Better late than never!

Hi everyone! So, I'm a little late on updating. But only by a few months. ;)  Lots of things have happened in the past few months! So bear with me while I ramble on about all of the great things that have happened since February. :)

Emilie Cate turned ONE!!! Sixteen months old to be exact. She is now an energetic, sweet (& sometimes ornery), playful little toddler! She has six teeth and is eating table foods. We are almost free from the "ba-ba" (bottle) and mostly using sippy cups. We still use a pacifier, or "foo-foo" as we call it, at naptime and bedtime. She is starting to try to sing and can say several words like "up", "sit", "help", "yeah", "rock", "bite bite", "foo foo", "look", and "ball". She also says "boom boom" when checking your heartbeat with a stethoscope. :) She is super smart and always getting into something. She is also a climber, and we have found her on top of various places throughout the house! She definitely keeps us on our toes! Here are a few photos from the past few months. :)



 

Camryn has grown in so many ways as well! She is now six years old and a kindergarten graduate! I still can't believe it when I have to say her age. I seriously feel like she was just born. Time truly does fly when you have children. I always got annoyed when people would say that to me, but now I realize it's true. Camryn is enjoying being out of school for the summer. She has been keeping busy, though, with her therapy, and we have also joined swim lessons and musikgarten classes. Both of the girls also love to attend story time at the library. I'm thankful for their love of reading at such a young age. We are on the go a lot of the time, but also have a couple of days where we can just play and relax at home without therapy or classes. She has greatly improved in all areas of her development just in the past few months. Her speech is coming along great, and she is able to answer more questions and use the correct pronouns most of the time. Her physical therapy has helped tremendously, as she is now able to use our swing set and has learned to throw/catch a ball successfully. She is also learning things like hopscotch, hitting a ball with a bat, and learning to stay on her feet more when walking (she is a toe walker). Some other VERY exciting news is that we are pretty much completely potty trained!!! She has been going potty independently and has very few accidents. HOORAY!!

The next update....PETS!!! So, for those of you who know Camryn, should know that she has always been terrified of all animals. Dogs, birds, cats, squirrels, you name it....This has always been her number one fear. So, one day a few weeks ago Camryn says to me "Mommy, I want a kitty." At first thought I blew it off because I thought it was just a random thought or maybe she had watched a video with a cat in it. She continued to talk about it most of the day. She even asked her Daddy for a kitty when he got home from work. She told me she would help take care of it and she wanted it to live at our house. I began to wonder if she could really handle one, so we talked about it and agreed to just let her look at one to see how she reacted. We met with a lady who was giving away free kittens at her home, and Camryn instantly held the cat, carried it, and petted it. I think my mouth almost dropped to the floor! I wanted to cry. The kitten she held was a black & white male with the prettiest blue eyes. We had already decided to get a female, so I didn't go there expecting to fall in love with him. We left and thought about it for a while, and ended up returning that afternoon to adopt him. :) Camryn named him Oreo, the name of her favorite cookie. He is such a sweet kitten and is so snuggly. The lady we adopted him from as well as a few other people told us "If you're going to get a kitten, you might as well get two. They're happier and keep each other busy." So we decided to search for a play mate for Oreo. We found another lady near our town who had a litter of orange kittens. We asked her to meet us with the three females, and chose the kitten that seemed to best fit our family. She instantly took to us and was the calmest of the bunch. We brought her home and named her Lila. :) She is the more feisty kitten but still snuggly at naptime and bedtime. They are so cute together and bonded instantly. Camryn has done so well with them. She doesn't enjoy being chased, but has learned not to run if she doesn't want them to. Ha! I am so glad we took this opportunity to bring pets into her life so she can learn responsibility and also many social skills from caring for them. She also decided we needed some fish, but they don't seem to be as exciting. ;)

 

 

Well, that's our update for now! I will try to be better about posting more, though I can't guarantee. ;)

~Caitlin

Just a little update!

Hi all! Just stopping in for the first time in a while to give an update on the kids.  They are growing so fast! I really can't believe how fast time flies. I never believed anyone who told me time flies faster the older you get... until I had kids. It's definitely true and makes me so sad at times! I am so glad to see them healthy and growing though.

Where to start...Camryn is progressing in ways that we never imagined this year! She is reading beginner level books completely BY HERSELF. That's right, I am one proud mama. :) She is doing great in school and has made a lot of friends. She is learning to add, tell time, and identify coins. Her stimming behaviors are very minimal now, and she can focus for longer periods of time. She has lost two teeth! (She thinks she's so grown!) She hates to share with her sister (Or anyone, really), but what five-year-old doesn't? She loves all things Hello Kitty and is obsessed with watching Youtube videos on "Egg Surprises." These are little plastic eggs filled with candy, stickers, and toys. She spends her time in her room watching these videos or playing with her doctor kits. She loves to give Mommy, Daddy, & Emi check-ups! She is participating in a lot more pretend play lately. She is also socializing with people spontaneously and doing wonderful! She will say "excuse me" when walking past people, and greets people without prompting. Her teachers tell me she walks to the classroom every morning, stopping at the door and yelling "Hello everyone!!" while waving her hand with fingers closed, like Miss America. Ha Ha!

 

I bet you're waiting to hear about our sweet little squishy baby, Emilie Cate. She is growing up super fast as well. She will be one next week and I seriously can't handle it! I tear up everytime I think about it. It feels like yesterday I saw her sweet little face, with her lip stuck out, and heard her little cry for the first time. She is still pretty experienced in the sad lip, as you can see below:

 

She is starting to take her first steps, and loves to clap for herself! She is imitating more sounds and can say a few little words like "Mama", "Da-Da", "Ball", "Bye Bye", and "Ba-Ba" (bottle). She has also learned to say "Ma-Ma" and "Poppa", in which they are very excited! She has the most tender heart and does not like to be told "no." She FINALLY has started to eat solid foods like yogurt melts, puff, and other fast-dissolving baby snacks. She knows how to play patty-cake and loves to eat all things that are non-edible. Nap time is her worst enemy. She is full of smiles and cries. I think if her little cheeks could be kissed off, they would've been gone long ago!

Well, that's it for now! I will be back to update after Emilie's first birthday party next weekend. It's going to be lots of fun! And a little sad for Mommy. Thanks for reading, y'all! God Bless!