One day...I hope to fulfill my hopes of blogging regularly. One day... :)
I'll start with another "Rex milestone." Since he started walking, our next challenge to tackle was standing up on his own. He's been able to pull up for awhile but it took him awhile to generalize it. For example, he could pull up on a toy basket that I had weighted down with books and could pull up on the couch with no problem. He was struggling with pulling up on other things, though, and also struggled with standing up without pulling up on something. It's been a definite work in progress that we started months ago. He started pulling up on random things much better about a month or 2 ago but the free standing has been more of a challenge. We started with teaching him to lean forward and put his hands down on the floor. Over the last few months, we've guided him to position himself to hold his upper body up with his arms then bend his legs to stand up. Again, because he never crawled, this motion and position did not come naturally to him. For a long time, he would rock his body forward like he wanted to get into the position but didn't quite make it all the way. About 2 weeks ago, he got to the point where if we helped him get on his hands, he was able to stand up from there. BIG accomplishment! We were so proud with just that! Last Friday, June 1, we were hanging at Cody and Ashley's having a little girls night in. Rex was completely restless and was being mr. busy body, as usual. He ended up on the ground and FINALLY stood up completely on his own!!! SOOO exciting! During the following week, he still struggled with it quite a bit but this last weekend, he really got it down! He's standing up with no problem now! In fact, sometimes he sits down again on purpose so that we can clap for him again! haha! Sometimes his little shoes get in the way of his flow but he's working on it!
It's so interesting to me to see how he does things exactly the way that we've taught him through physical therapy. He did the same thing when he learned the motions for pulling up and sitting up on his own from laying down. It really is amazing how the brain works. Our next challenge is to get him to step up and down on steps. He thinks he can't take them but, of course, he really can. For example, when the transition happens between the patio and the grass, he stops on whichever side he's on and waits for us to grab his hand to cross over to the other side. I typically put my hand out just enough to where he reaches for it and takes the step on his own. He does pretty well with it but sometimes he's hard headed. Catching himself better with his arms when he falls is also another big obstacle we're working on.
I'm loving the fact that his little personality is starting to show. If there's one thing I know for sure, it's that he is such a loving, sweet hearted child. He loves giving hugs to his friends! Rex and Scarlet have gotten to see each other a lot more here lately because she is going to Ms. Anna's a couple of days a week. As soon as Rex sees her, he goes straight to her and gives her hugs and pats her! Our hearts just melt!! It's so so sweet to see the bond they have! It took awhile, I think because she was walking so much sooner than Rex. But now that he's keeping up with her, they play SO well together. Needless to say, Ashley and I are just smitten! :) Our plan to make Rex and Scarlet husband and wife is playing out just as we planned! haha! Just kidding :) We know they will probably be just the best of friends and that's perfectly fine with us.
Rex loves to take clothes out of the dresser drawers. When he takes them out, he does it with such determination! He grabs the item and throws it on the floor! Seeing him attempt to put clothes back is quite amusing too!
Awhile back, he started scratching us when he becomes upset. For example, if we tell him "No!" or take something away from him, he scratches your arm. No matter how firm of a voice I would get, little stinker was persistent and would keep doing it and laugh at me on top of it! Daddy decided it was time for a little swat on the caboose so my little stinky got his first little spanking a few weeks ago. I know there is much controversy on "corporal" punishment but I have to say that since we started doing that, he has not been doing it as much and it is obvious he is thinking about it before he does it. Sometimes he will do one finger instead of the whole hand. Sometimes he will lift his hand to scratch then take it back. There was even a time when he was about to scratch me but I caught him and told him "No!" and he put his head on my shoulder and patted my back! Aside from that, we have a pretty well behaved, non-temperamental little toddler. Time will tell how long that will last! Last week when we were leaving my mom's, Rex wasn't ready to leave. Usually I say "Ok! Let's go bye bye!" and he'll start saying "bye-bye" and wave to go. This time he was NOT ready! When I went to get him, he actually growled at me! It was the funniest thing! I told my mom, he must know his name is also the name of a very large dinosaur! haha!
My newest niece Melania Grace Anzaldua was born last Monday, June 4. She's absolutely beautiful! She brings my niece/nephew count up to 20!!! Just one of the many blessings of coming from a mixed family! When Rex saw her, he immediately shook his head at her!
School is out for summer! Tomorrow summer school begins for 3 weeks. I'm crossing my fingers for a good experience! We'll see how it goes!
Let's see who got this far...I'm very hesitant to "say" this "out loud" because I'm sort of superstitious about it but I'm going to roll with it...Corey and I have decided we're ready to be serious about trying for little Robinson #2 :) I don't like to plan...I like for God to take the lead. That's what He's done with everything "big" in my life. NOTHING has gone as I planned but it has worked out the way He planned and the way it was supposed to be! So we're not necessarily "planning" but giving a little boost to God's plan and praying it will all play out just the way it's supposed to!
Monday, June 11, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
The role of a mother and a teacher
Over the last 2 months, I've really come face to face with the battle of being a Mommy and being a teacher. To be completely honest, before I proceed, I have to admit I feel guilty as a mother that I even have this debate in my head. I've been wanting to blog about it for awhile though because I'm willing to bet there are other teachers out here who experience the same thing.
When you are a mother and a teacher, you play two very important roles for children. Teachers who are mothers have two sets of "kids."
First and foremost, I am a mother to the most precious little boy who I love more than I could have ever imagined. There are no words for the joy I feel when I chase him around the house and he's cracking up, or when he learns new things, or pats momma on the back when he hugs me or when he says "Bye-bye" when I hang up the phone in the sweetest soft voice. I LOVE being a MOM and I especially love it when I see how much my baby loves his Momma. Being a mom is truly a blessing that I will be forever thankful to God for.
