Who doesn't love November? One of my favorite months, of sure, especially since the past couple of years our friends from Florida have come up for Thanksgiving. This year we made sure to take the whole week off to spend it with them. With their 2 little ones, and my sister's little ones, we had 6 kids aged 5 and under that needed to be entertained.
So, road trip! First up was Mammoth Caves National Park, which was a whole day trip to eastern Kentucky. We left the little girls and took just the boys. It was a couple hour drive of snack-giving, toy-sharing, game-playing, are-we-there-yet question-answering and a quick Cracker Barrel breakfast before our tour. Friend Ryan had been studying caves so it was a great way to roll in some educational fun into their vacation. We took the Frozen Niagara tour, which takes visitors to the most decorated areas of the caves. We saw lots of stalactites and stalagmites and the tour length was just right for 4 & 5 year old attention spans. Highlights for the boys were the bus ride to the cave entrance, the cave crickets (which look like spiders on the ceiling), turning the lights out inside the cave, and asking our guide questions (including can you turn the lights out again). Our ranger was very patient and kind when their little hands kept shooting up to ask a question, and I was quite proud of them for their thoughtful (and relevant!) inquiries.
Ready to go
Some of the draperies down below
The natural cave entrance
Inside the house there's only so much room for running around, and boys need space! We took them to an apple orchard on a cooold day, but these kiddos stayed warm by all the climbing and jumping.
And speaking of jumping, we tried out Sky Zone another day, and that was so fun! Even Sam had a great time running across all the trampolines and even took a dive in the foam block pit. Adam wants to wear his special trampoline socks just about every day.
And we filled up all the in-between times with plenty of playing, dressing up, and birthday pancakes for Stella's 3rd birthday.
Oh, and of course, the main event, Thanksgiving itself: 1 fried turkey, 1 roasted turkey, 1 smoked turkey breast and 24 people!
In some ways he seems much younger than this because of the language delay, but even without his words he's becoming such an independent little man with his own clear personality. He can be determined and persistent, he can be sweet and lovey, he can be rough and tumble, he can be one of the crowd or go off on his own.
Right after his birthday he started throwing impressive fits -- the whole dramatic throw-himself-on-the-floor-and-writhe-around routine that I just found fascinating! We put a stop to that quickly but, really, it was quite a sight from our calm little man!
And since he's turned 2 I feel like I approach him differently, like less of a baby and more of a toddler.
So here's the latest from Sam:
He knows his numbers and letters, can identify animals and sounds, has quite the vocabulary. We are working on counting, colors and shapes. It's important that we continue to teach him things even though he is not speaking at the moment.
Knows his tongue, head, belly, eyes, ears, mouth, knees, toes, hands. One fun trick is to ask him where his hand is, and he'll pull his long-sleeved shirt over his hand and then "reveal" his hand.
Consistent sounds -- nananana, mamamamama, d-Uhhh!, tatatata, hotttt (whispered), occasionally a dada dada, ada-ada, oooo, bababa, and ssssss
Most of his communication is through sounds made in his throat, something I refer to as a Tarzan sound. My Dad is convinced that this is his own special language, and it may be. He has definite sounds that mean yes and no. Adam can now identify them and will say, "I think that he said Yes." His No is a definitely grunt noise and quite clear.
He has 20-30 signs, including eat, please, more, dog, bath, bed, shoes, mom, dad, all done, fan, thank you, car, bear, book, airplane, milk, cookie, cracker, moon, cold, bike, excited, go, tree and apple. He only uses a few of the signs with any real intention; he mostly just shows you them when asked.
Guess who loves baths now! Not sure what changed but he now runs to the tub when you tell him it's time. He'll tip his head up to wash his hair and also happily allows you to brush his teeth without complaint.
We switched him to a toddler bed because twice he leaned over his crib and fell out. Many nights he climbs in to bed but as soon as the door closes he hops back out to play a little in the dark room before going back to bed (or falling asleep on the floor, usually). In the mornings he wakes and plays in his room until we get him. (However, he is mastering turning the door knob...)
Sam is now pointing at things he wants. This is a milestone and a nice progression to his language development. We added some pictures to the pantry door, and he has started pointing to, say, raisins, and we'll give him raisins.
Doing well with his spoon and fork manipulation. Need to work more on open cup drinking.
New favorite toy is a battery-powered 4-wheeler that he can ride. This was given to Adam at the same age and he was terrified of it. Sam jumps on it and rides it around the basement. Steering could use some practice. He also loves anything with balls or marbles. And playing with phones or iPads. In fact, is quite insistent about having them when he sees them.
