Taylor's Evaluation

Whew! It is naptime so I have some time to post an update. Taylor had her evaluation today that tells us how she is doing developmentally. It went really well. There were 3 ladies who came out to the house this morning. One was a speech therapist, one was doing a general developmental assessment, and the other was the coordinator. Taylor was in a good mood and responded very well to them. Taylor is pretty much in range of where she should be developmentally except in expressive communication. She understands a whole lot more than what she can say. She knows several signs for words, can follow certain commands, and has learned cause and effect. She even sometimes repeats or tries to repeat words that you say first, but she does not say or sign anything voluntarily. If she wants something she usually fusses or hands something to you to indicate what she wants you to do. Her speech is the main thing that I am concerned about right now.

The lady who did the general evaluation told me that she is slow in her gross motor skills like stacking blocks, but she told me that she is not concerned about it since she was later in learning to walk. These things come after walking, so she feels that Taylor will develop those skills normally. She also said that one reason Taylor might not be talking much yet is because she has been focused on walking and can't focus on two major skills at once.

So, all this to say that Taylor is eligible for speech therapy. The therapist, Becky, will come once a week for a month and then we will reevaluate where Taylor is and how often she will need therapy from that point. I really like Becky and I think Taylor will learn a lot with her. The therapy will start probably in about a month.

I am so glad that we decided to have Taylor evaluated. I feel so much better already knowing that we are getting her some help now. I am excited to see her grow leaps and bounds as a result of the therapy. I hope to be hearing her talking all the time soon - and not just babbling even though it is cute to hear her Taylornese.

Ultrasound Update

Taylor finally went down for a nap, so I thought I'd take a minute to update you on my ultrasound earlier this week. I received a call yesterday from the nurse practitioner that my ultrasound was clear and they didn't find any stones. This is a little bit frustrating for me. In a way I was glad that they didn't find any stones, but at the same time I wish they would have because then we'd know what the pain is from. I haven't been having much pain lately, so she just told me to let her know if it comes back. It would be great if it just went away and didn't come back.

Bud and Ruth Ann are here this weekend to start cleaning and moving into their new house here. They had the closing yesterday. They realized that the carpet in the living room needs to be replaced, so they are shopping for flooring today. Daniel has gone with them to help them make a decision, so Taylor and I have the house to ourselves. She has been off of her schedule from the trip, so she has had a hard time going down for naps. She has been sleeping late in the mornings and that has pushed her nap schedule off a little. It just makes it harder for her to go down. I don't know what makes babies so sensitive to time, but they are. Things have been a whole lot easier since she has been on a schedule though.

Whew! We Made It!

We just returned from our trip to Greensboro, NC to visit Daniel's dad and stepmom (Ron and Patsy). We had a great time and the drive was not as bad as I was expecting. We left on Thursday night after Daniel got home from work. We were expecting to have to stop halfway and spend the night, but once we got to the halfway point we decided to keep going. Taylor finally fell asleep around 10:30 and we wanted to get as far as we could while she slept. We ended up going all the way and got there around 2:45 in the morning. I was glad that it didn't take much to get Taylor back down. We ended up just hanging around the house and relaxing all day Friday.

On Saturday and Sunday Ron and Patsy took us to the North Carolina Zoo. We really enjoyed that. Taylor had a great time even though she may not have known what was going on or what she was seeing. It was still fun. It will be fun to go back in a few years and go through the parts that we missed. I'll post some pictures that we took as soon as we get them edited. We have to do some brightness adjustment to them since a lot of them were taken in the shade.

On Monday Daniel went to visit one of his customers for work and that afternoon/evening we went to the mall. On Tuesday we left to come home after lunch. I was really dreading the drive since most of it was going to be during the day. I was afraid that Taylor wouldn't sleep any. She did take a little 45 minute nap before we stopped for dinner and then fell asleep about 45 minutes from home. We got home around 11:30 last night. I was glad that Taylor went right to bed. We didn't even change her into her pj's.

Taylor ended up sleeping until 10:30 this morning. I had my ultrasound at 9:45 and my wonderful friend Audra came over with her daughter to keep Taylor for me. She slept the entire time and never even knew I was gone. She was just so exhausted from the trip. I was glad that she got that much needed sleep. I am still waiting the results of my ultrasound. The tech said that she didn't see anything abnormal, but the radiologist would have to look at it. I am really hoping that they will be able to find the problem so we can get it fixed. I didn't have much pain while we were gone, but it came back today, so it is still there. Thank you for your prayers and I'll continue to post updates.

Prayer Request

I would like to ask my readers to be in prayer for me. About a week ago I started having pain in my chest and back. I thought it might just be indigestion, but medicine didn't help. I went to the doctor last Friday and that was initially what the nurse practitioner thought it was. She gave me a GI cocktail to drink and some Prevacid to take. Neither did anything to help. The pain stays for a while and then leaves for a little bit. For some reason it seems to get better during the night when I sleep, but comes back later in the morning. I seem to notice it more when I am still too.

