This is our 2nd annual school field trip to “Real Life Farm.”

The girls had a blast, and I’m very upset that I forgot to bring my backup battery! They loved throwing hay around on the hayride, holding the baby kitten, giving me food to feed the baby goats, and they both had an unexpectedly fantastic time riding a horse! Ivy held onto the horn of the saddle and smiled the entire time; Lessa had more difficulties finding a handhold, but was also very content and happy the entire time.

My trust in the medical profession is severely broken.  There’s not necessarily anything new (that’s horrible), it’s just that I’ve come to realize exactly how badly my past experiences have affected me.  It’s understandable, really.  In the NICU, during my miscarriage, I had doctor’s who would play the odds and not share information that they deemed unnecessary… and then I would later hear “Oh, well we thought this could happen.”

For the most part, I have developed an open and honest rapport w/ my primary Oby/Gyn.  My husband and I have told him straight out that we don’t want anything sugar coated and we don’t want any information pertaining to my health (or the health of the baby) omitted… and he has agreed with the understand that we will need to remind him from time to time.  BUT - since I am hoping for a VBAC, I must meet every doc in the practice because any one of them could end up delivering my child.  It didn’t help that this doc started out the introduction talking about pregnancy #2 (really it’s #4 on their books), and thought that I had 1 child at home.

Today was a great visit.  We heard the heartbeat (for the 1st time, without an ultrasound).  According to that sole measurement, everything is fine - “See you in 5 weeks.”  What - no questions?  No further exam?  No recommendations?  So I asked “Is there anything that I should worry about.”  “Nope, no need to worry.”

HA!  I just don’t trust that glib “everything is fine” comeback from a medical professional.  I’ve been through too much, and I’ve learned that when it comes to me and my family - we often fall in the 1%.   Through my fertility (when I was hospitalized for hyperovarianstimulation), the conception of triplets when 2 embryos were implanted, my response to different medications, my infection post-birth, the girls (the good things and the bad)… etc.

Today was a very good doc visit, I just don’t trust docs anymore.  And it scares me what may not have been said, what I may not have asked, what may come up in 5 weeks that I could have been better prepared for. I don’t enjoy doc appointments!

Short and sweet this time. Just some links.

http://lifehacker.com/382319/easy-ways-to-go-green-with-your-computer

http://karmatics.com/aardvark/

http://lifehacker.com/349743/save-ink-paper-and-money-with-greenprint

http://lifehacker.com/375066/motivate-yourself-to-reduce-power-use-with-localcooling

It bears mentioning that this year’s Earth Day seemed to have come & gone quietly. My commitment last year was to write a post every month for a year. I missed 2 (but will complete the suite of 12). I do not know what new additional committment I will make this year. What have you done in the past year?

So back in April the girls were evaluated at a medical clinic for speech services.  (We were on the waiting list as of the beginning of January!)  Both girls scored very similarly…

Interaction/Attachment, Pragmatics, and Gesturing were all fine.  These tests only measure up to 18 - 27 months of age (depending on the tests), and both girls tested as high as the test was able to score.

Here’s where it gets interesting:  At the time of the evaluation, the girls were 27 months of age (or 23 1/2 if you’re still adjusting based on prematurity).  In terms of play, both girls scored solidly in the 24-27 month range with some skills as high as 33 months.  (AWESOME!)  In terms of Language Comprehension (what they’re able to understand), both girls scored in the 18-21 month range with some skills up to 24 months.  (Not great, but we talked about how they’re not able to communicate all that they ARE comprehending.)  In terms of Language Expression (my concern that they’re not formulating many words), they scored in the 12-15 month range (1/2 their age) with some skills up to 21 months.

So, both girls are diagnosed with “Expressive Language Impairment.”  Don’t get me wrong, they’re are fully able to express themselves - they just don’t use words to do so.  Since the evaluation, we have been going to speech 4 x’s per week (2 mornings a week for Ivy, and 2 evenings a week for Lessa).  I have heard at least 1/2 dozen times how bright/intelligent/genius my children are - and that they’re actually using their brains to escape the language demands that we’re placing upon them.  I have heard from the Speech Pathologist on several occasions, “I don’t think you understand… I have never worked with children this smart as such a young age.”  Of course this works for them as well as against them… but I’m thrilled to hear that news.  AND we have been picking up new words:  baby, chair, girl, sister, and several others.  The fun part is that the girls already know how to put words together, so when there is a new word it is quickly incorporated (i.e. “Mama All done” and “mama chair, dada chair, sister chair”)  It’s a lot of organizing and a lot or work on all of our parts, but it is definitely worth the hassle!  We have been authorized 15 sessions, so our services are nearly 1/2 over, and then there may be an attempt to reauthorize additional services.  Oh, and Lessa’s still on the waiting list for physical therapy!

Get a load of her mature pen grasp - Lessa’s teacher was amazed!

Yes, that’s Ivy standing in the bin of cars!

So, we’ve tested this link and I don’t think it’s TOO bad….