On the other hand, I am a teacher to my other set of kids. When you are a teacher (especially a female teacher), I think there is a sense of motherhood that comes along with it. I know this is not the case for all teachers but it definitely is for me. I feel a lot of the same emotions with my students that I do with my own child: Pride when they do something great, disappointment when they let me down, excitement when they accomplish something, etc. I am blessed that I can honestly say I LOOOOOVE my job! And I love my kids! Well...most of em! 92 kids is a lot to love...you can't love em all! haha! Just kidding...even the ones who drive me the craziest usually have at least a little something I enjoy about them. I've always known that I wanted to be a teacher and but I never in a million years thought I would be a 7th grade science teacher, much less did I ever think I would enjoy being a 7th grade science teacher as much as I do. While my job can be mentally draining and stressful and my kids can drive me insane, I can honestly say there's always a handful of kids who manage to put a smile on my face even on the toughest days. I've said to some of my co-workers before that I think you have to be of a special breed of teachers to work with crazy hormonal junior high kids!
While I've always known I wanted to be a mother and I wanted to be a teacher, I did not foresee the mental and emotional tug between the two. I hate that I don't get to spend as much time with Rex as I would like to. I wish I could make the money I do (not that it's so much!) and be able to spend more time with him. At the same time, I genuinely love being a teacher and because I work with kids, I think there is more of an emotional attachment to my job.The last two months have literally been non-stop! Between March 5 and now, we've had cheer try-outs, spring break, two rounds of STAAR testing, 8 weeks of Cinco de Mayo practice and finally our big show we had today (Which was great, by the way!)During this crazy busy time, Rex unfortunately has gotten sick a couple of times. When Rex gets sick, there's a multitude of thoughts running through my head: As a mom, OF COURSE not only do I want to stay home but I NEED to stay home with my baby and take care of him. I am his mom, he doesn't feel well, he's clingy, he NEEDS his momma. But I'm also feeling the need to go to work. So then the teacher thoughts start running: Will my kids be on their best behavior if I stay home? How far back is this going to set me with curriculum? Oh gosh, I need to be there to help so-and-so with this assignment, etc, etc. Just like no one else can do your job as a mother exactly the way you would do it, no one else can do your job as a teacher exactly the way you would do it. The thing about being a teacher is that you are dealing with someone's child. That students you're dealing with are someone's world just like my child is my whole world. As a mom, I would want my child to have the best education possible with the best teachers who put their best effort in. While I have them for one year of my career, they have me the ONE year they will be in 7th grade. They don't get to say "Oh, I'll do that better or different next year" One really bad year for a kid can literally be a life altering thing for them (depending on the subject, of course). So as a teacher, I don't feel like it's OK to have a "bad year" because it's an injustice to the kids that had to deal with your "one bad year." For the record, I know missing a few days here and there doesn't automatically mean I I'm having a bad year and being a horrible teacher...but you get my point! Right? :)
Anyway, The debate is how to feel and what is "right" and what is "wrong." If I stay home, I'm feeling great as a mom but guilty as a teacher. If I go to work, I feel great as a teacher but horrible as a mom. I wonder so many things: Do other working moms feel this attachment to work? Is it just a teacher thing? Am I a workaholic? Am I a bad mom for feeling that attachment? Is there a happy balance between the two? On a more positive note I think...well...maybe it's a good thing as a teacher that I feel that way because it reminds me that I genuinely care about my kids and my job. Soooooo many thoughts!! It's crazy!
I know that my most important role is being Rex's MOM. He is number one! If he's ever super sick, without hesitation or question, of course I would stay home and put work in the back seat. It's the other not-so-serious sick times that I'm talking about :)
As I think about it more and more, I think what's hard is that I've always been a busy-body, crazy busy kind of girl, even as a kid. I was always involved in a variety of things in school and that has definitely carried into adulthood for me. I have a bad habit of wanting (key word is wanting, no one forces me into these things!) to be involved in too much sometimes because that's how I've been my whole life! I think because being busy and being involved in a bunch of things is so normal for me, it's kind of hard to turn that part of me off now that I'm a Mom because that's part of who I am. I need to work on finding the best balance between being the best mom and wife possible and still doing things that I as a person want to do and want to accomplish.
I can only pray that I make the right and best decision for all involved.
Sorry this was so long...had to get it out!
When you are a mother and a teacher, you play two very important roles for children. Teachers who are mothers have two sets of "kids."
First and foremost, I am a mother to the most precious little boy who I love more than I could have ever imagined. There are no words for the joy I feel when I chase him around the house and he's cracking up, or when he learns new things, or pats momma on the back when he hugs me or when he says "Bye-bye" when I hang up the phone in the sweetest soft voice. I LOVE being a MOM and I especially love it when I see how much my baby loves his Momma. Being a mom is truly a blessing that I will be forever thankful to God for.
On the other hand, I am a teacher to my other set of kids. When you are a teacher (especially a female teacher), I think there is a sense of motherhood that comes along with it. I know this is not the case for all teachers but it definitely is for me. I feel a lot of the same emotions with my students that I do with my own child: Pride when they do something great, disappointment when they let me down, excitement when they accomplish something, etc. I am blessed that I can honestly say I LOOOOOVE my job! And I love my kids! Well...most of em! 92 kids is a lot to love...you can't love em all! haha! Just kidding...even the ones who drive me the craziest usually have at least a little something I enjoy about them. I've always known that I wanted to be a teacher and but I never in a million years thought I would be a 7th grade science teacher, much less did I ever think I would enjoy being a 7th grade science teacher as much as I do. While my job can be mentally draining and stressful and my kids can drive me insane, I can honestly say there's always a handful of kids who manage to put a smile on my face even on the toughest days. I've said to some of my co-workers before that I think you have to be of a special breed of teachers to work with crazy hormonal junior high kids!
