Sorry I have been AFK...

I am going to break this into several posts since there is alot that has happened lately. I had planned on doing it individually as things happened but kept not getting to the computer. I had also hoped to have pics to load with the appropriate blog but haven't gotten them still so will post them when I get them.

so.. lets get started :P

Sadly say goodbye...

Since julian did turn three it is with sadness and profound thanks that we say goodbye to all those who have worked with julian since he was born and helped get him to where he is today. Our friends Jane, Jennifer, Patty and Yuuko from the Infant Development Program of SCOE who have done speech, OT and nutritional support, Music Therapist Rachel, Behaviorist Sarah from HOPE Consulting and our EHS teacher Corrine. It is going to be a hard adjustment with not having anyone coming out to the house each week. I know julian has always looked forward to his visitors and I know I have looked forward to both adult chat time and being with them all. They have been part of our lives for so long and I definitely am very glad to have worked with them. I think I will have to try and increase julian's school time at Action Day to m-f mornings now instead of just m,t,th mornings.

My friends.. you will definitely be missed!

Julian is now three..

Yep it is amazing and hard to believe but Julian has officially turned 3 years old. Ok so it was on the 20th of May, but as I have said I am a few blog posts behind :P His party went pretty well I think. We held it at the local park and made it a construction theme. We had party buckets instead of bags that had shovels, construction trucks, truck stickers, bubbles and a book. Each kid also got a sand dump truck with sand tools (parts of the truck) to play with (and keep) so noone would be without a toy and they all matched so noone could complain another's was better :P (yep I am learning :D) His cake had a dump truck on it and was pretty cool looking. One of the little girls from his school came, nina (julians best bud and my friend julianna's little girl), a boy from music therapy and mom's neighbor's little boy. The weather cooperated a little in that it at least waited on the 100+ degree temps till later in the afternoon (whew)

We then went home and had a little nap and headed back to my moms for swimming and presents time. He had fun. Mom found him a swim vest that keeps him upright completely but lets him learn to paddle and kick :) He thinks water is pretty darn cool! Now if only I wasn't so water shy *sigh* He got lots of neat gifts, two of which he is in total love with. An art easel and the ClickStart computer from LeapFrog. Oh.. and I can't forget the two new additions to his ever growing Thomas the Train track! My friend stacey in Australia sent him the engine wash and another friend of mine in San Franscico sent him the fire station. Talk about being in train heaven *lol* I will get pics of his party up soon. My sis has them but I haven't been able to grab the CD yet.

Dolphins don't really feel rubbery

A few weeks ago I went to Discovery Kingdom (Marineworld for those who remember years back.. ok WAY back :P) with some good friends of mine and thier little girl. The same little girl who is julian's best bud (and future wife lol they were promised at birth :P j/k .. sort of ;) ) was really confused why I was there without julian *grin* She kept asking me when I was bringing julian out :) When we got there we decided to go see the dolphin show. When they asked for volunteers from the audience I of course stuck my hand up and imagine the shock when it was ME who they picked, along with another guy. They brought us to a front area of the stands and then told us what we had volunteered for.. yep they never said WHAT it was for till after they suckered .. errr got you to volunteer :P What we had to do was sing karaoke a song (twinkle twinkle little star) then dance and be soaked by the dolphin in front of us. In exchange we'd get to pet or hold the dolphin *yay* Well worth the humiliation in my view, tho the guy next to me was really wanting to back out about now *lol* Well we got called into the dolphin area about halfway through and then was asked to sing (yikes) It was cute.. we both got cut short about 1 line into the song (thank God!) and got to listen to the dolphins sing :) then we danced with them.. and yes I had to shake my bootie in front of the audience (again double yikes). After that humiliation apparently they felt me needed cooled off and I think I can say for once I am GLAD I wear glasses! I only got front soaked (yay for deciding at last minute to wear a dark shirt and jeans!). The other volunteered got splashed and then as we thought the dolphin was done he got soaked again. Lets just say drowned rat look is an apt description *lol* Then came the really FUN part! I got to play dunk the dolphin :) I held on to the dolphins tail and got to lift her up and down. This dolphin btw was the one who was the dolphin in the movie 50 first dates. I petted her as well when I got the chance :) Very cool skin, smoother then I thought it would be and not rubbery feeling but more just smooth.. It took me all the rest of the day in 100 degree temps to dry off (yep was soaked to the bone) but it was sooo worth it! I will post pics when I get a chance :)

a snag hit?

Julian turns 3 on the 20th of this month... which means at the end of this month all of his early intervention services stop, like music therapy, speech, OT etc. We had been cut back on amount of times folks were coming out since things were grinding to a halt.

This weekend julian started stuttering. He still has some issues with vowels, word combos and such but not ever stuttered before. Now it seems to take several to MANY tries to get out any sentence starting with I and other starting phrases as well tho the word I seems to have the most issues. I have gotten him to slow down a little but it doesnt always help. I emailed his OT and speech therapists so hopefully someone can come out and see if we have a new problem arising or just a small bump in the road. My biggest fear is that as everyone pulls out and stops the home visits julian will end up backsliding and then we are stuck trying to get a school district that I am not happy with anyhow to do services.

on a different note..

julian is estatic that his birthday is finally nearing *lol* he keeps breaking out in happy birthday song.. and telling folks its his birthday :P I think we will do it at the local park and do a construction theme so the kids can play in the sand box and stuff and I will do buckets/shovels/dump trucks for goodie bags :) I can't believe he is almost 3!!!

The wonder of a child :)

You know its funny...

You go through life, day to day and take a lot of things for granted.. or at least push them to the back of your mind. The magic and wonder you found as a child seems to get lost or at least forgotten as an adult, that is until you have a child show you just what has been missing.

Julian, while he is a major handful, also views the world with such joy and amazement it is hard NOT to join in. Take for instance his love of trains and tractors. He just loves it when we are driving and stumble on a construction site. Where before I would have grumbled about waiting in line to get to where I need to go, now I point out the tractors and hope we are going slow just so julian can have a chance to watch them dig up whatever they are working on. We even pull over sometimes and just sit and watch them build. I point out every garbage truck, firetruck, and police car I see on the road. I also now know where every train track lies on the way to school and to his dad's and constantly check to see if there is a train on the tracks even when he ISN'T in the car *grin*

Then there is the nature lessons as we stop to help a worm back into the grass so he won't dry out in the sun, or to help (grin) a cricket across the sidewalk and watch the squirrel that is determined to stuff his cheeks with every nut he can find. Or better yet... watch our footprints appear after splashing in the tiniest puddle that happens to show itself on a walk.

I am loving this peek back into my childhood and love to see what will next make my child gasp in joy and giggle like a maniac :)