he is going to be one of those kids who is always getting in trouble because he can't be quiet when the teacher tells him to. Note to self: Give the teacher Kris' cell number let him get the your kid is in trouble again calls.

Next month he is going to be getting another evaluation done to see how far he has come and to see if he still needs the therapy. If he needs it at all it will be for articulation.

I still got it.

Last night I played a couple games of Scrabble with Lilly, Kris and David. I have got to say it... I kicked Butt. Poor Kris, I am such a brat when playing word games with him. I am sure I deflated any ego he may have had. It got so bad David and Lilly were harping on him and I don't think they will let him forget any time soon.
Sorry Kris but it is just so much fun picking on you when we play games.

My Favorite Flower

Merry Christmas.

I hope your Christmas was a merry one. We had a great one. I think all in all everyone was pleased with their gifts and the fact that we were all together.

Zack went to bed late last night so he was a little cranky trying to get him to bed. This morning he woke up and was excited but still a little unsure of all that transpired while he was sleeping. After all that Santa is a sneaky one coming while your sleeping and being so quiet you never hear him.
We let him 'ride' his new bike while we were getting breakfast ready. We decided to eat first then open gifts otherwise Zack would never have eaten.
He really got the hang of tearing open the gifts. A few times I had to snatch some out of his hands that were for other people. Once we finished opening gifts all he wanted to do was play trains. Kris had a time trying to convince him that Santa left one upstairs. First he checked under the tree in his room, nothing. So he went to the playroom opened the door and was all shades of excited to see the train table with tracks already set up. At this point we lost him. He wanted nothing else to do with anything other than play trains. It has been like that all day.
When my parents were leaving Zack wouldn't come down but he did yell from the top of the stairs "Goodbye Grandma and Grandpa, Come again and bring pie".
Priorities... trains and Grandmas Pie what more can a 2 year old ask for?

Oh what a night

Can we say disaster?

Last night we decided to go to a festival of lights. I have been looking forward to it for a few weeks now. So after dinner we head that way. It was probably a 40 minute drive just to get there.
We pull in the entrance and I hear Kris say "hum, maybe I should have gotten gas first". I look over and there is less than a 1/4 tank of gas! Not a good start to our adventure.
After being in this long line of cars for about 45 minutes or so I start to feel nauseated. After about 1.5 hours of being in this line just to get into the park to see the lights David and I take a little walk to the bathrooms (aka porta potties). The fresh air didn't do me any good at all.
2.5 hours after arriving we get to the entrance, I took Zack out of his car seat so he had a very clear view of everything that was there. (we were barely moving 5 miles per hour). At this point he tells me his belly hurt. Oh great. We get done and quite frankly I didn't see it all for having to close my eyes ever now and again.
We stopped at the gas station Zack is going nuts crying. As soon as we started to pull away he got sick. Not fun. Cleaning him and the truck up on a freezing cold night was awful. Poor kid was shivering so bad. Thank goodness I had a spare hoodie I left in the car.
Today he is acting fine. I am fine and now I have a ton of extra cleaning to do, the car seat, the clothes, my truck. If I get a chance to see the pics Kris took for me I will post some.
Maybe we will try again next year...

Random moments

It's 5am and I am sitting here wide awake.
The rest of the house is extremely quiet and all I keep doing is tossing and turning.
How unfair...

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The other night we went to pick up my truck from the repair shop. Zack is not used to being in Kris car so he was above and beyond his usually chattiness (is that even a word). Anyway we get half way there and he is asking Kris "Daddy where we going" so Kris replies "to pick up mommies truck" the little stinker says to me in all seriousness "Mommy is he serious". I couldn't help it I bust out laughing.

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The speech therapist was reading Zack a book a few weeks ago. She turned to a page and asked Zack what the bear was doing, she was trying to get him to tell her the bear was sitting. My little chatterbox replied "He's chillin'. Wonder where he got that one from.

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Zack has this thing lately that is driving me nuts. If I hear it once a day I hear it at least a hundred times. "Mommy tell you a question". I correct him by saying you ask a question and tell a statement.
Yesterday he comes up to me for what seems like the millionth time and he says "Mommy tell you a question". I am busy and just say "ok tell me a question". the little stinker corrected me by saying "No mommy ask a question, tell a statement".
Well I stand corrected.

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I have a habit of calling Zack everything under the sun (Zack, Zackary, Bud, Buddy, Mr. Z, stinker...) The other day I walked into his room after nap time and said "Hey Bud". He looked at me and said "no call me Bud, call me Zack".

Car repairs

Is it just me or does anyone else have this problem?
Every time my vehicle is taken in to be repaired, it needs to go back within a few weeks for the same darn thing! We just brought my 4 Runner in on the 3rd and had the power steering pump replaced. I noticed some wet spots on my driveway where I park. They started out small and have now grown into a big ugly mess. Yesterday I am running a bunch of errands with 2 somewhat grumpy kids and I am getting irritated beyond belief with the fact that I am killing myself turning to turn the steering wheel.
I tried to call Kris but was only able to leave a message for him. He called me back later and I was in the middle of the grocery store and I just about bit his head off.
I hope they repair it correctly this time.
BTW this is the 5th mechanic we have tried in the 5 years we have lived here.

Anyone have any suggestions for getting all the power steering fluid off my driveway?

Wrapping Gifts

Wrapping Christmas Presents is so time consuming.
I decided to start last night while watching TV. You know just to get a head and not have to do it on Christmas Eve. So I gathered up most of the gifts, the paper, tape, and the labels. Then I got to it. Now mind you this is normally Kris' job because he does such a superb job wrapping (I am being serious). Me on the other hand I think as long as you can not see the gift who cares what the wrapping looks like (it's just going to be ripped off and thrown away). It took me 2.5 hours to wrap the gifts. It isn't even that we have a lot to wrap it is just I am that I am that bad at wrapping. I short cut a few times and had to redo. I even ripped the paper on one and had to redo it. I think next year I am giving the job back to Kris. Either that or it will all be in gift bags next year.