While I've always known I wanted to be a mother and I wanted to be a teacher, I did not foresee the mental and emotional tug between the two. I hate that I don't get to spend as much time with Rex as I would like to. I wish I could make the money I do (not that it's so much!) and be able to spend more time with him. At the same time, I genuinely love being a teacher and because I work with kids, I think there is more of an emotional attachment to my job.The last two months have literally been non-stop! Between March 5 and now, we've had cheer try-outs, spring break, two rounds of STAAR testing, 8 weeks of Cinco de Mayo practice and finally our big show we had today (Which was great, by the way!)During this crazy busy time, Rex unfortunately has gotten sick a couple of times. When Rex gets sick, there's a multitude of thoughts running through my head: As a mom, OF COURSE not only do I want to stay home but I NEED to stay home with my baby and take care of him. I am his mom, he doesn't feel well, he's clingy, he NEEDS his momma. But I'm also feeling the need to go to work. So then the teacher thoughts start running: Will my kids be on their best behavior if I stay home? How far back is this going to set me with curriculum? Oh gosh, I need to be there to help so-and-so with this assignment, etc, etc. Just like no one else can do your job as a mother exactly the way you would do it, no one else can do your job as a teacher exactly the way you would do it. The thing about being a teacher is that you are dealing with someone's child. That students you're dealing with are someone's world just like my child is my whole world. As a mom, I would want my child to have the best education possible with the best teachers who put their best effort in. While I have them for one year of my career, they have me the ONE year they will be in 7th grade. They don't get to say "Oh, I'll do that better or different next year" One really bad year for a kid can literally be a life altering thing for them (depending on the subject, of course). So as a teacher, I don't feel like it's OK to have a "bad year" because it's an injustice to the kids that had to deal with your "one bad year." For the record, I know missing a few days here and there doesn't automatically mean I I'm having a bad year and being a horrible teacher...but you get my point! Right? :)
Anyway, The debate is how to feel and what is "right" and what is "wrong." If I stay home, I'm feeling great as a mom but guilty as a teacher. If I go to work, I feel great as a teacher but horrible as a mom. I wonder so many things: Do other working moms feel this attachment to work? Is it just a teacher thing? Am I a workaholic? Am I a bad mom for feeling that attachment? Is there a happy balance between the two? On a more positive note I think...well...maybe it's a good thing as a teacher that I feel that way because it reminds me that I genuinely care about my kids and my job. Soooooo many thoughts!! It's crazy!
I know that my most important role is being Rex's MOM. He is number one! If he's ever super sick, without hesitation or question, of course I would stay home and put work in the back seat. It's the other not-so-serious sick times that I'm talking about :)
As I think about it more and more, I think what's hard is that I've always been a busy-body, crazy busy kind of girl, even as a kid. I was always involved in a variety of things in school and that has definitely carried into adulthood for me. I have a bad habit of wanting (key word is wanting, no one forces me into these things!) to be involved in too much sometimes because that's how I've been my whole life! I think because being busy and being involved in a bunch of things is so normal for me, it's kind of hard to turn that part of me off now that I'm a Mom because that's part of who I am. I need to work on finding the best balance between being the best mom and wife possible and still doing things that I as a person want to do and want to accomplish.
I can only pray that I make the right and best decision for all involved.
Sorry this was so long...had to get it out!
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
He's a CHAMPION!
REX IS WALKING!!!!!! My baby is walking!! Over the last week, Rex has turned a huge leaf! It's been a very busy week too. Without getting into detail, our cousins Elia, Alejandra and Aile moved to Houston over Easter weekend. Aile is 4 months older than Rex and they have always had this bond anytime we would get them together. Since they're staying with us, obviously Rex and Aile have been spending a lot more time together. I don't think it is coincidence at all that Rex really started moving this week with Aile being here.
Last Saturday, April 7 (the day before Easter), Corey and I took Rex to the park. We sat a good 15 yards away from each other on the playground and Rex walked between us perfectly! We knew then, for sure, that he was able to do it, he just needed the confidence to do it. Awhile back, Rex had gotten to the point that he would walk a good distance in the house if we would stand up and back up to make him go further. At that point, we thought it was just a matter of time til he started really walking on his own. We hit a roadblock when he fell one day at Corey's moms when Corey stepped back like that. Ever since that day, he would not move if we were standing up. We could stand and tell him to come, and he wouldn't. We could squat and tell him to come, and he wouldn't. As soon as we sat, he would come without hesitation!! Little stinker had gotten too smart and figured out our tricks! So that Saturday at the park, when he was going that far, we put him to the test. As he was on his way towards me from Corey, I stood up and he literally stopped in his tracks and sat down as soon as I was up! We got the biggest kick out of it but to be completely honest, it was also frustrating because we KNEW he was able to do it. He was just afraid. Elia, Alejandra and Aile got here Sunday and Rex has seen Aile, who has been walking around everywhere for awhile, everyday since. I noticed about Wednesday that he was starting to cruise a lot more around my mom's house. He was holding on to the walls and door frames to get around rather than only holding on to furniture and going back and forth between them. That is when I posted on Facebook that I could finally "officially" say that Rex was walking but still needed some work. He continued doing this over the weekend.
This last Sunday, April 15 was a rainy day here in Houston. Elia, Ale, Aile, Rex and I went to church that morning then ate breakfast at my mom's. At this point, Rex was still just cruising. I was feeling lazy when we got back home so I laid down to take a nap. By the time I woke up, we noticed that Rex was walking around without holding on to anything!! So literally from one hour to the next, he went from cruising but having to hold on to things to completely walking on his own! AMAZING!! We were so so so excited!! I really really think Rex seeing Aile gave him that extra push to walk. I'm so glad he finally got that confidence he needed. I think one of the most difficult things to deal with through all of this was knowing that he was able to do it, he was just afraid. We couldn't do much to "fix" that besides encourage him and praise him as much as possible.
