Gavin's super power swim skills

Gavin has impressed even me by keeping up with the big kids as he learned his strokes. Today he passed the swim test at the YMCA with his crawl and was able to swim in the big pool and go down the slide. He was super excited about that. I'm pretty impressed, but not surprised. This boy has been swimming since birth. I'm pretty happy that his teacher was able to break him of the doggie paddle and get him to use his arms in the crawl and the back stroke. She also got him to kick the right way. He picked it up sooo fast! I told him he made me proud. He grabbed me and said, "Thank you Mama!" Is that my equivalent to the piano lesson story? Must be.

Tooth Fairy visits Marcano home

 Jessica was thrilled to loose her silver capped tooth.

 Lily lost one front tooth and then a week later, the other one followed. She still has the second tooth however because the tooth fairy wasn't able to find it hidden between her pillows.

Jessica's 11th Birthday Party!

 The wind took care of the candles. We tried again at home later during her much smaller sleep over after party.

5th grade Promotion for Jessica

What a busy end of the school year for Jessica. She bridged in girl scouts, performed in the dance recital, and then sang in her school 5th grade promotion program on the last day of school. Here are a few shots with her friends. I can't believe how quickly time has flown. She is growing up to be a beautiful young lady inside and out. I feel lucky to have her as a daughter.

Bridging

Jessica Bridges to a Cadet in Girl Scouts.

 
 

 Troop 1610

What started out as an automatic play date that I didn't have to plan has turned into a tradition for Jessica. This year will be her 3rd year in Girl Scouts and now I'm taking on a troop for Lily as well. What I do for my kids. . .

He qualifies

After months of trying to connect, Ammon finally got his ECI (Early Childhood Intervention) evaluation. In order to qualify for services, he had to be at least 25% delayed in one area or 33% delayed in speech. Well - he qualifies. He scored anywhere from 4 months to 10 months developed in all areas. Which means he is 3 to 9 months delayed. I was a little surprised, relieved and validated all at once.
Mostly I was grateful to know that I'm not just seeing things. I was also grateful for the tips of what I could do to help him right now. He will also have an Occupational Therapist working with him once a week.
So as part of his plan, he is to climb the stairs at least once a day, practice picking up little cheerio sized cereal or puffs with his finger and thumb to practice his fine motor skills, and we get to play imitative games with him. I got a little mini muffin tin for him to have to reach into to force the pincher grasp. I get to sit with him so he doesn't just toss the tin on the floor. 
So far he has done marvelous at climbing the stairs. I can see that it's helped to get him to crawl on all fours a little more, but he is still a fan of army crawling on his stomach. He has gotten way better at his pincher grasp as well. But the imitative is coming SLOWLY. The only thing he has copied me on is spitting or blowing raspberries - call it what you will. All the songs in the world haven't convinced him yet to do those actions. We'll see. . .
Meanwhile, he is still a very happy little guy who is loving his new found pull up and cruise skill. He is standing in the crib now. I already moved the mattress down - but I may have to see if it will go down a little more.

Ammon pulls himself up and cruises for the first time! @ 13 months