Reenlistment, the Fourth of July, and a Time-Warp

Back at the beginning of July, Brandon signed on for another 6 years with the US Navy, which is a pretty big deal.  Since they're drawing down the military, they're being really choosy about the people that they allow to reenlist.  The fact that they not only re-upped his contract, but that they signed him for another 6 years (the maximum, by the way), really speaks to how awesome he is.  I, for one, really just could not be any more proud of him for doing what he does, and for doing it so incredibly well.

The girls and I drove out to the command for the little reenlistment ceremony.  It was very quick--the drive down there took longer than the ceremony did.  But not only was it a major thing for his career, but it's a big deal for our family.  On the one hand, the Navy kind of owns us for another 6 years.  We'll be moving soon, because he's up for new orders, and he'll be going back to a boat for the first time in 6 years, for the first time since we had children.  It's inevitable that he's going to have to go out to sea, and I'd be lying if I tried to tell you that I'm not terrified of being left alone.  But, to balance that, the Navy has been very, very good to us and it's reassuring to know that we are going to have a steady income and health care for the next 6 years.  So yes, it was good to be there, to witness this commitment being made, and to show our support.

They also gave me an award, which I was definitely not expecting.  It 's an achievement award,  recognizing and thanking me for my support as the one standing behind Brandon and his work in the Navy.  I was pleasantly surprised, though I also felt a little put on the spot...there were actually a lot of people there, and I'd met only a handful of them a handful of times.  Still, I thought it was pretty cool.  :)

So, that was July third.  I thought it was an appropriate way to celebrate the Fourth, especially since we didn't actually do any celebrating on the Fourth.  Saturday we went out to Virginia Beach for some Fourth of July family fun.  We tried out one of the local seafood places for dinner, then headed on over to the strip to have some old time photos done.  This was not done on a whim.  I've actually been planning that very photo session, at that very location, for a year or two.  You see, Brandon was stationed here back in 2003 for his C-school training, and he flew me up to see him a couple of times.  One of those times was over the July 4th holiday weekend, and while wandering around in Virginia Beach, we had some old time photos done then.  So how could we not go back and do it again, exactly 10 years later?  I couldn't resist, and even Brandon said that it pretty much had to be done.
 I didn't want to take the original photos with us, since we have only the one copy, so we snapped a picture of it with Brandon's phone, to show it to the people at the studio.  Of course they were all over it, and perfectly happy to help us try to recreate the original:

How awesome is that?  10 years, 3 duty stations, and 2 kids later, and neither of has changed much at all.  How's that for a time warp?  Here's the rest of the shoot (because of course I had to have the CD with all the digital images on it...) :

The girls LOVED getting all dressed up, and playing with the props.  Heck, so did I, for that matter.

Elora looks unhappy in the first one, because the photographer had handed her a gun, and told her to hold it up for the picture.  "But, guns are dangerous!"  And she continued to look worried until he took away the gun, and handed her the fan.  She was much more comfortable with the fan.  Kaylie, on the other hand, was in 100% dress-up-loving-toddler heaven.

We got done with the photos just before 10, when the fireworks were supposed to start, so we just headed across the street to the beach walk. We waited patiently there by the beach, but I couldn't help noticing that there wasn't anyone else standing around, looking expectantly at the sky out over the water.  Sure enough, there were no fireworks that night.  As it turns out, I'd misread the schedule.  They weren't Saturday night at 10, but Sunday night at 10.  Oops.  Thank goodness for smartphones!  Since Brandon was able to double check the schedule, we didn't wait around too long, but got the girls loaded up and headed home.  Poor Elora was heartbroken.  She'd been so excited to see the fire works!  We kept telling her that we'd go back the next night, that she would still get to see them, but she was so tired and so disappointed that she whimpered the whole way home.

We did go back, and she did get to see them.  Elora loved them.  This is the only picture I was able to get of her once they started, because she was so excited that she kept jumping up and down.  Apparently, holding still also meant that she had to stop grinning, but at least I got a picture!

Kaylie was not so impressed.  She didn't like the noise, but kept peeking through her fingers to watch them anyway.  She spent part of the show in the stroller, and part of it with Brandon.