We still have things to work on. Since Rex never crawled, he doesn't use his arms very well. When he falls, he doesn't use his arms to catch his fall and goes belly first or head first instead. Needless to say, when he falls, we typically have a mild meltdown so we definitely still need to work on teaching him to use his arms. Pulling up is still a challenge as well. He pulls up great on anything he can grip with his hands and fingers. For example, he pulls up great on our couch that has a thick thread on the edge and pulls up great on the edge of the bed where he can grasp the sides of it. He also has a toy basket that we weighted down so that he can pull up on that. He still struggles with pulling up on anything else. Again, because he never crawled, he didn't get accustomed to getting on his knees to pull up so that's another missing step. We're also working on standing up freely without having to pull up on anything. I know with continued hard work, all of these things will come with time, just as his walking did. We are so so proud of everything he has accomplished already!
After posting the video showing Rex's walking progression, I was amazed at all of the words of encouragement and loved seeing how excited everyone was along with us! Rex is a very lucky little boy to have so much love all around him. We're beyond thankful for the words of praise and encouragement! It means a lot!
Not going to lie, I'm a little anxious for someone random to ask or say "Oh I bet he's walking all over the place!" Now I can say "Yes! He sure is!!" :)
Last Saturday, April 7 (the day before Easter), Corey and I took Rex to the park. We sat a good 15 yards away from each other on the playground and Rex walked between us perfectly! We knew then, for sure, that he was able to do it, he just needed the confidence to do it. Awhile back, Rex had gotten to the point that he would walk a good distance in the house if we would stand up and back up to make him go further. At that point, we thought it was just a matter of time til he started really walking on his own. We hit a roadblock when he fell one day at Corey's moms when Corey stepped back like that. Ever since that day, he would not move if we were standing up. We could stand and tell him to come, and he wouldn't. We could squat and tell him to come, and he wouldn't. As soon as we sat, he would come without hesitation!! Little stinker had gotten too smart and figured out our tricks! So that Saturday at the park, when he was going that far, we put him to the test. As he was on his way towards me from Corey, I stood up and he literally stopped in his tracks and sat down as soon as I was up! We got the biggest kick out of it but to be completely honest, it was also frustrating because we KNEW he was able to do it. He was just afraid. Elia, Alejandra and Aile got here Sunday and Rex has seen Aile, who has been walking around everywhere for awhile, everyday since. I noticed about Wednesday that he was starting to cruise a lot more around my mom's house. He was holding on to the walls and door frames to get around rather than only holding on to furniture and going back and forth between them. That is when I posted on Facebook that I could finally "officially" say that Rex was walking but still needed some work. He continued doing this over the weekend.
This last Sunday, April 15 was a rainy day here in Houston. Elia, Ale, Aile, Rex and I went to church that morning then ate breakfast at my mom's. At this point, Rex was still just cruising. I was feeling lazy when we got back home so I laid down to take a nap. By the time I woke up, we noticed that Rex was walking around without holding on to anything!! So literally from one hour to the next, he went from cruising but having to hold on to things to completely walking on his own! AMAZING!! We were so so so excited!! I really really think Rex seeing Aile gave him that extra push to walk. I'm so glad he finally got that confidence he needed. I think one of the most difficult things to deal with through all of this was knowing that he was able to do it, he was just afraid. We couldn't do much to "fix" that besides encourage him and praise him as much as possible.
We still have things to work on. Since Rex never crawled, he doesn't use his arms very well. When he falls, he doesn't use his arms to catch his fall and goes belly first or head first instead. Needless to say, when he falls, we typically have a mild meltdown so we definitely still need to work on teaching him to use his arms. Pulling up is still a challenge as well. He pulls up great on anything he can grip with his hands and fingers. For example, he pulls up great on our couch that has a thick thread on the edge and pulls up great on the edge of the bed where he can grasp the sides of it. He also has a toy basket that we weighted down so that he can pull up on that. He still struggles with pulling up on anything else. Again, because he never crawled, he didn't get accustomed to getting on his knees to pull up so that's another missing step. We're also working on standing up freely without having to pull up on anything. I know with continued hard work, all of these things will come with time, just as his walking did. We are so so proud of everything he has accomplished already!
After posting the video showing Rex's walking progression, I was amazed at all of the words of encouragement and loved seeing how excited everyone was along with us! Rex is a very lucky little boy to have so much love all around him. We're beyond thankful for the words of praise and encouragement! It means a lot!
Not going to lie, I'm a little anxious for someone random to ask or say "Oh I bet he's walking all over the place!" Now I can say "Yes! He sure is!!" :)
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Words of encouragement
So lots has gone on since my last post!
Lets start with Rex's therapy:
His biggest accomplishment to note is that he is now able to 100% sit up on his own! This was my main concern when I wanted to look into physical therapy and it was such a feeling of accomplishment for both him and us when he did it! It was very exciting! That happening made me feel even more so that we did the right thing with getting him physical therapy. He does it just the way his therapist taught him. He's also doing great with taking steps on his own. He cruises all around the living room with no problem. He pulls up great on his toy basket and is now pulling up on the couch with no problem. We're working more on generalizing pulling up, though. He has a hard time pulling up on anything other than those 2 pieces of furniture so that is our focus now. He also does great with walking from person to person but we're now going to work on boosting that confidence to go from objects that are further apart. If you're too far from him, he chickens out and sits. He's able to do quite a bit...he just needs that confidence. His walking is much more controlled now rather than flying forward on momentum without being able to slow down. He's still a booty scooter! I'm pretty sure he will never crawl as a way to get around, which is completely fine. To work on pulling up from sitting, we will have him reach for the object he is pulling up on to encourage the upward movement, then get him on his knees so that he can step up, one foot at a time, to standing. Getting on his knees is definitely his biggest challenge. He is not a fan of being on his knees at all!! I can tell he's getting the motions though. We just have to continue to encourage him!
