Happy February!

Wow, I got off to a really slow start in 2010 - didn't I? Apologies loyal blog readers, I will try to do better. I have no excuse really - slow start after the holiday, followed by a week-end work trip, which threw me off schedule (all the life stuff had to happen during the week). And, the month just flew by...enough excuses.

We have been a bit bogged down lately - lots of stuff to think about for Taylor, we're really working hard with Lauren on her reading, and Jacob on a few behavior quirks. For the first time, we're seeing him act out because he wants more attention - and he is jealous of the attention (or care) Taylor receives. We've been working on trying to give each of them their own time - we so badly want each of them to feel so loved and special. I think this is a challenge any parent faces, particularly with three children, but we put extra pressure on ourselves because of our situation. We rest assured each night that we are trying our hardest and no three children could be more loved.

For Taylor, we're ready to dive into a new regime. We leave for our annual Hawaiian vacation on Friday (hurray!!) and when we return, we're ready to tackle some new areas for little T. We desperately need to make great progress with her on her eating - she still is stuck on oatmeal and baby food - and alternates between being fussy while eating to non-interested. We're so grateful for an easy meal. But, she would so enjoy eating other food and it would be good for her digestive system. So, we need to start a system where we're really encouraging this development. She doesn't like new, or unfamiliar things; and her mouth is very sensory sensitive so it won't be fun to push her. But, like all things, we know it is the best thing for her. We're also starting to work with her a lot on communication. She wants to communicate and is getting very interested in being able to communicate with people. She waves vigorously now to say "good night" before going up to bed and we've seen a simiar sign to "all done" when she is eating. We're working on giving her lots of choices to nod, or shake her head to - she needs to be empowered to know that we will listen to her and she can share what she wants. We think she can begin to learn different signs, so we're starting to work on certain specific sign language we think she can learn. So, another area we're starting to focus on a lot.

Physically, we're really pleased with her progress. She has really accomplished moving from laying to sitting all on her own! She can do it fairly quickly now and has done it a few times with no encouragement. Alison went to get a glass of water in this kitchen and when she returned to our family room (the rooms are connected), Taylor had gone from laying down to sitting up! I haven't had that happen yet, but we're trying to give her more opportunities to have to work into sitting and not help her so much. Again, it's all for the best for her - she can do it and will feel so empowered when she knows she can do it anytime.

Today is a great day because it is my mom's birthday! I am so thankful for her and love her bunches. Eeach year that goes by I am so thankful for my family and our health. David and I are so fortunate to have healthy, wonderful parents.