Chocolate Milk

Zack just came up to me and said "Mommy Santa Claus ask me if me can haf choclit milk wiff him"
I had to laugh because Zack is a deprived child, he does not get chocolate milk. I fear he would become addicted and I would never be able to get white milk down him again.

Directions

The person or persons who invested the GPS for people like me need to be praised!
I can read a map and I am fairly good at directions but when I have to go someplace new in a downtown setting where there are way too many one way streets I get a bit nervous. I borrowed Kris GPS yesterday and it not only got me there but got me there quicker than the directions that were supplied to me. The directions that were mailed to me would have taken me about 5 miles out of the way and I would have had to back track which irritates me.

Speaking of a downtown setting, why in the world do so many cities have a ton of one way streets? Does it really serve a purpose or is it just to confuse as many drivers as possible?

Zacks visit with Santa

We went the other night to see Santa. I didn't think Zack would have a problem with him since he has been talking about the Jolly one for a month now but I had no idea he would be so chatty with him. He proceeded to tell Santa every Thomas the train toy he wanted for Christmas. He did so well.
When he was done Santa gave him a coloring book and a coupon for a couple free mini cookies from the cookie store in the mall. So yes he had a great night seeing Santa and eating cookies.
Oh to be a kid again...

A Christmas Jingle for your viewing pleasure.

Watch out American Idol here he comes...

Speech Goals

Zack had a review of his speech goals that we set way back in June. I am pretty happy to report that he has met and exceeded those goals. We set new ones to see if he can reach those by his 3rd birthday.
He does have an evaluation set for the end of January to see if he still needs therapy, his therapist is going to focus on articulation to see if he needs work in that area or not. I still can not believe what a change there is with him when it comes to his speech. We now can not get him to keep quiet for more than a few seconds. He is seriously making up for lost time!

He's addicted.

My sister in law and her family were here for a few days and brought along their Wii. Kris let Zack play Mario Kart last night and I think he might be addicted now. He didn't want to give up the controller and a few times today he has told me he wants to race. He doesn't get the game is gone now so he can not.


Just look at the determination he has.

New Award

First let me say Sorry Kristin I do not know how I missed this. Must be old age setting it. LOL




"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I am passing it on to my blog friends old and new.

Tracey
Peggy
Sadie
Emily
Kirstin

"Zack I love you"
"Luf you too"
"How much do you love me Zack"
"Bunches and bunches"

Gosh I love that kid!

I stand corrected.

There were some Christmas lights being displayed on TV tonight, Zack yells in excitement "lights". I responded with "Oh Christmas Lights". My darling little love muffin looked at me and said "no mommy, Holiday Lights".
He's only 2 and already he is politically correct. LOL

Random stuff.

Zack is on the mend! I really don't like when he is sick. He gets super clingy and grouchy and barely sleeps. So last night was a welcome relief because 1. I was able to sleep in my own bed and 2. I was able to sleep!

I got out the 2 ft Christmas tree last night and let Zack decorate it. Kris would hand him an ornament and Zack would point to a branch and ask Kris "put here". We keep that tree in his room with all the non breakable ornaments so he can rearrange it a hundred times a day if that is what he chooses. It keeps him from touching the big tree. It worked well last year. The only problem is by the time Christmas comes the decorations are on one side of the tree and all near the bottom. LOL.

I am no where near done with Christmas shopping and that frustrates me. I wanted to be done before Thanksgiving so I didn't have to deal with the rude people, the bad customer service, and the lack of items I want still being on the shelf. I went to a certain card store the other night to get a specific ornament, the cashier wasn't so polite when I asked her where something was. Then I went to a bookstore and found an item for Zacks Christmas on the clearance shelf. A nice big sticker on the box saying 50% off. I get to the register and the woman rings up my stuff, tells me the total, I asked her if it rang up as half off. She said "no its regular price". I pointed to the sticker and she actually huffed and got irritated. I felt like saying something but I didn't. I didn't even get a 'thanks for shopping' or a 'come back soon' or even a 'goodbye'. Oh how I love the holiday season...

And one more thing, can someone tell me why these darn little gremlins keep coming to my house as soon as I clean my kitchen, I go into another room, come back and it is a mess again? Is it a law that says my kitchen can not stay clean for more than an hour?

I thought I could.

I have been tagged by Kristin over at :The Way It Is
Now before I get into all the rules I must say the book nearest me does not have the required amount of pages so I will just use the last line of the last page.

Rules:
* Grab the book closest to you. Now.
* Go to page 56.
* Find the 5th sentence.
* Write that sentence as your title.
* Copy these instructions.
* Tag 5 other friends to play.
* Don't go looking for your favorite book, or the coolest one you have - just grab the closest one

My fifth sentence is: I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could, I thought I could.

Stop take half a second and tell me can you figure out what book that is before you read the title?
.
.
.
.
.
the book:
The little engine that could. Retold by Watty Piper

I'm tagging


Sadie
Kirstin
Tara
Tracey
Peggy

My First Award

I received my first award!
It is from Kristin over at the way it is
You should check out her blog she is a tell it like it is kind of person with 3 little boys who are adorable and a bit mischievous.




The Rules
1. Put the logo on your blog.
2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.
3. Nominate at least seven other blogs.
4. Add links to those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message for your nominee on their blog.

The Nominations are...

Tracey check her out at just another mommy blog

Sadie over at where the road begins she is a sweet person.

Emily over at life as I know it

I guess I need to start reading more blogs.