Speaking of my booty scooter, Rex was in at baby crawling race at the Rockets game on March 2. We had an absolute blast!! From the get-go, Corey did not think Rex would even move for the race thinking he would be overcome with fear from the crowd and the noise. Our little man is quite the chicken when it comes to loud noises. He has never been a fan. So we got down to the service level where the court is and they had the mat laid out so that the babies could practice before actually going out on the court. Here is a picture:
Lets start with Rex's therapy:
His biggest accomplishment to note is that he is now able to 100% sit up on his own! This was my main concern when I wanted to look into physical therapy and it was such a feeling of accomplishment for both him and us when he did it! It was very exciting! That happening made me feel even more so that we did the right thing with getting him physical therapy. He does it just the way his therapist taught him. He's also doing great with taking steps on his own. He cruises all around the living room with no problem. He pulls up great on his toy basket and is now pulling up on the couch with no problem. We're working more on generalizing pulling up, though. He has a hard time pulling up on anything other than those 2 pieces of furniture so that is our focus now. He also does great with walking from person to person but we're now going to work on boosting that confidence to go from objects that are further apart. If you're too far from him, he chickens out and sits. He's able to do quite a bit...he just needs that confidence. His walking is much more controlled now rather than flying forward on momentum without being able to slow down. He's still a booty scooter! I'm pretty sure he will never crawl as a way to get around, which is completely fine. To work on pulling up from sitting, we will have him reach for the object he is pulling up on to encourage the upward movement, then get him on his knees so that he can step up, one foot at a time, to standing. Getting on his knees is definitely his biggest challenge. He is not a fan of being on his knees at all!! I can tell he's getting the motions though. We just have to continue to encourage him!
Speaking of my booty scooter, Rex was in at baby crawling race at the Rockets game on March 2. We had an absolute blast!! From the get-go, Corey did not think Rex would even move for the race thinking he would be overcome with fear from the crowd and the noise. Our little man is quite the chicken when it comes to loud noises. He has never been a fan. So we got down to the service level where the court is and they had the mat laid out so that the babies could practice before actually going out on the court. Here is a picture:
At first, Rex would not move! So we thought, well, Corey must've been right! Then he went about half way and there was a bump in the mat so he stopped at that bump. At that point we were thinking and hoping he would at least go half way so people would see him scoot and we knew the crowd would love that. We were totally ok with him doing just that. We were fine with anything, really! We were just excited to be there! There were two other babies: a little black girl, a little black boy, and a little asian girl. The Asian girl was going everywhere on the mat but straight! The two black babies were smoking him, especially the little girl! We just knew for sure she was going to win. We let Rex cruise on the mat with the other babies for the rest of the time it was out. He was starting to enjoy scooting on it and even shook his head "no" when we tried to pick him up! So our hopes were getting brighter! Then it was show time! I was ridiculously excited. Really, annoyingly excited if you ask Corey! haha! They took the mat out and the crowd starts cheering. They introduced all of the families (which I did not even hear, by the way! It all happened so fast!) I just remember them saying "On your mark, get set, Go!" I pulled out the secret cup I had in my pocket to try to get him to come to me. When Corey first set him down, he fussed a little but then saw the cup and started scooting away! The two little black babies completely froze and did not move at all!! They were waaaay too intrigued by the lights and noise in the crowd! So it was a race between Rex and the little Asian girl! It was a pretty close race but she ended up beating him! I can't remember who said this afterwards but they said Rex better get used to being beat by Asians on many aspects! haha! jk :) I didn't see what was being shown on the big screens at all but the lady in charge told us they zoomed in quite a bit on Rex because he was the only scooter!! Needless to say, Mommy and Daddy were VERY proud of Rex!! I cannot wait to see the video the Rockets is supposed to be sending us in a few days. I will post as soon as I get it! We had an absolute blast and it's something we will never forget!!
If you've made it this far, I really would appreciate any input you have on my next topic. I'm very seriously considering going back to school in the fall for a Masters degree in school counseling. I'm positive that that is the field that I want to pursue. I'm just very afraid to overload myself and more importantly, I'm afraid that achieving my goals of higher education will come at a high cost to my family in regards to losing time with them. I've always been the type to do 5 million things at one time. I've never been a calm person who had nothing going on, even as a kid. It has worked fine before but I also did not have a husband and baby before. While this is a personal goal of mine and something I am determined to do, I feel that it is also something that I am doing for my family because the end result will be a higher paying career which ultimately benefits my family. Is it a selfish thing to do, though? That is what I'm confused about. Ideally, I would have gotten my Masters degree before I had children. Obviously, that was not God's plan for me and I would not change it for the world. I plan to take it slow, in order to not overload myself and also to lessen the time spent away from my family. If it takes 5 years, it takes 5 years. I'm fortunate to have summers off to enable me to focus more on my studies at that time too. I'm blessed to have a husband who is encouraging me to go after it and I am even more blessed to have a mother who is willing to help me so much. Lord, what would I do without that woman? So I know that it can be done. I just have to work on not feeling so guilty about spending less time with my Corey and Rex. I know, though, that things are only going to get more difficult and more busy as time goes on which is another reason to push myself to just do it! I guess I just need words of encouragement...just like Rex does with walking! Interesting how we all need words of encouragement whether it be to continue taking those baby steps or taking those big education steps!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Baby steps, confidence and lessons learned
Eeeek! I'm kind of sucking at keeping up with this! But that's not anything new...
