Beach and Speech

Brennan just enjoyed a very much deserved beach vacation with the McCool clan - Kiawah Island 2009!

Running in the water - fun times!

Mommy and B enjoying the sunrise - mommy is having her baby very soon - about 1 month to go!

Brennan chasing Baz and Quinn in one of the warm sandbars that the high tide leftover every day - so fun!

in his new helmet - taking a ride with daddy. You can never be too safe!

Digging with daddy in the sand - this sandbox is much better than the one we have at home!

Is it time to get our own big wheels? It appears so!

Sand exploration - feels good!

Water time fun!

B loved the warm water the high tide left!

Spaghetti night! We did this last year too, but no pic to compare - darn.

Click here to see pics from last year's Kiawah trip!

And my sister in law also posted some vacation pics on her blog! Her little man Cooper is just precious. He and Brennan are just 1 year apart, so it was like looking in history to last year!


Switching gears here......

This morning we had B evaluated for speech by a Speech Pathologist and Occupational Therapist. Going in to the evaluation, I was feeling like he would not qualify. Yesterday I wrote down all of his words and came up with over 50 - that is quite the improvement over the past 2 months when he didn't even have 10! And I also started reading a book called, the Late Talker, which I returned - Brennan was above and beyond all of the marks. You know how mother's instinct really can tell the truth? Anyway, we had him evaluated anyway - they want us to work on a few things and gave us some tips such as:

• Have him choose between name - meaning, when I ask him if he wants something say, "Does Mommy want a cookie or does Brennan want a cookie" and encourage him to say "Brennan Cookie" instead of just Yes or Cookie.
• Continue to prompt for 2 words (they would like him to increase his 2-3 word phrases in the next 2 months - totally doable!)
• Encourage him to identify himself as Brennan and Me - so sing a little song like, "I see Brennan, I see Brennan, Me Me Me, Me Me Me" (think "Are you Sleeping")
• Leave words out of songs/books - such as Brown Bear Brown _____, what do you see
• Encourage him to take back bites and alternate sides - so having him take a bite on the left and right - helps with tongue development
• Use a vibrating toothbrush to stimulate his gums and encourage him to use his tongue in a side to side motion rather than just thrusting forward
• Encourage him to lick his lips (amazing how something like that affects speech!)

So I think we are in a good place. They encouraged me to call back at 23 1/2 months if he does not increase his 2-3 word phrases - something about how the rules change at 24 months for various things. Will do!

A G Man

So as you will read on my other blog - we made the move from disposables to G-Diapers this weekend - and were successful! Here are some pics of our little g baby. more of mom's thoughts/comments on her other site.

a g bum

I love naked/diaper dance party after bath time!

and here is a pic of me and paw paw from his last visit!

lil b-man with paw paw and gaga

Happy Mother's Day as well to all the mothers out there! We had a great morning - went to breakfast at mom's favorite joint - cafe patachou - then went to the park - and now I am napping and she is getting things done around the house (and blogging obviously!).

Words

So Brennan has quite a few new words since I last posted words, but our dr is going to refer him to First Steps and possibly get him started in Speech Therapy. I am feeling a little emotional about it, but i know it is a good thing.

Some of B's new words that I can think of off the top of my head:
Mommy - yes, yes yes - he is finally calling me Mommy (though sometimes likes to call me Daddy!)
Airplane (sounds like abpl or something strange)
Car
Ball
Shoe
Poopy (and how cute is this - so yesterday he was accidentally given an ice cream cone at day care, which is really not that big of a deal except for the gas and belly ache is gives Mr. B - but anyway, in the middle of the night his belly was hurting and he crawled up next to me in bed and exclaimed, "poopy". I just wanted to laugh, but felt bad for him!)

No two word sentences yet. Dr thinks that it doesn't hurt to start speech, even though he understands a lot and each week has more and more words.........

Recommended a book to me called, The Late Talker. Put it on reserve at the library.

My new sandbox

Pics from our fun weekend.

We went to Oliver Winery Saturday and I VERY MUCH enjoyed some of Jen's birthday cake. Cynthia said I just had to have lots of icing including a hot pink icing balloon!

the happy fam - and a puffy mommy

Heading down to see the fish

Check out my new sandbox that daddy built for me this weekend!

PJ built Brennan this great sandbox - much cheaper than purchasing a wooden one. Not including the rental of a chainsaw and the wood for the top, it cost us less than $50! Fun times!

Momma rant - okay, so while I love love love the age that Brennan is right now - so much discovery going on....at the same time it is so frustrating! My child who never cries seems to have a break down every 5 minutes, primarily when he is wanting something that he cannot have, or wants to do something unsafe (like climb EVERYTHING!). I try to give him alternative activities, have him say "Goodbye" to whatever we are doing when it is time to be done, etc... but it never fails. I think he had about 25 breakdowns today, granted they last for maybe 1 minute while we move on and do other things, but it is just frustrating none the less. I am sure it has to do with a lack of communication for little B and just the desire to do what he wants, regardless of if it is a good idea!

Cute happening - we are working on animal noises right now, and I love love love when B meows like a cat and barks like a dog. It is so funny! He is really into mimicking everything anyone says (so watch what you say around him!) and tonight I got him to say Excuse Me, which came out more like Qs me....though not quite as clear....

Visit with Mema and Grandpa Rick

This weekend Mema and Grandpa Rick came to visit. We had a great time! Though Brennan stayed up WAY too late Saturday night (I thought for sure he would fall asleep on the couch while we watched Marley and Me, but no such luck!).

Me and Mom (check out my new haircut!)

Much to her dismay, mom finally got Elmo to work!

See what dad bought me? Yay for slam dunks!

Bman and Grandpa Rick - we had so much fun!

Me and Mema - I was quite the wiggle worm!

Easter Weekend

B had a great Easter weekend! We decided to go down to see his grandparents in E-Ville, which was really fun! Dad couldn't make it b/c he had a guys weekend planned (which was totally fun for him!). But Gma and Gpa M were so excited to have B for the weekend. And to make it even more fun, Gma and Gpa H came over on saturday too. B loved hanging out with his counsins, though he wasn't much in to the hunting for Easter Eggs. Rather, he picked up eggs, immediately opened them, and ate all of the candy! Silly boy (but he knows what's good! Though his belly later did not agree!).

Below are some fun pics from this month and the weekend:

Wrestling with Max and Baz!

The grandkids - minus little Coop (and Quinn hadn't arrived yet)!

Finn, Max, Maddie, Ashley, Ian, Izze, B-man, BazQuinn and B-man acting silly (way past bedtime!)
B-man resting after the hunt
CANDY!
Wrestling with Grandpa Hunt
Chillin with Grandma Hunt - watching Elmo (tired boy)
Bath time fun!
At the park w/ mom
Quinn and B-man, still acting silly!

Doh Doh Doh

Brennan's newest word - Doh, rhymes with No.

Means "No".

It was a funny weekend with him running around the house yelling, "DOH DOH DOH" whenever we would ask him a question!