K is here!

This past weekend was one of Ava's twice a month therapy sessions with Ms. J. When I walked in the therapy room at the end of the session, Ms. J very matter of factly told me that we'd be adding final /k/ to her list of things to practice because she can do it now. Then she said to Ava, "say, /k/." And she did. I was completely surprised and so pleased.

It is hard for her. She still substitutes a /t/ for the /k/ the vast majority of the time. I always feel mean when I tell her, "No baby, that's /t/. We need a /k/." and I have to ask her to say the word again. In order for her to even have a chance of getting it, I need a slight pause between the first half of the word and the final /k/ sound. So, I say, "boo - k". And when I make that final /k/ sound it has to be really guttural. If I just make a regular /k/ sound she'll repeat with a /t/ every time.

But /k/ is here and we can finally start to work on some back sounds. Progress!

Toddler and Preschool Online Activities

I made a list of some of websites Michael and Ava spend time on when we let them have computer time. Some of the sites have animated songs, some have animated stories, and some have simple games appropriate for young children. With some basic computer skills my kids are even pretty independent with most of these. I usually sit down and watch everything with them or play each game with them once showing them how it works, and they can take it from there in the future. Everything listed has a link that will actually take you to the site, so check them out and let me know if you enjoy visiting them with your little ones.

Toddler and Preschool Online Activities

I'll be adding to the list as I remember ones I've forgotten and as I find more. If you have some favorites I should check out tell me about them in the comments.

How the "Mighty" Have Fallen

I was one of "those" new mothers. I so wanted to do everything perfectly. I exclusively breastfed Michael for six months. I stubbornly continued for those six months even though it was miserable due in part to what I now think was undiagnosed reflux (his, not mine). Then I did the homemade baby food from organic fruits and vegetables thing and refused to let my parents give him anything else when they babysat.

By the time Ava came along I now had a 15 month old toddler. Well, I still did the exclusive breastfeeding which went much better the second time around. Ava was diagnosed with reflux and was on medication for it so perhaps that plus a more experienced mama made the difference. I tried to do the homemade baby food thing again even though it was crazy with two babies so young, but Ava just refused to eat it. Sure, she ate a little, but she just didn't like baby food. She wanted to eat the toddler food she saw her brother eating and so we switched over pretty quickly.

Skip ahead to yesterday morning and you find me feeding Ava a cookie for breakfast as we rush out the door to make it to therapy on time. Sigh. Guess I couldn't keep it up forever. And you know what? Now I realize that the cookie won't ruin her for life. Let her enjoy a cookie once and a while. Even for breakfast.

I suppose having a third baby just so that I can feed him or her cookies sooner is not an appropriate response to this epiphany.