I hope everyone had a happy Fourth of July!

June.

A photographic sampler of the month of June.

June 1: Water Play

June 2: Chuck'E'Cheese

or, More On Potty Training  Reinforcement

Elora, while fully capable of using the potty, has consistently shown a lack of enthusiasm for doing so.  Why gt up and go to the bathroom, when it doesn't seem to bother her in the least to have wet pants?  So, we've been trying to inspire the proper enthusiasm in her, both punishing her bad choices and rewarding her good ones.  This reward chart is actually something that I made for her back in January, but that I never blogged.

Note:  I made this exclusively for our own personal use.   I do not own the rights to any of these images.

These are the counters.  

I made 3 for Chuck E Cheese, 5 for the ice cream, and 7 for the movie.  I printed it all out at home, then took them to Office Depot to have them laminated.  I cut out all of the counters, and used Velcro in the squares on the chart and on the backs of the counters so that they could easily (and repeatedly) be moved around.  Then I hung it all on the wall right next to the potty, right at her eye level, with the card board sleeve from the movie hanging over it all so that she would be able to see that, too.

Based on advice I'd received and articles I'd read, I thought it might help to give her something to work toward, and for her to be able to see it and be reminded of it every time she went to the potty.  Initially, she was really, really excited about it, but she would never go more than a day or two without an accident.  Fast forward to June, and she FINALLY got her 3 days in a row!

June 6: At the Zoo (with Aunt Bekah)

We've been zoo-ing about once a month or so, since it got warm.  By this point, it had gotten hot, and knowing that they have these awesome water fountains just inside the zoo, we dressed the kids in their bathing suits.  We ended up getting there shortly before story time, though, so we did that first.

The kids could not wait to go play in the water, but when they got there, they were super shy about getting in it.  Elora, in particular, does not like to get water in her face, so she just kept backing into the fountains.  And of course, whatever Elora does, Kaylie must also do.

And then we learned that a baby giraffe had just been born that morning.  Have I ever mentioned that giraffes are Elora's favorite animals? These pictures aren't great, because they were taken through the glass and my camera kept wanting to focus on the fence rather than the giraffes (I forgot about manual focus), but isn't he sweet? Only about 7 hours old here, and already standing and walking around.  So, so cool.

June 14: Hopscotch

It was late in the day, either just before dinner or just after.  The girls and I had been inside all day--we hadn't even changed out of our PJ's.  It was a beautiful afternoon. not too hot, and Brandon decided it would be criminal if we didn't get at least a little fresh air.   We opened the garage door, set out the blue lawn chairs, and watched the girls play.

I didn't really take any pictures of their faces.  I was fascinated by the light, the nightgowns & boots, and the chalk lines.  Is it weird that I'm kind of in love with this picture?

June 28: Farmer's Market & A Speech Therapy Update

There's a farmer's market at the local park every Wednesday and Saturday during the summer, and Rebekah and I finally got around to taking the kids to check it out.  

We ended up eating half of our strawberries right there, they were so good!  We haven't made it back yet, but I'm thinking we really ought to.  

That afternoon, Kaylie had therapy.  We're still going twice a week, and Kaylie is making great progress!  She's added lots of new words to her vocabulary, and is signing for a lot of things as well.  Jennifer has moved from just trying to get Kaylie to repeat simple words to focusing on specific letter sounds and final consonants.  For example, Kaylie says "eee" for "eat", dropping the T and speaking only the beginning of the word.  We're trying to teach her to say the whole word.  At the end of each session, Jennifer always makes suggestions for what we can do with Kaylie at home, so that she continues to learn in between visits.

Elora always goes with us, and is always very good while we're there.  Jennifer either brings something special for Elora to play with, incorporates her into the lesson, or allows her to play one of the kid's games on her tablet.  Frankly, I think that might be Elora's favorite.