He shakes is head No, another developmental milestone
He still loves physical activities, especially wrestling with us or Adam. He recently learned how to do somersaults.
Most nonverbal communication involves grabbing our hand and pulling us to what he wants/needs. He can be strong and pushy when he tries to get you to move somewhere.
Really enjoys books (and really likes bending the spines backwards on them). He'll just stare at the sight word books in fascination. He's getting better at sitting with us and reading books, too.
We've started to encourage more pretend play, like feeding a teddy bear or pretending to drink from a cup.
2-year stats: Head 49.9 cm, Length 34.25" (56%), Weight 25.2 lbs (16%). Our 9-lb newborn is really not that far off from Adam at the same age -- less than a pound heavier, less than an inch shorter, head slightly bigger.
We are just enjoying him so much! We had a Mickey Mouse birthday party for him with family to celebrate. He was not a fan of the lit candle and proceeded to backhand it, which sent it rolling across the table. Suffice it to say, there was no blowing out the candles this year. That's ok, we have enough wishes for this little boy.
Happy 2nd Birthday, little one. We love you oodles!
you know you're behind on updating about our Autumn. It was a really pretty Fall this year, and we did so many things to enjoy the weather.
Evans Apple Orchard
With Aunt Amy and family and Grandpa Dave on perhaps the hottest day of the season -- Adam was a sweaty, dirty mess by the end but had so much fun. We never actually left the play area to go to the orchard itself.
Horse-Daze
This is a really neat event annually held by the county parks system. It features all kinds of horse-related activities and games, including horse rides, horse grooming, an equestrian course for kids to jump themselves, face painting, a hayride, food and more. The event raises money for the public horse trails around the county.
Pumpkin Run & Fall Festival
We'd been looking for a 5k for Adam to do, as part of the mile-per-year plan Michael has for Adam. Last year, when Adam was 3 years old, he ran his first 5k. Three years, three miles. This year we needed a four mile race, which don't really exist, but we found a small community 5k that also had a 1-mile family walk. The Pumpkin Run is sponsored by the local YMCA and was held in the quaint river town of Franklin, Ohio.
First up was the Family Walk, and Michael and Adam headed out quickly. Sam was itching to get out of his stroller so I let him loose on the course as well and he pretty much completed the distance all on his own. Following this race was the Pumpkin Run with several costumed participants. Aunt Angie and Kevin joined us for this race. I pushed Sam and Michael ran with Adam. Four miles completed all on his own!
Following the race was the town's Fall Festival with street food, craft vendors, kid rides and presentations by local groups. It was a perfect Fall day to be outside enjoying the event, and cousin Jake was able to come play with us.
Halloween
Halloween snuck up on me this year, and once again I was staying up late to finish Adam's Halloween costume. He'd wanted to be a mummy for a long tim but the closer the day came he kept changing his mind. I made the final decision for him and threw together a mummy costume using liner fabric I had on hand, ripped it up and dyed it with tea, and attached it to a t-shirt and pants. For Sam, we recycled the frog costume Adam wore at the same age.
We had tickets to go see Garth Brooks in concert Rupp Arena at 10:30 Halloween night, so we drove down to Lexington to join the cousins for trick-or-treating before the show.
Mother Nature didn't tell Autumn that her season was over before the first snow fall came mid-November (4 inches!), and we lost a tree in our yard due to the weight of the snow and ice on tree branches that still had leaves.
Our November ended quite busy with Sam's birthday (2!) and an active Thanksgiving week with friends from Florida. Posts on those to come!
So for the last couple of years Michael has done this relay race called the Bourbon Chase. It takes place in Kentucky along the famous Bourbon Trail; it is a 12-person team, 200-mile continuous race. Last year my sister Angie participated and kept telling me how fun it was and that I had to join the team this year. I didn't know which sounded worse -- the idea of running in the dark along country roads alone in the wee hours of the morning with a headlamp or enduring broken sleep in the back of a van. But hey, they are all fun people and I can be talked into anything. Sign me up!
This is how it works -- Each team has 2 vans of 6 runners. Van 1 (ours) runs 6 legs, then Van 2 takes over while Van 1 rests and recovers. We cheer our runner at the start of the leg, drive the 5-7 miles to the next exchange spot and waited for him/her there. Then we sit and talk and check emails and take a nap and hydrate and eat and use the port-a-potty and debate the weather and running apparel, and then our next runner gets warmed up and prepped. When we see our runner we are there to greet him and cheer the next one of us on the start of the next leg. And we do it all over again. After 5 or 6 hours of this we meet up with our other van and pass off to them for the next 6 legs.We alternate 3 times with each runner running 3 legs over the course of 200 miles.
