www.teachmetotalk.com

When we were going through all of our speech issues with Andrew, we had an evaluation done by Laura Mize. She is a speech therapist in the Louisville, Kentucky area. She works a great deal with apraxic kids, which is what led us to her in the first place. She started a website-- www.teachmetotalk.com. She has also just produced a DVD that outlines her 6 strategies to help late talkers. I was going through some old paperwork and I came across it. I got a little choked up when I went on there and read some of the parents comments because it took me back to that time when we were so worried about Andrew. Although Andrew still has some issues with speech, we are nowhere near where we were when Laura evaluated him in November 2007!

Anyways, I am posting this on here for any parents that might happen to have a late talker one day. She is an awesome therapist and she has great strategies. I haven't seen the DVD, but from watching the clips I know it is worth getting. (I am actually thinking about buying it for Matthew!)

Enjoying a treat!

We love ice cream in this house! Here is Andrew eating his ice cream bar! I told him to smile and this is the look I got-- we are in that stage right now!
Matthew LOVES ice cream. He ate his ice cream bar faster than Andrew did!

I thought this was so funny. I was giving Matthew a little snack before bed-- graham cracker sticks and milk. I put the box down on the couch and left him on the floor where we were sitting. I went to fill up his cup and when I came back, he was chillin' on the couch, and stuffing those things in his mouth! He just climbed up there like it was no big deal and started pigging out!

Then, of course, Andrew always feels the need to torture Matthew. He took the box and went to hide behind our other couch so Matthew couldn't get anymore! Wasn't that nice?????

Oldham County Fair

We had our county fair tonight and the boys had a great time! Andrew had a blast riding the rides and playing the kid games. He even got to ride the pony again this year! Here are some pictures from their fun day!

I LOVE this picture! Matthew is a very kissable kid-- I guess the cow just couldn't resist!
Andrew is watching the llama (at least that is what we think it is....)

Matthew on the carousel

Andrew is flying the helicopter

This pictures cracks me up because Rick looks so huge. Andrew had a blast riding this little roller coaster. Rick could hardly fit, but he had fun too!

Look way up high-- Rick and Andrew climbed this to get to the big slide. Mommy did it one time too and just about had a heart attack! I do not like heights!

Here comes Andrew down the slide!

Andrew is making a sand bottle. He loved it!

Matthew got to ride his first pony!

Here is Andrew riding the pony!

Andrew and Rick on a spinning ride. Mommy could not handle this one!

Thanks for the ice cream cone, Grandma! I love brown ice cream!

It is hard to see, but Andrew's face is covered in chocolate ice cream!

Matthew only slept one hour today. He was worn out and ready to leave the fair!!

Andrew

Andrew has been writing his name for quite some time now. This week Rick helped him practice putting his letters next to each other. (Before, he would write letters all over the board or page) He is getting REALLY GOOD at writing his name-- I just had to put this on here! He still enjoys spelling and is good at guessing what a word starts with by the way it sounds-- he has the b's down pat! He can spell Andrew, Matthew, Mom and Dad with no problem and he has a handful of others that he knows well. He forgets a lot too, but hey-- he's only 3!!!!! He is counting to 20 now but he skips over a few numbers. He gets to 13 with no problem then says 17, 18, 20 and then he celebrates like you wouldn't believe. He is a whiz on the computer and he just figures out how to play games. He starts school in 3 weeks and we are excited to see what changes it brings him! He loves to learn so he is going to have a great time. He knows his phone number now too, he will pick up our cell phones and just call the house phone. There have been MANY TIMES when the phone is ringing and when I go to answer it, it is Andrew. I had 3rd and 4th graders that didn't know their phone numbers!!!!!!!

Finally-- No Fear!

For some reason this summer Andrew has been afraid of the water. He will not get in and he doesn't even want to get wet. It has been frustrating! Last week he finally showed an interest in wanting to get in the water and he would hold on to our necks. Well, this weekend I was able to get the water wings on him and he got in the water all by himself! I even took him to the splash park at the zoo today and he ran all around, let the water spray him and he went down the water slide several times. Whatever made him afraid of the water I guess he is now over it. Thank goodness!

Family

Well, Brandon has been here for 2 weeks and we have had a blast playing with him and doing all kinds of fun things. Evan and Gina came in town Sunday morning and left this morning (Tuesday). We were so happy to get to see Evan.... we haven't seen him in 2 years!!!! He really couldn't be any cuter and it was great to finally see him. It wasn't the most ideal trip, since we all got sick, but at least we did get to see him and give him some hugs and kisses!!!! I guess I should mention that Brandon and Evan are my brother, Gabe's children. So, my mom and my wonderful, handsome father have 4 grandchildren--all boys!

Matthew came down with something on Friday. He had a fever and was cranky so I took him to the doctor. They said it was an ear infection and put him on an antibiotic. Well, Brandon woke up Saturday morning with a fever and by Sunday he looked like he had been hit by a truck so they took him to the doctor and it was strep throat. Both Brandon and Matthew had high fevers all weekend, so I guess Matthew had strep also. Well, Sunday night I started to feel bad and when I woke up on Monday morning I felt like I had been hit by a truck. I had a fever and a sore throat so bad that I could hardly swallow. I just laid in bed all day because it hurt too bad to walk and talk. So, hopefully the next time we get these 4 kiddos together everyone will be healthy and able to fully enjoy each other's company :) Regardless of the fevers and sickness it was great to see the kids together.

Here are Brandon and Evan. They are very cute kids!!!
The first picture we have of the 4 kids! Evan kept asking "are those my cousins?" and pointing to Andrew and Matthew

How cute is this picture? Andrew and Evan were playing baseball together outside.

Posing together-- Andrew thought he was funny with the ball on Evan's head!

Here are 3 of the 4, Brandon was at the doctor when we took this picture.

Playing at the pool....

Andrew and Evan. Andrew had SO MUCH FUN playing with his cousins. I wish they lived closer. He is going to be bored without them here! Having Brandon around made me wish that Andrew had an older sibling! They just had so much fun together!

Churchill Downs

We took the boys to Churchill Downs today. They had a great time!!! Brandon really got into it and said that he wants to be a horse racer when he gets older. On the way home he asked how old you have to be to have a job (still thinking about that horse racing job!) I think he really enjoyed it!

Me and the boys on the track

The boys in front of Churchill Downs

And they're off! Andrew and Brandon are running through the gates in the museum (they were pretending to be the horses!)

Posing with a horse... not a real one!

You can sit on this horse and pretend you are a jockey. You have to keep your butt up and knees bent just like a real jockey for it to work. You race a horse on a TV screen. Brandon had a lot of fun playing this!

Brandon with his Grandma in front of the winner's circle.