And that brings us to the end of June.  Next time, I'll try to bring us up to date in July.  :)

Speech Therapy for Kaylie

When we took the girls for their annual check-ups back in March, their doctor put in a referral for Kaylie to see a speech therapist.  The office we'd initially been referred to had a giant waiting list, so we had to jump through a few insurance hoops to get the referral changed and everything settled.  We finally got her in for an evaluation last Wednesday.  When she was done, Jennifer (the therapist) reaffirmed what I've been thinking right on along:  Kaylie is on par as far as social development and comprehension levels, but that she just isn't verbalizing the way she should be. By this point, she should have a pretty impressive vocabulary, and she should be using a  lot of simple, 2- and 3-word sentences.

Her first therapy session was Monday, her second was yesterday.  Each session is only 30 minutes, and the therapy itself is all guided play.  So far, Jennifer's had a hard time getting Kaylie to cooperate.  She has an array of books, toys, games, and flash cards that she uses to try to engage Kaylie and get her to articulate certain words or sounds.  She'll hold a toy that she knows that Kaylie wants, to try to get her to name the toy.  When Kaylie does it, she gets the toy.  Unfortunately for Jennifer, Kaylie has mostly just shrugged and gone after something else, so both sessions have just been Jennifer following Kaylie from one task to another, trying to engage her, and get her to play along.

  

One thing that does seem to be going well is that Jennifer is using sign language alongside the verbal language, and Kaylie is picking up on that very quickly.  More often than not, she responds not with words or sounds, but with hand gestures.   As we were leaving on Wednesday, Jennifer told us to really focus on learning and using the sign language in conjunction with the words.   Apparently, children tend to learn words  much faster when there is kinetic activity involved, maybe because it is stimulating more of the brain?  I am not sure of the science behind it, but it does seem to be working.  I've downloaded an American Sign Language app for my phone (the first one I've ever actually bought!) and she's picking them up just as fast as I can learn them!  I'm excited to see where this is going, I just cannot wait to be able to really communicate with my Kaylie girl!

The Rest of May!

Aaaaaaand, I'm behind again.  Consider this my official catch-up post.

We went to Applebee's for Mother's Day.  Their food isn't anything to get excited about, but their Blue Ribbon Brownie?  It's the whole reason we go there. So good.

I took the girls out for a stroll and a picnic lunch one day later that week.  That's right, we were rocking Lunchables that afternoon.  They make for a fun picnic food.

The following weekend, we went to Sydney's birthday party.  No petting zoo this year, but they did have another bouncy house.  (Seriously, you just can't go wrong with a bouncy house.)  This year's theme?  Hello Kitty.

And, that's it for May.  

Hang on.  We're into JUNE?  Oh man...

Fun at the Park!

Back toward the beginning of May, the girls and I met Rebekah and James at the park for a bit of fun.

For the most part, the kids each did their own thing.  

Kaylie tried a couple of times to keep up with her sister, but kept getting side tracked.

It didn't stop her from wanting to do whatever her sister was doing.  After seeing Elora walking around on the wood curb, she had to do it too.  She was a lot slower, but she kept at it, long after Elora had gotten bored with it and moved on.

At some point, Elora started playing with this little boy named Ethan. He spent the most of the afternoon following her around.  I found myself wondering if I was getting a glimpse into the future...

James did all of his playing with his mama.  Even though he's only a year younger than Kaylie, that one year makes a heck of a difference.  Elora was too busy playing with the bigger kids, and Kaylie started spurning him around the time that he started walking.  And though he is walking, he's still not super steady on his feet, and didn't need to be far from his mama anyway.

Poor guy.  He and Kaylie used to be best friends.  Now she wants nothing to do with him.  Here she is, sitting in his stroller, munching on a piece of cheese from his snack stash, she even stole some of his juice, and she wouldn't even look at him.

Granted, in this instance, he was more interested in the cheese than he was in her, but this is pretty typical of their interactions these days.  Thankfully, his mama was far more prepared for the day than Kaylie's, and she had plenty of snacks in the stash.  (Thanks again, Rebekah, for feeding my bottomless pit!  I should have known better than to bring only a single snack's worth.)