Van 1 consisted of me and Michael, my sister Angie, Michael's brother Kevin and his wife Jenny, and Michael's cousin Matthew. Our teammates in the other van consisted of my sister Kim, dear friend Rich, 2 running friends of Rich, and our last-minute replacements that, God love them, volunteered to participate and spend 36 hours with complete strangers! They were awesome and a fun addition to that van.
Race morning (Friday) started out at the Jim Beam Distillery. It's a staggered start with 10 teams going off every 10 minutes. Team Maker's Made Me Do It (that's us!) was one of the first teams at 7am.
Starting from Jim Beam Distillery, much of the run is along remote country roads that go between the distilleries on the Bourbon Trail (the long way around) through some of the most picturesque landscapes Kentucky has to offer. And, oh, Kentucky has hills to offer as well! Some legs have rolling hills and others have steep inclines that are so sharp that you can't even run down them. There was a disadvantage to every leg, whether the hills or distance or random dogs or traffic and city sidewalks. And rain. All of us had at least 1 run in the rain.
At the end of the first 6 legs we made it to Maker's Mark, which is so beautiful and fascinating and worth the visit even if you don't drink the stuff. Maker's is also a highlight because it's the first Van Exchange point and one of the few times we meet up with Van 2 and have our whole team all together.
Our second set (legs 13-18) began after 7 at night and wouldn't wrap up until 1:30 in the morning. Our bodies ached as we donned reflective vests, blinky lights and head lamps and opted for the best wet-weather gear we had, which was pretty futile because we were all soaked to the skin by the end of our legs. Fortunately, though, the temperature was perfect for running and even with the rain we weren't cold during the outings, just while waiting for them to begin.
click to enlarge
The course is marked with signs signaling turns and designating 1 mile to go, but take it from me, it's best to study the course prior to your leg so you don't, hypothetically, take a wrong turn and end up on another leg headed out of town at 12:30 in the morning and run an extra 1.5 miles trying to get back to where you're supposed to be. Just saying.
During our breaks from the race we try to get fed and rested as much as we can. The first break we found an Applebee's for lunch, then tried to nap in the van until it's our turn again. During our second break in the wee hours of the morning we actually drove back to Lexington to crash at a house for 2 hours and dry our clothes before heading back out there. After our final set we grabbed lunch, a shower and much appreciated and needed nap before greeting our team at the finish line to run it in together Saturday evening.
I'll be the first to admit that it wasn't alway fun. My runs were challenging, my quads ached and my body was stiff, and waiting around in a van for hours made me question what everyone else saw in this race. But sometime along those 34 hours my opinion changed. Maybe it was the drama and excitement (and later hilarity) of me getting lost, or my 7-mile final leg along horse farms into Woodford Reserve, or maybe it was the race finish atmosphere in downtown Lexington.
Whatever it was, it's enough to have me already committed to next year's race. But maybe with hill training next time. And van decorations. And coordinated costumes. And a finishing stunt.
As for Jenny, well, this pretty much sums up her decision to return:
Interval
Start Time of Day
Split
Split Pace
Overall Rank
Legs 1-6
7:30:16AM
06:01:18
10:50 min/mi
375/386
Legs 7-12
1:31:34PM
05:40:22
09:36 min/mi
305/386
Legs 13-18
7:11:55PM
06:18:52
11:42 min/mi
359/386
Legs 19-24
1:30:47AM
05:05:41
09:34 min/mi
278/386
Legs 25-30
6:36:27AM
06:12:13
11:15 min/mi
378/386
Legs 31-36
12:48:40PM
5:00:39
Total
5:49:20PM
34:19:05
379/386
12 Runners
200 Miles
7 Distilleries
October 10-11, 2014
Bourbon Chase
Jim Beam • Four Roses • Wild Turkey • Heaven Hill • Woodford Reserve • Maker's Mark • Town Branch
I know I've said before that I love our neighborhood. We've lived here almost 2.5 years and over the course of the last year we've met more of our neighbors but really only in a casual, passing way. There are about 8 houses that all share the same backyard space which we thought lent itself perfectly to a backyard gathering and a chance to get to know everyone better. Yes, it was time for a good, ole fashioned block party!
Now being fairly new on the block it was a little unnerving for me to step out and take the initiative on planning one. (Are we cool enough to want to hang out with?) We coordinated with our next door neighbor that we know pretty well and found a date that worked for them as well. Yes! Two families guaranteed to be there!
