Sunday, January 31, 2010

Zusha'a Paint Shop Pieces

My child is so cool.
A couple of months ago, he drew this shark on a Magna Doodle.


Cool, right? Of course, I took a photo. Well, Zusha likes to open his pictures in Paint Shop and enhance them. I helped him change the background from grey/beige to white. He took over from there, and...







Yeah, I was dumbfounded as well!

He also opened a random photo, one of the many airplanes that we photographed in the park one day.


And he made it night. With stars and all.

Zusha, my favorite five-year-old Paint-Shopper. :)

Sunday, January 24, 2010

Fifteen

Adibaby is fifteen months. I'm not calling her "toddler" yet, because she is so babylike! I feel like I have a 7-8 month old. But lately, I have found myself thinking that she might earn the title of toddler some time soon!

She is transitioning onto all fours! Actually "threes" is more like it. She gets up on her hands and one knee. The other leg stays tucked under the tummy, horizontally across. I think it's a combination of not having enough strength to pull that leg out and leaving it there to support the cute belly. I have a feeling that she will actually crawl within the next two months!

As usual, Adi does more on the bed than on the floor. If she sees an item on the bed that she wants to reach, she gets onto hands and knees and actually walks her hands forward a couple of steps as I watch as if from another dimension. It's so surreal to see! Almost crawling! Her legs stay in the same place, and when her hands walk as far as she can stretch, she lies down fully, takes the object and sits back up.

Here she is on all fours on my bed:

It's very blurry because she is rocking back and forth, but she got into that position all by herself! I'm very proud, so I'm bragging. :)

She actually has a vocabulary of which to speak!!
When I tell her "up" she repeats it, "aaaaaaaah---" and the p sound is a snort coming from somewhere in her larynx. LOL.
She knows some body parts that she learned in therapy, but she needs to have exact conditions for her to make the connection. She needs to hear the same intonation, see the associated action and be in the same spot each time. But she has started disassociating some of the helpful hints. For example, to get her to show her mouth, the therapist says, "Moily" and does the Indian call, clapping her hand over her mouth while saying aaah. And Adel repeats it. To get Adel to show her stomach, the therapist sings, "Yummy in my tummy," and Adel drums on her belly as she was taught to do.
But lately she started disassociating some of the actions! She will drum on her mouth or belly when I ask her (not just the therapist) and sometimes the word itself is sufficient to get her drumming and I don't even have to model the action.
I don't think she understands that this is the mouth, this is the stomach... she views it as a game. I hear the chant, I do the motion. She wouldn't be able to just point to the body part on herself or on anyone else just yet.

She says "ah-mya" whenever the cat comes up to her. (She also shields her face with her hands in case the cat tries to pounce on her and topple her over like he has done in the past, which shows great memory, protective reflexes and an understanding of what to do!)

Adel transitions in and out of sitting like it's last year's news. And although it makes the therapists sigh in defeat, she doesn't stay on her tummy anymore- up she pops! It's important to her upper body strength to learn to crawl, so she also annoys the therapists by her pro tushie scoot. She doesn't use it often, nor does she travel long distances, but she can scoot backwards about five feet in high speed!

I officially can't let Adel see me eating, or I will have to share. Gone are the days when I could lie on the floor next to Adel, playing with her and eating ice cream. Now I can only let her see me eating healthy (and soft!) foods.

She is developing a great sense of humor! When the boys jump on beds, she doubles over in giggles. Once I was carrying Zusha as a joke and Adel was watching, all confused. Then I said, "This is my baby, Adel! This is your baby brother Zusha!" And giggles ensued once again! She will giggle if the boys do something wrong, like put a toy on the head.

She is really advancing, this one! I'm eager to see what the next few months have in store for us.

Just some photos of our resident girlie from the last month...

Bathy baby...


Toothy smile baby...


Bonding time baby...


A photo every child should have of themselves.


Clappy baby...


Hi, baby!