Rex is doing great with his PT. I'm definitely seeing improvement! I guess our biggest update is that he's pretty much walking! I picked him up from Ms. Anna's on Friday, February 3 and she showed me that she taught him to hold on to his shirt to make him think he's holding onto something. Since he felt that "security" he did great with taking multiple steps on his own! By that Sunday, he was going a good 6 feet or so by himself! Corey and I work with him together every night. On that note, I have to mention how much I love doing that together. Rex gets so excited walking between Mommy and Daddy and I just LOVE watching Rex and Corey together. Rex sure does love his Daddy! They have always had such an amazing bond, from day one. Typically when I lay Rex down for bed, he gives Daddy a kiss goodnight, I take him to his crib where he kisses Mommy goodnight, then when he lays down, I turn on the light-up mobile, cover him up and he goes to bed. Over the last week though, when he goes to give Daddy kisses, he doesn't want to come back with me, he wants to stay with Daddy. Absolutely melted our hearts!! It was so so sweet! So now it's a nightly thing for Rex and Daddy to hang together just before he goes to bed. That is definitely their snuggle time and I love watching it!
Back to walking...he's getting better and better! Now, he holds on to his shirt with his right hand and holds his left arm up in the air when he walks. There's a picture of me when I was a baby doing the same thing! I'm going to have to dig up the picture and take one of Rex to put side by side. He's also doing better with pulling up on his own. He does it great on a toy basket we have in the living room. I put a bunch of my old textbooks in there to weigh it down so that he's able to pull up on it. He's also getting braver with walking from the furniture to someone without holding on to something. And he's finally getting better about sitting down on his own. Most of what he struggles with is not that he's not able to do it but that he's been afraid to do it. Now that he's got those tubes in his ears and his balance and spatial awareness is getting better, I can definitely see his confidence growing.
Our next big challenge is going from laying down to sitting up. His Physical Therapist showed us this last week how to get him to do it. He struggles with it but I can see the progress he's making with that. As long as we're making progress, that's all I care about! She also taught us how to work with him on standing up from sitting down. That will probably take a bit longer. One thing that I've discovered is hard about this is that we're kind of having to take steps back because Rex skipped the transitions between the larger milestones, i.e transitioning from laying to sitting down and transitioning from sitting to standing up. Those are things I take a lot of blame for because if he fussed, I typically knew he wanted to change positions so I would do it for him. So all of you new momma's out there: don't cave into those poor little whimpers! Make em work for it!! Lesson learned for this mommy.
Everything else is great :) Can't believe we only have two more six-weeks left of school! Let the count down to Spring Break begin!! Ashley and I will be the Cheer sponsors at school next year and I'm really excited about it! We'll be getting everything rolling with that in the next few weeks so I have a busy couple of weeks up ahead.
Corey and I are stronger than ever! We marked 3 years of being together last Monday. I can't believe it's only been 3 years...seems like a lot longer, probably because we've done so much in those 3 years. Another lesson learned over the last month is this: fighting is sometimes one of the best things for a relationship...as long as you really listen to each other. Shocker! :) I've come to believe that when you fight, it presents opportunity to get to know each other better and work out those "kinks". I pray that Corey and I continue to grow and learn together through every happy moment as well as every not-so-happy moment. I'm very lucky to have him!
Lent starts this week...I hope to get better about going to church every week to give Thanks to Him for all we are blessed with. Not sure yet what I plan to give up...gotta think about that one!
Rex is doing great with his PT. I'm definitely seeing improvement! I guess our biggest update is that he's pretty much walking! I picked him up from Ms. Anna's on Friday, February 3 and she showed me that she taught him to hold on to his shirt to make him think he's holding onto something. Since he felt that "security" he did great with taking multiple steps on his own! By that Sunday, he was going a good 6 feet or so by himself! Corey and I work with him together every night. On that note, I have to mention how much I love doing that together. Rex gets so excited walking between Mommy and Daddy and I just LOVE watching Rex and Corey together. Rex sure does love his Daddy! They have always had such an amazing bond, from day one. Typically when I lay Rex down for bed, he gives Daddy a kiss goodnight, I take him to his crib where he kisses Mommy goodnight, then when he lays down, I turn on the light-up mobile, cover him up and he goes to bed. Over the last week though, when he goes to give Daddy kisses, he doesn't want to come back with me, he wants to stay with Daddy. Absolutely melted our hearts!! It was so so sweet! So now it's a nightly thing for Rex and Daddy to hang together just before he goes to bed. That is definitely their snuggle time and I love watching it!
Back to walking...he's getting better and better! Now, he holds on to his shirt with his right hand and holds his left arm up in the air when he walks. There's a picture of me when I was a baby doing the same thing! I'm going to have to dig up the picture and take one of Rex to put side by side. He's also doing better with pulling up on his own. He does it great on a toy basket we have in the living room. I put a bunch of my old textbooks in there to weigh it down so that he's able to pull up on it. He's also getting braver with walking from the furniture to someone without holding on to something. And he's finally getting better about sitting down on his own. Most of what he struggles with is not that he's not able to do it but that he's been afraid to do it. Now that he's got those tubes in his ears and his balance and spatial awareness is getting better, I can definitely see his confidence growing.
Our next big challenge is going from laying down to sitting up. His Physical Therapist showed us this last week how to get him to do it. He struggles with it but I can see the progress he's making with that. As long as we're making progress, that's all I care about! She also taught us how to work with him on standing up from sitting down. That will probably take a bit longer. One thing that I've discovered is hard about this is that we're kind of having to take steps back because Rex skipped the transitions between the larger milestones, i.e transitioning from laying to sitting down and transitioning from sitting to standing up. Those are things I take a lot of blame for because if he fussed, I typically knew he wanted to change positions so I would do it for him. So all of you new momma's out there: don't cave into those poor little whimpers! Make em work for it!! Lesson learned for this mommy.
Everything else is great :) Can't believe we only have two more six-weeks left of school! Let the count down to Spring Break begin!! Ashley and I will be the Cheer sponsors at school next year and I'm really excited about it! We'll be getting everything rolling with that in the next few weeks so I have a busy couple of weeks up ahead.