We kept it pretty simple. Our neighbors have a built-in fire pit in the back which we'd use as the anchor for the party. I made up some flyer invitations, and to make it more personal, we, as a family, hand delivered to everyone to give a more personal touch. Those that weren't home we left the invitation for them on the door.
On party day the weather was quite chilly so the fire pit was perfect! We set up a couple of folding tables, coolers and a trash can, and let everyone else bring their own chairs and a snack or appetizer to share. I made a big pot of hot chocolate and our neighbors provided brats, mets and hot dogs, and we turned it into a classic weiny roast.
The party started at 4, and I think it was after 11 when the final families called it quits. I'd deem that a success! The parents sat around the fire and talked while the big kids played Capture the Flag around us.
We plan on this being an annual event. Everyone seemed to have a good time and weeks later we still have neighbors thanking us for putting it together. I sure hope this becomes an annual tradition.
My office had a recent corporate outing on one of the Riverboats downtown. The founder of our company took some amazing photos of the skyline at night and I thought I'd share some scenes of our city. It was also a home game for the Cincinnati Reds and every Friday night home game has fireworks following. We disembarked at just the right time to see the show.
It's been two months since Sam started his speech therapy, and my emotions have run the gamut. I've started and stopped this blog post many times, depending on my mood. Some days I'd come here disappointed and filled with discouragement, and other days I'd continue writing excitedly with the latest advancements.
On my frustrated days I would be discouraged, like the day I came across a video of Sam babbling happily at 7 months and realized he stopped saying any consonant sounds. He stopped saying his sole word "Good" a few months ago, replacing all "talk" with a whine or a grunt. Or, when I noticed other toddlers his age babbling or talking, and I had to force myself to not compare and wonder too much about when Sam will speak up, and if and when he does, how far behind he will be. Or, when, a couple of weeks ago, I asked Sam's speech therapist about how often she sees children who lose any language they had, like Sam, and she said she sees it but rarely, and it is a concern. (She didn't elaborate... which of course left me to my wild imagination. We ought to have a dedicated conversation on his progress, best/case scenarios, and any possible timeline. It's a "concern", but what does that mean?)
Sam, 7 months old
And then there are good days where I am astounded watching Sam play with one of his battery toys and answering all the questions the game was requesting. Press the letter S. Press the letter that goes with the word that makes this sound [zipper sound]. Press the ball to play to continue playing. He gets them all right. Or when he opens his shapes book and finds the specific shape you ask, or turns to the page to find the animal in his other book. Or, when he stands in front of our family photos and picks out all of us easily. It's a relief to have him pointing now though it's still not clearly intentional to demonstrate a want (instead he leads us to objects or brings objects to us). Or, when he seems to pick up a new sign language word each day. He consistently signs dog, more, please, bath, bed, book, tree, all done, mom, fan, eat, shoes, car, go and more. This morning he signed moon. It's mostly communicated in response to a request, not as an intentional communication to us, but it's a great start! He knows body parts (head, ears, eyes, nose, mouth, belly, hands, toes) and can do motions along with songs. Those are all so encouraging and I have to remind myself he's made all this progress in a quick 2 months! When we had him evaluated in June he was diagnosed as being 9 months language, and here we are 3 months later and he seems to be on target for the age children begin talking (12-15 months).
And then, on Monday, a breakthrough! Or I truly hope it is! Adam and Sam were playing in the other room, and I started hearing sounds that I didn't think were from Adam. Na-na-na-na-na-na with some ma-ma-ma-ma in there, too. We ran to find him, and I'm pretty sure Michael and I both cried a little when we heard his new sounds! Joy. And relief. Each day since then I ask him to say it again, and he does. (I'm fearful he'll lose it just as quickly.) I've also noticed that occasionally he'll stumble across some other consonants like ba-ba or da-da and yesterday he was saying ssssss. We're cautiously encouraged.
Sam continues to work with specialists weekly to help jump-start his language and we had two great sessions this week. Both therapists noticed improvements over the previous visit.
Every other week we take Sam to the children's hospital for speech therapy. Michael usually takes him due to scheduling, but those times that I've attended I really enjoy learning techniques to implement at home.
In addition, we have a behavioral specialist from the Help Me Grow program come to our home each week at 7:30 in the morning (bless her) so I can be involved with Sam's sessions. Occasionally she will bring along an occupational therapist to do additional activities with Sam.