This picture isn't good or anything, but her expression combined with the way her hair sits in this photo just makes me laugh!


My little smiley face.


Bundled baby.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Kiddie Photo Phail

With three Poozils in the family, one is bound to have more photo fails than wins. Most of the fails are deleted, but some are just to good to trash. Such as...


Classic, isn't it?

Some photo sessions result in great wins. Some don't result in any wins at all. And sometimes, you just take what you can get!

Like 2/3 kids having a snuggle session while 1/3 is looking elsewhere...


Or the deer-in-the-headlights look... (All three are synchronized! That's some talent!)


Who says you have to have them all looking in the same direction... is there a source for that? Hmmm??


Even with exasperated looks, forced happiness and funny faces, the Poozils win at cuteness!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Itty Bitty Kitty It Is!

Leah Etty and Chana Rachael guessed it...

The little something extra was our itty bitty kitty!



As for the story of how he came to live with us, that'll have to wait till next time!





Thursday, January 21, 2010

Do You See It?

Something extra?



What do you see?

Tell me what you think! The answer will be posted in pictures in 24 hours.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Tonight I'm Serving Leftovers

This post is from one year ago... just thought it was too funny not to re-post for all the new readers!

This is an old picture- over five (now six) years old. Once in middle of the night, a raccoon came up to my window. So I fed him!


The boys were looking at an album and came across this picture. Gedalya didn't know what it was, so he said it's a cat. Zusha knew what it was, but forgot the name.
"No, it's not a cat!"
"So what is it? It's a cat!"
"No, I'll go ask Mama."

As Zusha was bringing me the album to ask, Gedalya was shouting guesses, "Rhinoceros! Furby!" Rolling Laughter

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Screaming Contest and Secrets



Ah, the joys of boys. Boy-watching can be a wonderful sport. Especially when the boys are brothers. And especially when there is a curly redhead involved. :D



Screaming contests...


Sharing secrets...


And just running around!


There is never a dull day with these lads, that's for sure!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Adi has Lots to Share

This little girlie has much to share.


Like her long awaited test results!
Angelman Syndrome: negative
Prader-Willi Syndrome: negative
Cohen Syndrome: no results yet, but I suspect negative

I was really hoping to get an answer this round so that we can close this chapter and move on to the next one- working with the diagnosis rather than searching for one. I'm happy that she doesn't have either of these syndromes, but I'm mourning the loss of an expectation- an expectation to finally set my feet on solid ground, regardless of how difficult it may be. So we continue to flounder on.

EEG: I'm breathing a sigh of relief- no seizures! Baruch Hashem! :D Although the episodes did register on the EEG, meaning the activity is involuntary and comes from some brain activity. The fact that it registered is a comfort for me, especially since I know it's benign, because I knew it was something. Now they can monitor it and keep it in her file, which is great. To all the fellow special needs mamas- the neurologist mentioned it's called something non-specified flow something or other. Anyone know what that is?

Adel's normal brain waves are slow as well. I'm not sure what it indicates. One thing I know about this is that slow brain waves are more susceptible to seizures so I was told to keep an eye on the episodes, as well as anything else that may develop.


Now for an exciting milestone!
Adel was drumming on a ball with a Tinkertoy rod a few days ago, when she drummed too hard and it flew away. Without hesitation, Adel transitioned onto her stomach, and for the first time in her life, pulled herself forward with her hands, about a foot, to get it. I kept inching the stick away from her, hoping to get her to slither more. It worked until she figured out what I'm doing and screamed at me for being mean. Retrieved her rod, sat back up and continued on drumming. She has sporadically pushed herself backwards before, either on her tush or on her belly, up to 6 feet. But this was the first time she went forwards, and the first time she did it in order to achieve a goal (get that rod!) She also started going into an almost-quadruped position (on hands and one knee. The other leg is tucked under her belly.) It won't be long till she starts crawling, I think! :D


(Cute baby in home-made booties :))