Just for documentation's sake

Lots and lots of videos are going into this blog. Some are short. Some of long. All show where our bug is today. Most of them aren't interesting to anyone outside of our family.

Pulling up from laying on her back...this is a brand new skill and still cannot be done without help

Climbing stairs...we taught her this for her own safety and she does really well at it

Assisted walking...two hands

Assisted Walking...one hand

Standing...no shoes

Standing...shoes

"Crawling"

Pulling things out...refusing to put things IN
She doesn't yet put things into other things...she just enjoys taking them out!

Looking at a book and imitating (BRAND NEW skill and it's still a hit or miss on whether she will do it)

Using her legs and feet as arms and hands

Delaney 13 months

Putting Bug to sleep

Playing house

Construction Physics

This is a really really neat class. So far Julia has built a structure out of toothpicks and gum drops. She has worked together with another student to build a sky scraper out of notecards, tape, and straws that could withstand strong winds. And this last week she worked with a group to build a bridge out of newpaper and masking tape that could not only span a 3 foot opening but could also support a toy truck with a three pound weight attached to it as they pulled it across the bridge. Like I said...super neat class.

Sure Step SMOs

Yesterday we were finally approved for Sure Step SMOs for Delaney. They should be in March 18th and she'll have a final fitting. We will then need to go out and find some shoes that will fit with her braces. She is getting the Happy Daisies design with a purple strap. We are hopeful that with this support she will stand and walk. Over the next month and a half if she doesn't start standing and walking independently we will have to start more aggressive tools to help.

Saving Rocky

Charlotte, Delaney, and I went out to "the farm" yesterday after all our doctor's appointments. We got to be a part of some really cool stuff. First we needed to tube feed Rocky because he was looking really sick. Charlotte was able to hold the bottle at one point too. It was a great learning experience. After feeding Rocky we gathered all our sticks and headed out into the field to round up a laboring mama. We worked together as a team with Machelle, Blaize, and Jordyn to usher her into the warm and safe barn. After coming back to the barn we noticed that Rocky still was lethargic so Machelle and I prepared a place for him in their house and carried him over to the house. We were hoping by warming him up that he would perk up...after checking late last night Rocky did seem to be perking up. And that laboring mama had a boy. These are experiences that Charlotte and I will never forget.

Snack Time

13 Month Update

Delaney is drinking from a sippy!!! Not everyday and not always an entire sippy, but she has been drinking from one finally. Thank you Aunt Traci for finding one that she likes.

She loves "playing" with other people.

She dances along to music...and actually bops up and down with rhythm.

She has become more friendly and easy going.

Her appetite is insane.

She is still nursing as her sole milk source.

She loves hearing animal sounds and has even tried a couple of times to make the sound a monkey makes (a monkey is her favorite animal it seems).

Still not crawling, standing, walking, talking, or signing.

She still only has the 4 front teeth.

She is obsessed with her sisters.

She sings to Uncle Mason. It's so cute to see her humming and lalala-ing away at him.

She loves all foods, but you have to feed them to her in a particular order for her to eat everything...if fruit comes first she won't eat anything else, if fish or beans comes first she won't eat veggies, if yogurt melts come first she won't eat anything else, etc

Oh and she weighs 17.5lbs...yep that's right TWO POUND GAIN in a month!!! and she's 27.5 inches tall! :)

The Girls Perform

For a school assignment I assigned the girls to write a play and perform is in front of us and their grandparents. The subject for this one was two Christian girls facing some civil rights issue. They had 6 weeks to work on it but really only worked on it for a couple of days. This is a video of part of the play and some pictures from the day.

Three of a kind

Gma Belinda got all three girls matching stuffed animals...just their size...Charlotte's is the biggest, Julia's is a little smaller, and Delaney's is the smallest...They had a size smaller than Bug's so Jess and I might go try to find one or two for friends babies or future babies. :) These things are just too cute!

Jazz Museum Field Trip with Papa Mike

18th and Vine

Sisters hanging out

Where ever Charlotte is...whatever she is doing...that is most likely where you will find Delaney...

Remodel Update...Delaney's room

Our Remodel Guru Vincent!

Falling asleep eating homemade pizza

Precious sleeping baby

Valentines

Julia in the hearing test booth

Char and Jess have great hearing btw!

Quick Update

Hearing Tests: We all got our hearing check...me and Bug are on the low end of average for hearing. Jess and the girls are all great!

Dentist: Char and Jess went yesterday...pretty teeth! Julia and I go today...

Co-Op Class: Julia is taking Construction Physics this semester. Charlotte chose not to take a class. Anyway this CP class is really fun. They learn how to build structures to withstand wind, movement, etc. Yesterday they built sky scrappers. Julia was working with another boy to build something that they could both be proud of...He wanted a pyramid. She wanted something with wind tunnels. They built a pyramid with windtunnels. It was cool. And it withstood the wind test really well!

Remodel: We found damage on our ceiling as well so now we are having to battle the insurance company to get payment for a brand new ceiling. The master bedroom is done except carpet and baseboards. The master bathroom is done except tile. The living room is done except the ceiling. Bugs room now has a hand made dutch door, a floor level box shelf just her size, new door nobs, and paint. All it needs now is trim around the door and baseboards. Next up the big girls room! They are getting a hole patched, a new closet door, paint, and baseboards. Then either on to the girls bathroom or the front room! :)

School: The girls are doing awesome. Julia is learning about the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World and can name three so far. She is also doing really well in math. In science she is learning about magnets and stuff like that...as well as the human body. Charlotte is learning about the Renaissance. She is nearly finished with 7th grade math and making 100% on all her tests. Char is also focusing on the human body in great detail. On top of the main assignments each month the girls have a creative project where they must work together...it's for a Character/Bible type subject. This month it was to write and perform a play involving two Christian girls and the theme had to be civil rights related. They will perform that this weekend for me, Jess, and their grandparents. Charlotte also has a bigger monthly project of writing a research paper. This month was supposed to be William Shakespeare but she asked if we could change it to "cows". So she is writing an 8 page type written research paper on cows, cow care, and showing cows. It should be interesting.

I think that's all the updates I have for now...pictures to come this weekend!

Physical Therapy

Working on standing and pincer grasp

Pincer grasp practice

Trying to get away from doing work and come sit with mommy

Yes the video is sideways...i didn't think about that when I was recording it

Climbing and playing

Yes this is posted twice but I can't get it to delete! Sorry!!!

TEETH!