Corey and I are stronger than ever! We marked 3 years of being together last Monday. I can't believe it's only been 3 years...seems like a lot longer, probably because we've done so much in those 3 years. Another lesson learned over the last month is this: fighting is sometimes one of the best things for a relationship...as long as you really listen to each other. Shocker! :) I've come to believe that when you fight, it presents opportunity to get to know each other better and work out those "kinks". I pray that Corey and I continue to grow and learn together through every happy moment as well as every not-so-happy moment. I'm very lucky to have him!
Lent starts this week...I hope to get better about going to church every week to give Thanks to Him for all we are blessed with. Not sure yet what I plan to give up...gotta think about that one!
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Progress already!!
I'm a couple of days late in updating but I'm kind of glad I waited a few days...I have more to update!
Last Monday, Rex had tubes put in his ears. I am still amazed at how fast the procedure was! We went in at 8:00, they actually took him back around 8:50 and the doctor was out to let us know it all went well by 9:10! When he said it would be a 10-15 minute procedure, he wasn't kidding! (And boy, do they make a hell of a lot of money in those 10-15 minutes!) The toughest part was definitely when he was coming out of the anesthesia. He was just very out of it. Sort of drunk-like. We stayed in the recovery room until 9:45 then went home. Every time he burped, his little ears would pop and my poor baby would scream in pain because it hurt. We got home, snuggled and he fell asleep again after a bit. When he woke up a little before noon, he was completely back to normal! He never had any other side effects or anything. Easy peasy! We even went to Brandon and Ashley's that night for taco night!
Thursday he had his first therapy session here at our house. My mom picked him up early from Ms. Anna's to be here by 3:30 when the therapist (Angela) was coming. I ran out of work when the bell rang so I wouldn't miss too much of his first session. She gave us 3 things to focus on: 1) when we sit and read or play together, to have him sit on the edge of my knee with his knees at a 90 degree angle rather than leaning on me to build his balance better. 2) place him in the kneeling position while looking into his toy basket. 3) encourage him to round the corners on the coffee table by moving his foot over then lightly pushing his hip to shift the weight and move the other foot over.
It's only been 3 days since we started and he has already mastered the kneeling thing! The first time she put him in the position, he HATED it! Cried a river of tears breaking my moms heart! She's such a softie! After a couple of minutes though, he settled down though. When she showed us that, she mentioned that later we would build up to him picking one foot up then the other to stand up. By Saturday morning he was doing that on his own! Corey and I said "Wow!! These people really know what they're doing!" I so wish I would've learned some of these things earlier on. As soon as I position him on his knees, he's picking his foot up to stand up. YAY!! And no more crying! Hopefully as we do this more, he'll get better at getting onto his knees then to standing.
He balances pretty well when we sit him on the edge of a knee. I'll put the laptop out in front of him and play Elmo songs so he wants to sit there for a little bit and so that he doesn't have my arms to grab on to (as they would be if I were reading him a book). That will be a continued practice though to continue building his balance skills.
And I guess therapy on Thursday was just enough work to build his confidence to walk around the coffee table. Before therapy, he could go up and down the sides but did not like to round the corners. By Saturday night, he was going all around the table! There were even a couple of times he would go back and forth around the corner as if he was saying "see! I can do this!"
I've always known Rex is completely capable of doing all of the things he's not doing. He has the strength to do it. I believe whole heartedly that his balance has been the missing piece of the puzzle which was thrown off because of the fluid he had in his ears. He struggles most with the transitioning part of moving around. Once he gets to the position, he's good to go. It's just getting there! I have to admit, I feel responsible as well. I usually know what Rex wants to do (sit and play, stand up and walk, etc) and I would just get him to that position myself. So in his mind, he was probably saying "If momma's going to do it, I don't have to!" If there's anything I've figured out for sure, it's that he's a smart little boy so I'm sure it didn't take him long to figure that out! He's catching on to the new things quickly though so I'm feeling very optimistic about this whole process!
Like I said before, I know in a few short months, we'll look back on this as a little bump in the road. My baby's just taking his time and needs a boost!
I heard this on Modern Family the other day: What's the difference between try and triumph? A little "umph!" We're getting that extra umph!!
Last Monday, Rex had tubes put in his ears. I am still amazed at how fast the procedure was! We went in at 8:00, they actually took him back around 8:50 and the doctor was out to let us know it all went well by 9:10! When he said it would be a 10-15 minute procedure, he wasn't kidding! (And boy, do they make a hell of a lot of money in those 10-15 minutes!) The toughest part was definitely when he was coming out of the anesthesia. He was just very out of it. Sort of drunk-like. We stayed in the recovery room until 9:45 then went home. Every time he burped, his little ears would pop and my poor baby would scream in pain because it hurt. We got home, snuggled and he fell asleep again after a bit. When he woke up a little before noon, he was completely back to normal! He never had any other side effects or anything. Easy peasy! We even went to Brandon and Ashley's that night for taco night!
Thursday he had his first therapy session here at our house. My mom picked him up early from Ms. Anna's to be here by 3:30 when the therapist (Angela) was coming. I ran out of work when the bell rang so I wouldn't miss too much of his first session. She gave us 3 things to focus on: 1) when we sit and read or play together, to have him sit on the edge of my knee with his knees at a 90 degree angle rather than leaning on me to build his balance better. 2) place him in the kneeling position while looking into his toy basket. 3) encourage him to round the corners on the coffee table by moving his foot over then lightly pushing his hip to shift the weight and move the other foot over.
It's only been 3 days since we started and he has already mastered the kneeling thing! The first time she put him in the position, he HATED it! Cried a river of tears breaking my moms heart! She's such a softie! After a couple of minutes though, he settled down though. When she showed us that, she mentioned that later we would build up to him picking one foot up then the other to stand up. By Saturday morning he was doing that on his own! Corey and I said "Wow!! These people really know what they're doing!" I so wish I would've learned some of these things earlier on. As soon as I position him on his knees, he's picking his foot up to stand up. YAY!! And no more crying! Hopefully as we do this more, he'll get better at getting onto his knees then to standing.