We've learned so much about language development in the last few months. We've learned that there are building blocks of social play, turn-taking, mimicry and nonverbal communication that must be accomplished before he can verbalize. While Sam has always been great at social play and social eye contact, he doesn't always look us in the face when he wants something from us or needs assistance. For example, if take away something that he wants, he reaches for and only stares at the object he wants back. Our play is now focussed on encouraging him to make that "help me" eye contact before we give him what he wants, and he's been doing great at starting to make those connections faster and more frequently.
Sam, 17 months
Additionally, we recently completed a survey as to his daily behaviors to better get a sense of what, if any, sensory issues he may have. Children with sensory issues, it's been explained to us, are overly sensitive to things in their environment which can interfere with normal learning (and speech development). Example, if you're trying to take a test and there's a loud lawnmower outside your window, you may be bothered and can't concentrate/learn. All children have sensory issues that they eventually grow out of. (Sometimes I wonder if there is too much emphasis on trying to peg a behavior as a sensory issue, and I dislike how it makes us question what would be otherwise normal behavior to us. Walking on toes is a sensory issue, and geez, Adam walked on his toes way more than Sam does!)
The thinking is that once we are aware of those areas of his discomfort, we can start working on helping him cope with them (they call it "organize" him) so that he can be more receptive to learning. Initial results showed typical development in most categories and a marginal deviation in just a couple areas. Frankly the report was way over my head, but I did recognize a lot of "typical" results, which is great! Next week the occupational therapist will come with our behavioral specialist to explain and review these more thoroughly.
Sam gives us a "wow" moment each and every day, and it's so exciting to watch him blossom. He has always been wonderful, Sweet Sam, and I knew from his beginning he is something special. Thank you all for the continued prayers and reassurances on his development. I am so optimistic that there will be a time we won't be able to keep him quiet!
Have you ever been asked to do something that seems wildly crazy and not the smartest to consider doing but kinda really want to do it anyway? Yep, that's how I got pulled into my recent half marathon.
I had been trying to get back into running here and there, knowing I was committed to the Bourbon Chase relay team in October. I completed my first 3-miler in way-too-many months and was feeling really good about myself when I got a call two days later from a friend telling me he had an entry in the Air Force Half Marathon in Dayton. Spot was for a female, free of charge, mine for the taking. Oh, and the race was in 9 days.
What?
Could I? Should I? Crazy enough, I kinda wanted to! I knew I couldfinish, that wasn't the question. It was more about how smart it was to try running it, and I was curious to see just what kind of running shape I was actually in.
So of course I did the obvious: threw on my running shoes, ran a complete 5 mile training run and agreed to the challenge.
My race approach -- keep it at a 5/2 split. Run for 5 minutes, walk for 2 minutes and alternate for as long as I could.
The race was at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. It started at the museum and ran through the base's back roads and residential areas. As an Army kid, I've been on my share of military posts/bases and really enjoyed exploring this one. Air force or Army, they really have the same feel, similar style. And I really appreciated the park-like (and relatively flat!) course.
The gun went off and I stuck to my plan. 5/2, 5/2, etc right from the get-go and the first few miles ticked by.
I started to fade (but kept pushing) around mile 5, miles 6-7 were a struggle, and when I got to mile 8 I gave up on the plan. (This is where actual training would have been helpful!) I took a goo pack (bleck!) and plenty of water and ran when I could for as long as I could (which wasn't very long each time); I walked the uphills and kept a close eye on my overall pace. I stopped to stretch -- wow, that's another reason to train! My body was not used to such activity and my legs, back, even my arms were starting to complain.
As I hit mile 10 I started to realize that I was almost on the same pace as one of my previous Halfs, which I thought was around 2:45, and was determined to beat that!
Finally, fewer than a mile left, I see the museum and finish in the distance, and more wonderfully was this:
He wrote the sign himself.
Go Mommy, From Love Adam
That last half mile was the toughest, longest part, but it was pretty cool to finish down the runway between all the AF planes and old bombers.
Mission complete! I finished in 2:42:56, which is actually not my slowest Half time ever. (Only 2 minutes slower than my very first Half and 1 minute faster than my slowest time... and those were with training!)
Not bad for only having a 3-miler and a 5-miler to prepare me! Which makes me wonder now how well I could have done with proper training. My PR still stands at 2:23 (and even that one I know I could have done faster) so I'm feeling the itch to sign up for another one next spring and bust that time.
And maybe with training I wouldn't be so sore for the next three days. Ouch! Yes, quads, you have my attention.
I've done the Marine and now the Air Force... maybe I need to look into a Navy or Army race next. Any race suggestions?
