Mature Eater!

Pretty much Bradyn wants to eat EVERYTHING! We can't hardly put anything into our mouths before Bradyn is lurching forward inches away from the couch with his gaping mouth wanting some too. Every kind of food from icecream, goldfish crackers, chex-mix, rice, popsicles..etc. He ALWAYS is so eager to try and catch a bite. Any time I am drinking a glass of water his face appears through the glass and I see his mouth and eyes open wide, coming in for a gulp. So..to all you Moms out there- if I am obviously not replacing these foods with his normal baby food and formula..should I let him eat these foods? He's 7 mos old..PS I must say, i have before..with all the foods mentioned above and he did perfectly fine with it. just curious....

Park City!

Last Saturday Jamie, Joyce, Aubs and I spent a weekend in Park City & Salt Lake! It was a weekend we had planned for several months- with Jamie leaving in a week for Virginia, it couldn't come at a better time.

We started the morning with Pedi's @ Sassy's

Who's toes are whose? lol

After getting our toes done we headed down to shop @ City Creek in Salt Lake

Afterwards, we got some lunch at the Loco Lizard in Park City- sucky thing was Joyce and I had uncooked meat in our meals..very unappetizing :( we got free meals..

We then did more shopping at the Outlet Mall

And then some more on Main Street

We then had dinner at the Eating Establishment. Way good!

Afterwards, we headed back to Salt Lake..we even ran back to City Creek so I could get Peyton a pair of 77 AE pants. (i have such great friends)

We then stayed at ...

and then this is when this happened...lol!

It was a Blast! I love these girls sooo much!! Let the Park City annual tradition begin :)

Peyton's Speech

This is a subject I haven't blogged about before. But have always wanted to b/c I think it would be good to get some input as well as to help anyone out there going through similar problems with their kiddos. It's hard to blog about an imperfection related to your child. If you are a close friend of mine, you probably already know a lot about this subject :)

Have any of you had a child where there comes a time when your child "just gets it"..a time where their speech just totally takes off..and it all just "clicks"? Well..we haven't had the chance to completely experience that...yet.

So at Peyton's 2 year appointment (last May) his pediatrician asked us if he can say 50-100 words. Steve & I knew that was not the case at all.
So we were referred to The Learning Center in Saint George. They came 3 times a month to our house. One being a development therapist and the other being a speech therapist. We didn't see the need for a development therapist, but welcomed the visits. We quickly learned that the reason Peyton has a speech delay was 1- he is a boy (more susceptible) 2- he is the oldest 3- Due to his heart surgery (which most surgeries there is a regression with some area) and having RSV twice that those were huge months kiddos learn new words and instead Peyton was recovering.
Over the 7 months of being with the learning center- he probably learned like 2 or 3 words. Crazy, right?
We then made our move to Salt Lake (Jan), upon doing so have seen a big progress in his speech. Within days of moving up here, I got Peyton going with Primary Children's Rehab Center in Sandy where he is seen 4 times a month by a speech pathologist. He is also undergoing 3 home visits from his speech therapist from Kids on The Move. All together he's being seen 7 times a month.
Through testing have learned, he has no hearing problems and is 5-6 months behind with speech. We had also been told to prolong his potty training until he can clearly communicate to us better (as well, as I heard it's better to wait with boys until they are 3)

Peyton had hit a wall a few months ago where he wouldn't even mimic or repeat any words we would ask him to. I'm sure glad he got over that bump in the road.

The other day Steve & I decided to count and write down how many words Peyton can say. So without prompting him at all- over the course of 48 hours..we jotted down every word that he could clearly say and that we weren't asking him to. We counted 78! Peyton can say a handful of 2-3 word phrases as well. I think for the longest time we have been so focused on him saying words that I feel there will be a need for therapy in the area of "articulation". He says a lot of things clear, but some words not so much..although we can tell what he is saying (but I don't think others could) A thing that is great- is for Peyton to be around other kids who can talk really well. We take advantage of that as much as we can! (love you Jack & Stockton!)

Lately, I have been attending parent speech meetings and have learned a lot with oral motor. It seems a big reason why Peyton has a speech delay is due to weak oral motor muscles. Peyton has always been accustomed to not only drooling but chewing on toys. Awhile ago he use to shove tons of food into his mouth and spit it all out. That was a huge red flag to us that there must be something going on. We have done away with sippy cups..he only drinks out of a straw-built in water bottle. The placement of the tongue on a sippy cup encourages "suckling" rather than "sucking". He chews on star bursts and gummy worms at any sign he's drooling or chewing on toys as well as a vibrating toothbrush for him to chew on has been a big help. I've heard some 2 year olds begin gum chewing to help as well. Peyton is just more prone to wanting that oral input. I've learned that you don't know which child is pre-disposed to having oral motor problems. So I'm hoping these oral motor issues will dissolve soon and that it will improve his speech.

Peyton is turning 3 in 2 months! And upon him turning 3 we get to see if he will be able to qualify for the Jordan's school district early pre-school program. He gets evaluated end of April. If he does get in- he will be going to school anywhere from 1-5 times a week (depends on his needs) I'm hoping we can get him qualified. I've heard amazing progress with kiddo's speech development.
who knows, maybe Bradyn won't have any of these speech problems at all.

These are also some things that I have learned that is useful to all of us with kiddos who are wanting them to learn new words that- the times where kids will learn the best is times you can use all 5 senses. For example, when teaching a child what a flower is- it will stick in their mind more to take them outside let them smell, touch, even taste whatever it is you are teaching them about. The more of the 5 senses you can incorporate the better. Also, the times your child will learn words the best is through play. When they are playing and you can get their attention at the same time to begin talking to them. I have gone about incorporating speech "play" activities during the day to help Peyton lasting 7-15 minutes. It has helped Peyton increase his attention span for a better time span of learning. Another interesting point is another time kiddos will learn words the best is through "rough and tumble" play. When your child is wrestling, playing with pillows (great for boys :)) whatever..their neurons in their brains are all fired up and are ready for all the input you can get in them. And then at that time, it will soak in more efficiently.

Anyways, much prayer that all our kiddos (for sure, mine!) can begin to being chatter boxes!

Loves!

in case you were wondering what it looked like.....:)

We have made it a tradition to post pics of the interior of all our homes we have lived in since being married- Eagle Mountain, now being the 4th :)

Enjoy

Master Bedroom

Living Room

Kitchen

Laundry room

Bathroom

Bradyn's room

Peyton's Room

Patio

That's it!