He balances pretty well when we sit him on the edge of a knee. I'll put the laptop out in front of him and play Elmo songs so he wants to sit there for a little bit and so that he doesn't have my arms to grab on to (as they would be if I were reading him a book). That will be a continued practice though to continue building his balance skills.
And I guess therapy on Thursday was just enough work to build his confidence to walk around the coffee table. Before therapy, he could go up and down the sides but did not like to round the corners. By Saturday night, he was going all around the table! There were even a couple of times he would go back and forth around the corner as if he was saying "see! I can do this!"
I've always known Rex is completely capable of doing all of the things he's not doing. He has the strength to do it. I believe whole heartedly that his balance has been the missing piece of the puzzle which was thrown off because of the fluid he had in his ears. He struggles most with the transitioning part of moving around. Once he gets to the position, he's good to go. It's just getting there! I have to admit, I feel responsible as well. I usually know what Rex wants to do (sit and play, stand up and walk, etc) and I would just get him to that position myself. So in his mind, he was probably saying "If momma's going to do it, I don't have to!" If there's anything I've figured out for sure, it's that he's a smart little boy so I'm sure it didn't take him long to figure that out! He's catching on to the new things quickly though so I'm feeling very optimistic about this whole process!
Like I said before, I know in a few short months, we'll look back on this as a little bump in the road. My baby's just taking his time and needs a boost!
I heard this on Modern Family the other day: What's the difference between try and triumph? A little "umph!" We're getting that extra umph!!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The link between ears and gross motor development
I'm not very good at getting-to-the-point in a story. Corey always teases me because I never leave out an unnecessary detail that leads to the point of a story! But I will try to get-to-the-point:
Rex has a gross motor development delay.
I remember when I was getting ready to be home last summer, I was excited because I would get to be home when Rex would start crawling so I wouldn't miss it. He didn't start sitting up well on his own til around 7 months (July 2010). Then the end of July came, no crawling... no biggie...he was only 7 months. Then August rolled around...still no crawling...and it was time for me to go back to work. In the mean time, everyone is asking/saying "Oh! I bet he's crawling all over the place!" I would get a little sad every time someone would ask me if he was crawling yet because I had to say "Nope, not yet." But! I also completely understand because I would probably ask the same thing, even now. I went back to work and he still wasn't crawling. September rolled around and so did October. Still no crawling. At one point for a little while, he would scoot backwards on his belly. But still no crawling and no pulling up. Then I realized that he also wasn't pulling up and was not able to go from laying down to sitting up. There were times he would get on his knees from his belly but he never lifted his head up at the same time he was on his knees. Obviously, I began to worry. I didn't know if I was being an over-worried mommy or if something could really be wrong. I would mention it to his doctor when we would go in and he insisted Rex was fine and that I needed to sort of push him more to do things on his own. I kept giving myself (and Rex, I guess) new "goal dates..." I would think "By Halloween he'll be crawling!" That didn't happen so then I would shoot for Thanksgiving. That didn't happen so I just "knew" he would be all over the place by his birthday. But still, no crawling, no pulling up and no sitting from laying down. I was worried before but now, I was really worried.
In the mean time, Rex kept getting ear infections, which I know is very typical in little ones. His pedi referred us to an ENT who we went to see in December, just before his birthday. He decided it was best for him to get tubes because his hearing was beginning to be effected and there was fluid in his ears. We set the surgery for January 23. Over the month of December, Rex got more mobile...Rex style! He army crawls when he's on his belly and scoots on his butt when he's sitting down. Still no crawling, no pulling up on his own and not moving from laying to sitting. At Rex's one year check up, I mentioned everything that I was observing. What caught Dr. Azim's attention was the fact that he did not go from laying to sitting, so he referred us to ECI (Early Childhood Intervention Services). Finally! Some answers! I was so anxious to get them out here to assess Rex to see just what was going on. ECI is one of those things that you don't want to encounter but when you need them, you're so happy they're there!
Three ladies came to the house yesterday to evaluate Rex. They did a series of assessments that I am so interested in, by the way, because early childhood special education was my primary focus in college. The watched him do all kinds of things and asked me lots of questions. Just as I thought, they confirmed my concern that there is in fact a gross development delay. They also confirmed my thoughts that in every other area, he's doing great! In fact, he is above his age level in most areas. Woohoo! Go Rex! It's just that gross motor development that he's having a hard time with. So, starting next week, he will be working with a physical therapist here at the house so we can work on getting him "up-to-par." At this point, he has a 33% delay meaning he is at about an 8 month level in gross motor development. I asked the occupational therapist what her thoughts were as to why he had a delay. She was aware of his constant ear infections and she attributed a lot of it to the fact that there's fluid in his ears. She explained that there are receptors in your ears that make you aware of your surroundings and motions. It seems like those receptors are being impaired by the infections and fluids which could be a big part of Rex's delay.
Bottom line: I'm writing all of this because I don't want to forget it. I really want to document his progress so that I can look back on it to see how far we go and the amount of time it took. I know that within a few months, we probably will not even notice he had a "delay." I'm trying not to set anymore "goal-dates." As a mom, it's hard not to be hard on myself about it. I'm sure I'm not the only mom (especially new mom) who takes blame anytime anything is "wrong" with their baby. I would start to wonder what I did wrong? What could I have done better or different? It's been especially hard for me because of the fact that I've worked around and been around kids so much that I know what he should and should not be doing. I'm anxious to see how things change after he gets the tubes in on Monday.
I will keep updating with his progress-for myself and for anyone who's interested in reading! I can't wait to see how this goes! Like I said before, ECI is one of those things you don't necessarily want but you sure love when you need them and they're there!
Stay Tuned for updates!
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