March 15, 2012

Life in the Morris household seems to get busier every day!  As the kids have gotten older and the weather has been wonderful outside, I have tried to get them out of the house a little more for some much needed fresh air and social interaction. 
Last weekend we took our first trip to Memphis to visit Ashley (well, technically 2nd trip since the last time I went, I was pregnant).  Travis had extra work to do at the Pallet Co, so mom went with me and the babies to Memphis.  We had a great time and I really enjoyed getting to catch up with Ashley and mom.  We took the kids to the park on Friday and went to the zoo on Saturday.  I loved playing with the kids at the park, watching them play on the slide and climbing up and down on the jungle gym (with me and mom close by!).  Brooks and Kate loved the swings, but Braden was terrified!.  He was so funny, with a look of pure horror in his sweet little face as he was holding on to the swing with a death grip.  The kids are still a little young to really know what was going on at the zoo, but they had fun just getting out and strolling around.  Although it was a lot of work to take the weekend trip, it was well worth it! 
Yesterday, I decided to take the kids to visit Papa at Adams Place.  He has been a little more lonely lately and I knew he would love the company.  He was eagerly waiting for us when we got there and immediately began showing the kiddos off.  We never actually made it to his room, but strolled the halls a bit and visited some of his friends while we were there.  It has become a little easier managing all 3 of them, now that they all can walk (Forgot to mention--Brooks is Walking!--He really began walking more a couple weeks ago and is walking more than he crawls now!)---that is until they decide to run away from me!
Kate has just discovered how funny it is to run away from momma--She wanted to walk the halls yesterday at the Adams Place and pranced around like she owned the place:) and the minute I would tell her to come to me--she would look at me, laugh, and go faster in the other direction....Kate has also become more independent with eating and often gets mad if I try to help her with her food.  I have recently said "when she is sweet, she is the sweetest baby you have ever seen; when she is mad--watch out".  We will have to get this temper in check soon! As far as development, Kate is doing great.  Her language skills are taking off and she is now saying a couple 2 word sentences (Byebye Dada, Night night dada).  Kate's other common words right now are ball, bath, Ma (Max), Papa, Momma, Dada, cracker, Hi, Byebye and teddy.  She loves books, bathtime, her teddy bear, and sucking her thumb.
Brooks has really made some progress in the past couple of weeks as well.  He is walking most places now and only sometimes crawls when he is tired.  His vocabulary is not quite as large as Kate's, but he is babbling A LOT more these days.  He says ball, Ma (Max),dada, momma, hi and bye bye.  He really seems to like getting into things these days (toy box, dresser drawers, kitchen cabinets,etc.) and loves riding his pony! He still prefers to have someone feed him and is not quite proficient yet with a fork/spoon. He also has begun showing us his temper with dramatic tantrums when he does not get his way.  He has always been a little on the dramatic side, so I fear what kind of embarassing public temper tantrums are in our future. 
Braden has made the most progress in recent days with his speech, primarily animal sounds:)  My favorite thing to do right now is ask him what a sheep says.  When you ask him, he replies with the most intense BAAA sound you have ever heard--it is great.  He can also make pig, duck, cow and dog sounds on request ---if he wants to.  He really likes playing in, around, under, over... our tall kitchen chairs.  He uses them as his own personal jungle gym, climbing all over/around them.
We will have our annual review with TEIS next week to assess goals and write new ones.  I am confident we have achieved all goals thus far and am unsure how much longer we will be able to receive the services.  I do not necessarily feel the kids need the intervention services at this time, however, am grateful the services are available.