Click HERE and you’ll have the opportunity to vote for Lessa’s picture to win $2500 at the end of the month. Yes, you have to register…. Yes, they will ask you a lot of questions and try to get you to take part in different offers… NO, you don’t HAVE to partake in any offers!  While registering on the main page, make sure that you click off the check for getting their newsletter. After registering you will receive a confirmation email: click on that, click “no” a bunch of times, and Lessa will receive your vote.

Thanks in advance!

Cash-Strapped-Editor’s Note: Don’t forget you can also click on the Google links to the right!  As often as you want.  Every day even!  —>

I wonder if the brain has growth spurts. Every now & again, the girls just start doing amazingly complicated new and interesting things. In the past week…

Ivy now carries around a blanket. I’m not calling it a security blanket because she doesn’t freak out like Linus if it goes missing, or washed, or is made to choose between that and say…her favorite monkey. But, she will bring it in the car, or to the dinner table, and can carry it around all day. She likes wearing it as a cape, so I’m okay with that.

Ivy also (I think) is benefiting from Speech Therapy. I’m not sure what’s going on there, but she is saying more words. Her vocabulary increases almost a word a day. It’s hard to pick em out, but they’re there. She understand the concepts of phonemes, and can string 2 together, but usually gets stuck at 3 (she can say ‘ba’ and ‘nana’, but can’t pull together ‘ba-nana’). I think the word for today was “in”. It’s simply amazing. It’s almost like someone up in Brain Central forgot about the “Verbal Language” switch, and said “hey, I wonder what this thing’s for? Let’s try it”.

Ivy is also imitating quicker, and more accurately. I did a “Hey baby, how YOU doin” move where I cocked my head, & shot both fore fingers at her (shutup, it was cool in the 80s). And she did it right back to me. I was laying on the ground reading a book to her, and she flopped down next to me and imitated me waving my feet in the air and thumping them on the ground. Sweet. Time for kung fu lessons?

Lessa is doing great walking. For whatever reason I am still amazed that she is doing as well as she is. She’s doing uneven surface (like our pock-marked lumpy lawn) with aplomb, and is more confident walking over obstacles, and going down steps. It makes me so happy.

Lessa also knows that her heart is in her chest. It was a classic parent looks at parent where-did-she-pick-that-up moment. They don’t do anything where we’re not around, so we should know pretty much everything they see. So…? But it was really cool. We asked her a couple times to rule out a fluke too.  And somehow, she knows how to drum.

Also, I think they’re both cuddling more. I can sometimes lay Ivy on top of me and we can look up in the sky together watching birds, planes, superheros & trees. And I can cradle Lessa (like I did about a year ago) and chat with her about her day, and she just smiles up at me and nods. Times like these when I wish I could just reach up and pluck the moon from the very heavens and give it to them. Every moment like this (and sometimes they’re literally just moments…like a couple seconds long) I see as a rare & beautiful gem that I can add to a small stash I have. I look back at them and feel richer, and lucky to have them. I tell the girls that I love them as often as I can, and I always mean it.

This time, just a few odd things for you to consider. If, for some silly reason, you find yourself with tons & tons of plastic bags, and have no idea what to do with them (besides bringing them to Walmart to recycle). Most of these are common sense, but it never hurts to bring it up again. I suppose the important point is think of where they can be used, and make mental notes when you pass that way. http://ask.metafilter.com/88272/What-can-I-do-with-my-hundreds-of-grocery-bags

And here’s another one. Now that my dentist has forced me to use those Ultra soft brushes, they wear out a lot quicker than the ol sassafrass root. So I have to throw it away. I can’t recycle it as it’s not stamped with a code, and usually have some sort of rubber in them. It’s a silly thing, and I probably go through about 6 a year, but I can’t reuse them (I keep one for tile grout cleaning projects), but the rest just have to be thrown out. Why can’t they be made so they can be recycled. They’re plastic for goodness sake! Anyway, here’s an interesting article about ways to recycle & reuse toothbrushes. http://environment.about.com/od/earthtalkcolumns/a/toothbrush.htm  You can even get them at Target now, and use this $1 coupon.

On a related note, I’m going to try and convince my dentist to give away the recyclable kind of toothbrushes instead of the non-recyclable kind that they give away.  I think it may be hard, if the reaction from the hygienist was any indication.  “Toothbrushes you can recycle…that are made from recycled plastic?  Huh.  What’ll they think of next”.

Now that the weather is a bit nicer (snow not as likely to fall from the sky… although Pops experienced some earlier this month), we’re trying to get out and do different/interesting activities.  Yesterday, we gave our babies baths.  The girls’ teacher actually suggested this - and the girls now consistently point to Mom’s belly when asked “Where’s Momma’s Baby?”  (Don’t you love how they take turns looking into the camera?!)

Here’s Ivy, very gentle as she carefully washed many different body parts of the baby… Of course, later she was seen to drop her Baby on the concrete as she ran for some chalk.  I think part of her biggest fun was tipping over the tub and dumping water everywhere, and then watching it as it crept down the driveway. (And yes, that is the tub that the girls were bathed in while at the hospital!)

Here’s Lessa, also very gentle and deliberate in her actions.  She spent quite a long time washing and feeding the baby, while exploring with the water and the washcloth.  She was seen to be washing the driveway on a couple of occasions.