I was talking to one of my friends from church the other day and she had the exact same symptoms and it turned out to be her gall bladder. I went back to the doctor yesterday and they scheduled me for an ultrasound at the hospital next Wednesday morning. I am hoping that they will find something just so we will know for sure that that is what it is. There are times that the pain is worse than others. It seems like it may be worse when my stomach is empty, yet the pain makes me lose my appetite and I really just don't feel like eating anything. So, it is a catch 22.

We are still planning to go to Greensboro this weekend and will either leave tomorrow night or Friday morning. I am hoping that I don't have an attack while we are traveling. I know that I am in God's hands and that He will give me peace and will take care of me through all of this. I have had great support here from friends who have been willing to take care of Taylor so I can see the doctor. That has been a real blessing.

Thanks for your prayers and I'll keep you posted with updates.

Interesting Behavior

Last night we started VBS at church. I am doing the snacktime, which is much more than passing out goldfish and lemonade. The kids have to make their own snacks which go along with the lesson for the day. Since VBS goes from 9:00 until 12:00 Taylor does not get a nap in the morning. She will not sleep in the nursery. I was hoping that she would get a long nap after lunch, but she only slept for about 40 minutes.

After Taylor got up from her nap she started bringing me books to read. First she brought me one bedtime book and I read that one to her. As soon as I was finished she started fussing like she does when it is time for bed. I let her down and she got her other bedtime book. I read that one to her and she started fussing and rubbing her eyes. I thought either she is sleepy or she is pretending that it is bedtime. I have noticed that she has been pretending some lately. She will lie down on the floor and pretend to sleep. I have also caught her pretending to read a book. Well, I took her into her nursery and turned out the lights and turned on her sound machine. I proceeded to rock her and she cuddled with me for the longest time. She never really closed her eyes to go to sleep. Finally I decided to just put her in her crib to see if she would go to sleep. She didn't start crying right away. It has been about 15 minutes and she has been crying off and on. I will give her a little while longer to see if she goes back to sleep. It would be nice to have some peace and quiet to relax a while. I am exhausted from VBS this morning.

Growing up

I love my little sweet pea to death, but I wish she would just lie down and go to sleep. I must say that since she has started walking she has gotten a lot better at napping. She has been taking two naps and just recently started napping longer - about an hour at a time instead of 30 minutes. For the last couple of days she has not wanted to go down for an afternoon nap. I am not sure if it is because I have been putting her down later or what. She has been sleeping until 8:30 or 9:00, getting an hour-long morning nap around 11:30 or 11:45 and then I have been trying to get her down around 2:30 or 3:00. I wonder if that is just too late for her. She is really fighting sleep. She acts sleepy, but then when I rock her she won't be still so I put her down in her crib and she cries for an hour. Next week is VBS from 9:00 - 12:00 so she won't get a morning nap at all next week. I will also have to wake her up early to get there. She should be good and ready for an afternoon nap after lunch. I hope she is not cranky.

After VBS is over we are taking a trip to Greensboro, NC to visit Daniel's dad and stepmom. I think I may have mentioned this in one of my earlier posts. Taylor did not sleep in the car at all on our last trip, so we are considering driving at night. I am not sure how that is going to work either. I am just praying that she will go to sleep. I hope she is not cranky the whole trip. Is it starting to sound like this post has a theme?

On a more positive note, Taylor has been doing so many cute things lately. Just the other day she brought her shoes in to me as if to say she wanted to go out. She sat down on the floor and tried to put them on herself. Daniel finally got down on the floor and put them on her and we went out in the backyard.

While outside, she decided that she was going to collect bark. She picked up every piece that she saw on the ground. She wanted to bring it back inside with her, but I handled that real quick.

Taylor has also taken a liking to her Bounce & Spin Zebra that Alicia and Darrin gave her for Christmas last year. She got on it by herself for the first time the other day. I think it is funny how children have the innate sense to want to rock on anything like that. She tried to make it rock, but it doesn't do that. She will eventually figure out how it works. It was fun watching her try though.

Are your children doing any quirky things? I was reading in a magazine that toddlers tend to start doing little quirky things. Taylor just started pulling at her eyelids when she is sleepy. At first I was worried that she was going to poke or scratch her eyes, but so far she hasn't. I think she is just discovering different body parts. She has discovered her belly button too. She will play with it until it turns red.

As you know, we have been teaching Taylor a few words in sign language. She has learned two more words: Mama and bath. I am hoping that by learning sign language she will be able to communicate with us before she learns to talk. She does say two words now: hi and chicken. It was so funny. Yesterday she was eating chicken nuggets and held one up and proclaimed,"Chicken!" I wish I had it on tape. It was so cute.