Joe's 32nd Birthday

Joe's birthday was on March 12th. We had a lot of fun. We went to Pojos and played all the games there. The kids had a blast. I think Joe did too. We were trying to think of something that he would enjoy, but that they could participate in too. After Pojos we went to Subway and got us sandwiches and the kids got Mcdonald's Cheeseburgers. Then the kids got to hang out at my Grandpa's house while I took Joe to get a massage at the student clinic in Boise. After his massage we went home, and I had to leave for Pack Meeting because I am over the Bears in cub scouts. They waited for me to get home and we had dinner and cake and ice cream. He then opened presents. The kids got to pick something for him from the dollar store so Emily chose the pills that dissolve in water and leave a sponge animal-Maddie chose a pull back race car- and JJ chose a crossword puzzle calendar. I got him some shoes. Overall it was a very fun, busy day. We love you Joe!

Steps

JJ is finally starting to take steps! A week before he turned 19 months he took about 5 steps total. Now that he is 19 months he hasn't taken any more than that, but we have confidence that he will be walking soon. We are hoping it all works out because we were told this week he can't have the Occupational Therapist come that has been coming because she is in District 3, and by moving to Meridian we are now in District 4. All his records will be moved to the new district but it might take a while. We are kind of wanting to phase him out of the program as long as he keeps progressing towards walking on his own. We were going to try to do an exit evaluation in Caldwell but they told us no-we have to have it taken care of in District 4.

Reading

Emily is starting to read! Her cousin Lucas came to town over Christmas and she couldn't believe he was already reading a lot of words. I honestly hadn't even thought about working with her on it at all. She decided that she thought that was cool. So ever since Christmas we have been sounding things out and she is getting really good at it. She also always wants to write words. In the past she has written a whole bunch of random letters and then asks me what she spelled. I always tell her it doesn't say anything, and today she was getting really frustrated with that. I finally told her to think of a word and then try to spell it. So she was having me tell her words, and she actually was able to sound them out and spell some. She did about 15 words total. She was so proud of herself. :)

Sparkles

Last night we were getting out of the van and Maddie looked up at the sky and said, "Look Mom, Sparkles" I told her that they weren't sparkles they were stars. She said, "No Mom, they are sparkles."