I'm baaaaaack!

So it's been WELL over a year since I updated. Life is hectic. Kids and work and lifer will do that to you. But I feel like I need to get back into blogging.

For weeks I've been researching and googling and calling insurance and speech therapists trying to figure out what to do for Caleb.  For those that don't know, earlier this year Caleb was diagnosed with Childhood Apraxia of Speech. It has to do with motor function. I would go into detail but I feel like I've explained it to everyone under the sun and they just look at me funny. So if you want to know what it is, google. Calendar understands EVERYTHNG hat is said to him, but his brain doesn't know how to talk back, basically. He has some fine and gross motto delays as well, which is common ith apraxia.

Anyway, I was just on pinterest looking up some speech therapy ideas and suggestions and I got the feeling that I need to start documenting Caleb's struggles and progress. He is such a SMART kid it KILLS me that he can't say what he wants/feels/needs. Just as it breaks my heart,it frustrates the hell out of me. I feel like a HORRIBLE mother when I yell at him that I can't understand him and hat I don't know what he wants. He whines and cries and throws tantrums because he can't communicate what he needs. It is so hard to deal with.

We've been teaching him sign language (a big THANK YOU to those that suggested Baby Signing Time) and it has helped quite a bit but with his motor issues it makes it hard to interpret some of his signs. But progress is progress and I'll take it.

I am still looking for a speech therapist for him. We LOVED Sarah from Babies Can't Wait but she isn't doing private therapy. Why do the good ones always leave?? I hate it. I need divine intervention here! We just haven't clicked with some of them.

So Caleb just turned three on September 17th. He was such a goofball at his party. How I love that kid! Any "normal" three-year-old would be speaking in sentences and driving you crazy, but Caleb has very few words. So far he has (and they come and go, which is another joy of apraxia):
Mommy (he can finally say "m"!)
Daddy
Addy
All done -ah-dah
No (nah)
Apple -ah-poh
Bubble -Buh-booh
Ally (the current love of his life) -a-yee
Buh-bye
Emily (from Thomas the Train) eh-mee
Nani (my mom)
Eat

....I think that's all he has right now. I'm drawing blanks on anything else. 

I wish I could cure this for him. I hate to him hm struggle and I know the kids at school will be horrible. It just doesnt seem fair. How would you function if you understood everything the as going on but had no way to communicate back?

Avery Poo

Sweet, sweet Avery. She hardly complains and is just content to stare at you. She's a very observant child. I feel awful because Addy is such a diva that Avery hardly gets any attention. I hope she doesn't hate me for that later on. =( Poor girl. But I love my sweet, mellow child. If I didn't have her to balance Addy out I don't know what I'd do. She helps keep me sane.

She failed her second hearing screen, most likely due to fluid in her ears so we have to get that repeated in a few months. HOPEFULLY she'll be fine with minimal to no hearing loss.

Chub Chubs

Miss Addy....Oooohhhh, Miss Addy. She is a handful! Ever the drama queen. She LOVES to lay on her changing table and just coo and smile. Till she gets bored. Then it's just incessant crying. But we love her nonetheless. She makes the funniest faces I've ever seen.

Sweet Big Brother

Caleb LOVES his beebees. He is so sweet with them. He'll occasionally bonk them on the head or poke their eyes but overall he's SO good with them!

Fun Day at the Park

This boy loves him some swings!

The higher he went the more fun he had. SUCH a boy!

I love how he strains his neck to check out the girl swinging next to him. Little masher.

Not a fan of the slide...

Pure boy right here!

Addison Lucille

Addy, aka Addy McFatty, PudgePudge, Chubs, Cuddlebug, Sassy Pants

Diva Extraordinaire

Oooh, this child! She started out easy-going. That. Has. Changed.

I hate to say it, but it just makes me love her more.

This girl will take crap from no one. If she is upset she will let you know. If you put her down she will let you know how much she does not appreciate it. And she will cry for HOURS just to get her way. 

Good thing she's so darned cute. Her rolls save her.

She currently is the most attentive of the two. She loves to look around and stare at things. She's got the biggest, bluest eyes.

She has a less severe form of reflux, as you can tell by the arm rolls. I love me some fat babies!

She is currently sporting a two-tone hairdo. The top of her head came back blonde, while the sides are still somewhat red. And let me tell you, she has the temper of a red head. Heaven help us.

She currently weighs an even 11lbs. I need to measure them to see how long they are now.

Addy is the biggest snuggler (no pun intended) I know. She will cry and cry and cry but the second you pick her up she is dead quiet and will either fall asleep on you or just want to look around. Another reason I put them in separate cribs is because she would be all over Avery and Avery is a tad more independent. She likes her space. The first couple nights they were in separate cribs were rough. Addy didn't know what to do with herself with no one to cling to. Avery slept like a rock. She is giving me gray hairs already.

She is a sweet, sweet girl. She just has major diva tendencies.

Avery Ruth

 

Avery used to be our little Diva. She has now morphed into a laid-back, calm and quiet (well, sort of) child. She has the more worse case of reflux - I think she even beats Caleb in that department - and therefore is a Diva in that sense, but for the most part she is easy going. 

She, I am afraid, will never lose the apnea monitor. It is always going off. Especially at night. It's that darned reflux! They are supposed to go for 60 days without in alarm. I really don't think that will ever happen. Because they'll be 4 months (seriously?!) in a couple weeks the Apnea Center has turned their alarms down a bit - meaning it will now alarm if her heart rate is less than 70 whereas before it was if it was less than 80. I thought that would give us a break - but sure enough she had SEVEN alarms last night alone. So far today she's only had 1 (knock on wood). They did bring us new monitors, which is nice. They are brand spankin' new. The other monitors we had were huge and I swear from the 80s. The respiratory therapist that came by said they aren't even making that model any more. So now we have more compact monitors...but they are still a pain to lug around everywhere. I have a love/hate relationship with them. I like them at night because I can sleep knowing if they stop breathing it'll alarm. But I hate the belts they have to wear that get all sweaty and stinky and irritate their skin. I hate not being able to hold my baby without lugging an 8-lb. monitor, too. 

Anyway, enough complaining.

The home health nurse came by today to give them their dose of Synagis to protect them against RSV.$1,500 a VIAL - and they are so chunky they need 2 vials a piece now! They have one more dose next month, then they will need them next Oct - March as well. Yikes. These babies don't come cheap!

Which reminds me - I've been keeping track of their hospital charges - so far we are over $700,000. And the bills keep coming.

But, back to Avery. She now weighs in at 10lbs 8oz. Little chunk-a-munk. She is known as "Flipper" because of the silly noises she makes ALL THE TIME. Even in her sleep. It is so funny to hear the girls together at night. I have put them in separate cribs because Avery keeps throwing up on Addy and I'm tired of bathing them every morning - so they'll call out to each other with that Flipper noise - and if one of them isn't in the room they will FLIP OUT. I need to get it on video.

  

Avery's hair is starting to come back. They were both sporting skullets for a while. Now they are getting the bald spots on the back of their heads.

She has definitely got the Chappell genes. Big cheeks, and Dave calls them chinky eyes. She does look Asian in the mornings when here eyes are swollen. She, for the most part, is our purple girl. However that may change because I have a feeling Addy is going to be a red head and I think purple will look better on her than pink. Is that shallow of me?

Miss Avery all dressed up.