Steven, Sammy and Amaya are 20 months old today! And I’m not really counting months anymore except for how I obviously am.

I need to start this week’s blog with this series of photos because I love them so much. The kids wanted to wear hats, and they’ve also discovered the joy of smushing your face up against glass.

These kids.

I was home from work on Monday for Rosh Hashanah which was perfect timing because it was the first early intervention appointment of the season.

When we left off, Steven and Amaya were receiving weekly speech therapy, Steven was receiving bi-weekly physical therapy and Sammy was receiving general monthly services. All of that technically continues into the fall but it’s always helpful to level set. We also have new teachers for Steven and Amaya so they need to take stock of where the kids are. Amaya’s teacher was off for the holiday but Steven’s new teacher, Robin, was there along with Steven’s PT, Jeanette, and Sammy’s teacher, Dawn.

Steven: Great news is that Steven is performing on the low end of average for gross motor! If he was evaluated today, he wouldn’t even receive services! Jeanette is going to come out monthly for the next few months just to be sure he’s progressing properly but Bobo is catching up! He’ll still need to wear the SMO ankle braces for a few more months, but that’s separate from how he stacks up with regards to muscle tone and overall gross motor development.

On the speech side, Robin said he wouldn’t qualify for weekly services if measured today! I was surprised to hear that because he’s noticeably behind Sammy and Amaya but, to qualify, you have to be scored at 1/2 your age and he’s definitely ahead of where you’d expect to find a typical 10 month old. Robin thinks it’s great that he uses his few words correctly, in context, and continues to add new words. He, and his siblings, also did really well with receptive communication. When asked to go into the playroom and bring back a ball, they were all able to complete the task.

Sammy: Sammy will continue with his monthly services. We’re going to focus on sensory issues. Though I use the word “issues” very lightly. We’re trying to determine if he’s simply exceptionally cautious, or if there are sensory sensitivities there, too. He doesn’t like his feet on grass or in sand. He won’t touch an electric toothbrush (which was recommended for sensory issues.) He doesn’t like slides or swings. Little things, but we want to make sure we understand it so he can experience his world as comfortably as possible.

Amaya: Amaya’s teacher wasn’t there but we did talk about the food hoarding in her left cheek. We’re going to bring some french toast to group on Tuesday so the occupational therapist can see if it’s just a game or an actual issue with tongue movement/chewing. When she meets her new teacher on Monday, I suspect Fern will say that Amaya no longer qualifies for weekly services. But it’s okay if that’s not the case!

There they are during the session checking out Robin’s Poke-a-Dot book. We now own 3 of them. 🙂

During nap on Monday, Megan and I spent time putting up this awesome alphabet in the nursery. I love how it looks!

Months and months ago, I bought some safety harnesses for the kids. It’s not comfortable to think about using them, but there are situations where it just might not be safe to go without them. Imagine walking down the street with 3 toddlers who are too young to know not to run in the street. If you only have 2 hands, you can’t possibly contain all 3. And if one child runs off, what do you do with the other 2 while you’re in pursuit? So we have them in the house and I decided it was a good day to try them out because Megan and I were heading to a local park.

In theory, they liked them just fine. In practice, it’s really, really difficult. First of all, if one person is holding all 3 harnesses, they get tangled in seconds. Second of all, see the picture above? When 2 kids go in different directions you’re stuck. And twice Sammy fell backwards because he went to move forward and couldn’t. We’ll keep trying. But if it doesn’t work, we can also make a decision to require the wagon or stroller in solo situations where it’s not safe for the kids to walk freely.

This is how we ended up walking into the park. Steven and Sammy in our arms and Amaya holding Megan’s hands.

They liked their little friends, though!

It was a gorgeous day in the park. Lots of fun for everyone!

When we got home, we wrapped up dinner with apples & honey for a sweet new year, a Rosh Hashanah tradition. It was the first time SSA had raw honey, outside of a recipe. They liked it. But it’s a mess. A big, big MESS. So they’ll probably wait until next Rosh Hashanah to have it again. 🙂

Our schedule is busy this fall. On Tuesdays we go to our group with the Early Intervention program. We tried our first ball pit!

Wednesday was our first music class! The EI program on Tuesdays has a ton of teachers there so Megan is able to take Steven, Sammy and Amaya on her own. The music class doesn’t include that luxury so I hired a “nanny’s helper” to go to the classes with Megan. My luck, is that Megan’s helper is her younger sister! Perfect!

The class is in an indoor sports field near our house. It starts with about 20 minutes of free play, then 25 minutes of music and songs, ending with another 10 minutes of play time and a goodbye song. I’m really excited to see it for myself next week!

Today we had the great fun and pleasure of going to our friend Parker’s 2nd birthday party. It was at the Funtastic Party Center and it’s definitely Funtastic! Amaya is getting over a cold so I took the boys and Amaya stayed home with Jason for some Daddy time.

It’s so interesting to watch them play. Both boys were drawn to the balls. They know balls. They’re comfortable with balls. Once they understood they could climb, though, they were all for it. We need to practice our skills getting down!

It was a construction themed party, with pizza for lunch. I was amazed that Steven and Sammy just sat in their chairs and ate their pizza for a good half hour. Most of the other kids were done and they were still sitting there eating, eating, eating. I can’t get enough of these hats!

We brought home a hat for Amaya, too, which was perfect for Take 2 on our toddler slide. They’re definitely better with it than they were 2.5 months ago. Now Steven and Amaya can both climb up and slide down on their own. We just have to figure out where we’re keeping it because it does still require some supervision. Fun times in the Land of Cheltenham!

A few other fun adventures from the week.

Megan took the kids to the doctor this week to get Sammy’s cough checked out. (Croup. Allegedly.) There’s a fish tank in the waiting room and Megan sent me this text.

These are orchids that Steven got for me.

Sammy can take off his clothes.

Which may be a distraction so no one notices that Amaya is trying to climb out of her crib.

Dear Amaya – No, no, no, please DON’T! Bad things happen if you do. Things like TODDLER BEDS. Put that foot down, please. Give us a another year. Love, Your Mother

We are a house full of readers.

Now that’s it’s fall, we can collect leaves on our walks!

Cooking this morning, Steven, Sammy and Amaya wanted to cook potatoes, too.

Daddy holding court.

Rocking our fall jackets, courtesy of our big cousins Chase and Charlie.

One cute extra photo of Steven!

Sammy is waving hello. Allegedly. I think he’s really channeling his inner puppy.

Sad Sammy is Sad. He wants to play with our car keys desperately.

We got electric toothbrushes for Sammy because they are supposed to help with some sensory seeking behaviors. He won’t touch them while they’re on but Amaya can sit there with the toothbrush for a good 20 minutes.

Amaya, gearing up for winter.

My little girl is badass.

I will leave you with this photo of the Golden Girls. These ladies are all Gold with Grace.

Caroline, Hadley, Amaya, Charlotte, Zoe, Abby, Elizabeth and Grace.