4th Grade Field trip {Inner Space Caverns}

It's incredibly bittersweet to me that our Emma only has three months left of elementary school.  I'm sure they will fly by, too :( Hudson and I were excited to accompany the 4th grade Woodway class to Inner Space Caverns in Georgetown this week. 

Emma and her bestie, Hallie.  Hallie's mom {Mrs. Echols - Owen's teacher!} rode with me and we were able to check the girls out early.

The first educational activity was panning for treasure.  The girls found several different types of minerals, rocks and arrows and were excited to keep them as souvenirs. 

:)

Down in the cave!  What a neat experience! 

This bunch was so very well behaved.  We enjoyed the day :)

Red Heat Basketball

 Owen really enjoyed his first season of basketball!   He played with Woodway Family Center and his team was called Red Heat.  Many of the players were from his flag football team.

Owen learned a lot this season and improved more and more as the season progressed.

He became much more confident in dribbling, shooting, rebounding and scoring.  He even made several baskets :)

Time out for some serious strategy!

The guys were so excited to be undefeated this year!  They actually won the last game by one point!

On to baseball season......

Hudson is 23 months!

Hudson is 23 months this week!  He now weighs 23 lbs 10 oz and measures 29" long!  He just promoted from the Tiny Turtles to the Bouncing Bunnies nursery class at church.  We plan to take his Bumbo wheelchair to allow him to better interact with his peers. 

 

Earlier this month he was evaluated for both speech and occupational therapy.  He cooperated very well and pleasantly surprised me with some of the things he was able to do!  At this time he falls within the average range for speech so will continue to work on that ourselves.  He starts weekly OT sessions later this month.  During the evaluations I discovered a lot of ideas we can work on at home.  After his OT eval we went straight to Target to grab this wooden shape puzzle, easy-grip crayons and a tiny red toy car.

 

He finally started MOVING in his Bumbo wheelchair!!!   He has mastered going forward and is still working on maneuvering backward and around obstacles.  His arms have become super strong and he is especially motivated by Dum Dum suckers!  :)  We are so proud of our little guy and love that he is becoming more interested in being mobile.

He occasionally repeats what we say.  We are still earnestly working on vocabulary.  He can also make a kissing noise with his lips to copy us.  He still enjoys bath time and has loved exploring the new bath toys he got for Christmas :)

 

A couple of weeks ago he cruised through Hobby Lobby sitting like this for the first time.  He enjoyed the view!

We took lunch to Emma at school one day and had to snap a quick picture!  All of her sweet friends always love to visit with him.

He absolutely LOVES pulling the string on the ceiling fan, tuning light switches on/off and opening/closing cabinets and drawers.  In fact, he stays entertained for quite awhile!  He is army crawling like a pro!  It doesn't take him long to travel across a room with the right motivation :)  Over the past couple of weeks he has had several follow up medical appointments including ophthalmology and ENT.  We also transferred his urology care from TCH to McLanes in Temple.

He is still a great eater!  This month he enjoyed his first very own nugget pack at Chick fil a!  He attacked and devoured them all right after I took this photo :)  He is a great eater and the only foods he refuses are lettuce and black olives!

 

I snapped a photo of him watching Trump's Inauguration since it was such a huge piece history!  Of course he was more interested in wheeling forward to push buttons on the DVD player.

 

It's hard to believe that he will be TWO next month.  Can't wait to celebrate!!

Hudson is 22 months!

Hudson is 22 months!  He now weighs just over 23 pounds and is close to wearing all size 24 outfits.  He is such a JOYful kid - you would never guess by this photo that he has a double ear infection!

Tis the season to break out the ole nebulizer.  He hates it - bless his heart!  He has been sick off and on and still has a lingering wheeze.  He was just prescribed two weeks worth of albuterol and budesonide - three times a day X 25 minutes - oh my!

 

This month he discovered how to throw things - oh boy!  At the beginning of the month he started saying "Emma" and at the end of the month he started saying Owen ("Oweh"!)  He often repeats names and words and it's pretty darn cute :)  He says Katy, "night night", "dada" and "Beau" (the dog).

 

Daddy gave him a haircut right before Christmas which suddenly made him look older!  I can't believe he will be TWO very soon!  He was very happy to wear his OU onesie during the Sugar Bowl to cheer for Dede Westbrook :)

He is getting lot of great use out of this Christmas gift.  It's a Leap Frog magnetic alphabet bus and teaches letters and sounds.  The very best part is that it is at the perfect level when he is in the stander.

These two blonde brothers LOVE each other!!  They have such a special bond and would do anything for one another :)  It has been fun to look back at Owen's baby pictures to see how similar they look!

 

PT is still going well.  Since the beginning of the year we have increased visits to once per week.  Jaylon is great with him and he is always usually cooperative for her.  The main focus is still core strength and balance.  Part of the issue is that he has gone so long feeling safe in the tripod position that he is incredibly reluctant to let both hands go.  It will take some time but we are determined to master this skill :)  It's incredible to watch him accomplish tiny goal by tiny goal.  Here he is sitting independently on a backless stool playing like such a big kid :)

NYE

 

We were so glad that Cliff, Chassati, Aaron and Evette and their families could join us to welcome 2017!  The adults enjoyed Catchphrase and Family Feud while the kiddos enjoyed glow sticks, silly string, poppers and sugar :)  I'm happy to report that everyone (except Hudson!) made it to midnight!!

 

 

 Cousins - just 8 months apart!  So glad Chass and her kids were in town ;)

 

 

More girly cousins ~ ice cream sundaes for the WIN!

We enjoyed celebrating New Years Eve and bidding farewell to 2016 at home with friends and family!  We are praying for a peaceful and prosperous 2017 :)

 

A birthday visit to American Girl

You only turn TEN once -- and when you do we celebrate ALL month long!!  :)  Over the past several years Lita has been great about planning periodic trips to the American Girl store.  The Dallas galleria is decorated so beautifully during the holiday season so it was the best time to go. 

This time Emma brought her BFF, Hallie, and her AGD, Molly.  We had lunch reservations at the bistro.  The table was full! 

Emma enjoyed a large chocolate milkshake with sprinkles and a candle and we all sang Happy Birthday (for the tenth time in two weeks - ha)!     

Little man was great - and we put the napkin rings on his ears :)

The girls enjoyed watching the ice skaters while wandering the mall.

4th grade Christmas performance

The Woodway 4th grade did an excellent job in their Christmas performance.  Emma had a speaking part and also played the alto xylophone.  

 

Thanks for coming, Lita and Big Daddy!