We stayed for a few hours, and scooted out of there with just enough time to pick up Brandon from the house, and get me to the optometrist in time for my appointment.  :)

The Girls' First Visit to the Dentist

I was a bit worried about taking the girls to the dentist for the first time.  Especially Kaylie.  Elora and I had talked about it before hand, and while she admitted to being a bit nervous, she was also excited.  I couldn't really talk it over with Kaylie, she's only two.  I didn't really expect her to let them do much, but I'd forgotten that Kaylie loves to do whatever her sister does and they both blew my expectations out of the water.

When we got to the office, they checked out the aquarium (they have an eel!) and sat down to wait.  I can't say that they waited patiently, And I did have to move Elora over so that I could sit between, them, but over all they were good.  When the hygienist came to call us back, I pleased to note that it was Tara, the same one who had cleaned my teeth the week before.

When we got into the exam room, Kaylie saw Elora up in the chair and climbed right up after her.  At first, I didn't think there would be room for them both, but she wedged her bottom in next to her sister', and looked  perfectly happy to be there.  Even better, Tara was totally cool with them sitting together.

They were so cute sitting in the chair together that people kept coming over to look at them and exclaim over how sweet they were.  By the time we left, I bet that every doctor and hygienist on the place had come to take a peek.  And of course, I was about to burst with motherly pride.  :)

Tara was great with the girls.  She started out by showing everything to them, and explaining what she would be doing before she did it. She continued to do that along each step of the way, and I know they liked it.  She was so thorough that Elora later complained that she didn't get to ask any questions, which I thought was adorable.

 Elora let Tara count her teeth, do a thorough cleaning and flossing, apply a fluoride varnish, and let the doctor do a complete exam.  HOLY COW.  Did I mention that I nearly exploded, I was so proud?

Kaylie did just as well.  When it was Elora's turn, she kept leaning over to see what they were doing, and then laying back to point into her own mouth.  She was clearly impatient for her turn!  And when it was her turn, she hardly paid any attention to Tara as she showed things to her.  She would just glace at whatever Tara was holding, and then open her mouth so Tara could get started.  She made it all the way though the counting and cleaning and flossing, and halfway through the exam, before the missed nap caught up to her and she lost patience.  I was so impressed!  YAY!

They'd both liked brushing their teeth before, but now they're almost obsessive about it.  And honestly, I couldn't be happier!  I don't have great teeth, and neither does Brandon.  Probably because we're both horrible about flossing.  I know, I know.  I need to do it.  And I do.  Sometimes.  But I have a mouth full of fillings (an an appointment for a crown) to prove that I don't do it often enough.  I want better for my girls.  Not that I'm criticizing my own mother.  She got me to the dentist for regular cleanings, taught me to brush and floss, and impressed upon me the importance of keeping my teeth clean and healthy.  It isn't her fault that I didn't listen, it's mine.  If the girls end up with a ton of fillings, I want know that I did all that I could to encourage them to develop healthy oral hygiene ( like my mom did) and I want them to feel comfortable going to the dentist. So far, I'd say we're doing great!

Now, if you live anywhere other than Norfolk or Chesapeake, Virginia, you can stop reading.  If you do live here, but you already have a dentist that you're completely happy with, you can stop reading.  But for anyone in my area who happens to be in the market for a dentist, this next bit is for you!!

 I would HIGHLY recommend Konikoff Dentristry.  I've been to the Volvo office twice for myself, and once with the girls, and I can't offer even a single complaint about the care we've received.   Everyone we've encountered has been friendly, helpful and knowledgeable.   When Dr. Konikoff told me that I would need a crown, a bite guard, and several fillings, he took the time to really show me why.  I couldn't argue with the x-rays, and I definitely couldn't argue with the detailed photographs that were clearly of my mouth.  And when I called on Thursday, April 25 to beg for an appointment for those fillings before my insurance rolled over on May first, their office staff bent over backwards to get me in---the very next day.  And when I peppered Dr Fields with questions about that crown, he and his assistant happily provided me with clear answers about differences between the different materials and costs.  And I've already said how great Tara was with the kids.  Seriously, they are amazing, and if you happen to be looking for a dentist, this is the place to go!