lewis learns some signs
After literally MONTHS of trying to teach Lewis some simple sign language, he finally has a couple of words down. This first video is of him doing 'more' while eating some taco casserole. He does not do it correctly by ASL standards (he's close!), but he's consistent in always using the same gesture to mean 'more.'
The other word we've been working on a lot with our new speech therapist is 'please.' So far Lewis mainly uses them in conjunction together, but he will do his own version of 'please' which is really pretty close to the real sign. You can see him use both in the next video....forgive the longness of it. We're so glad to be communicating better with Lewis, and really hope this is just the beginning!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
future artist?
Lewis is finally starting to get the swing of crayons. He still likes putting them in his mouth, but is more likely to scribble on the paper. This is his first drawing without help. Every mark was made by Lewis himself (except for his name and date! That would've been amazing!).
He's finally figuring out some of his toys too. Toys, like his Glow Worm, are finally easy for him to play with and "make sing." We've been planting his worm in his bed each night and when we hear the music going in the morning, we know he's awake. He only jabbers a little bit these days and then it's on to playing in the bed. We are lucky to have such a good sleeper, and a kid who loves his bed so much!
Eating has once again become a challenge. He seems to want store bought baby food the most, and his constant staple, homemade yogurt. He's eating more veggies than fruit, oddly enough, and tons of beans. They say beans are the perfect food--protein and starch. Anyway, if he's going to be picky, we're glad he's eating beans.
He's also signing his own version of the word 'more.' He uses it for everything though, and seems somewhat confused that it doesn't mean 'please' and other things too. Still, if we ask him if he wants more, he consistently makes the same sign. Progress in small doses is good!
Here's a photo we forgot to post of Lewis and his Grandma on Valentine's Day.
Lewis is finally starting to get the swing of crayons. He still likes putting them in his mouth, but is more likely to scribble on the paper. This is his first drawing without help. Every mark was made by Lewis himself (except for his name and date! That would've been amazing!).
He's finally figuring out some of his toys too. Toys, like his Glow Worm, are finally easy for him to play with and "make sing." We've been planting his worm in his bed each night and when we hear the music going in the morning, we know he's awake. He only jabbers a little bit these days and then it's on to playing in the bed. We are lucky to have such a good sleeper, and a kid who loves his bed so much!
Eating has once again become a challenge. He seems to want store bought baby food the most, and his constant staple, homemade yogurt. He's eating more veggies than fruit, oddly enough, and tons of beans. They say beans are the perfect food--protein and starch. Anyway, if he's going to be picky, we're glad he's eating beans.
He's also signing his own version of the word 'more.' He uses it for everything though, and seems somewhat confused that it doesn't mean 'please' and other things too. Still, if we ask him if he wants more, he consistently makes the same sign. Progress in small doses is good!
Here's a photo we forgot to post of Lewis and his Grandma on Valentine's Day.
Monday, February 18, 2008
it's a..........
boy! Well, we had our ultrasound today, and we are having another boy Shepherd. I was told specifically not to drink anything caffeinated and as a result did not get a great view of all the "parts" as the baby was not really moving a lot, but our radiologist assured us that it is definitely a boy. Here was the best picture of his manhood. Good luck!
Here's one of him sucking his thumb (or so it seems).
Pray for us as we try to think of boy names!
boy! Well, we had our ultrasound today, and we are having another boy Shepherd. I was told specifically not to drink anything caffeinated and as a result did not get a great view of all the "parts" as the baby was not really moving a lot, but our radiologist assured us that it is definitely a boy. Here was the best picture of his manhood. Good luck!
Here's one of him sucking his thumb (or so it seems).
Pray for us as we try to think of boy names!
Friday, February 15, 2008
fun with corrie
Check out some pictures of Lewis hanging out with his friend, Corrie on the Powells' blog. They're pretty cute!
Check out some pictures of Lewis hanging out with his friend, Corrie on the Powells' blog. They're pretty cute!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
happy birthday, natasha!
And happy Valentine's Day to you! We often do not mention birthdays on our blog.....not that we forget, but it's hard to keep up with it once you do one. But my friend, Natasha, who lives all the way over in Belarus, has to share her birthday with the day of love. And since she is so far, and i always forget to plan to send a gift far enough in advance, I wanted to post a little something for her before her birthday is over (which gives me only about an hour since it's 11 p.m. there right now!).
We became friends in the fall of 1998 when I moved to Belarus for the first time. We were not best buds right away or anything like that, but it's a friendship that has grown over time, and now I have to say she is one of my closest friends, in my heart anyway. She is funny and real and not afraid to share her thoughts and opinions which is something we Americans hold back all too often. Besides that--she has an incredible life story--growing up in one of Russia's "secret cities" and coming to know the Lord through meeting a believer in an aerobics class of all things. This woman just continues to grow and endure the twists and turns of life. I guess you could say she's one of my heroes (those of you who know Nate Jones may have heard a hero speech here or there). I'm praying for this to be an incredible year for you, Natasha. Thanks to skype, hopefully we'll be able to have many conversations through the wonders of the Internet.
This photo was taken by Natasha when she was visiting and I love Lewis' hairdo. She really captured him at a great post-bath moment.
Before Natasha went back to Minsk, she spent some time in California. Desperate to meet a celebrity, she went looking in the Los Angeles area and found none other than:
Chelsea Clinton!! She posted this picture on her Facebook account and it absolutely cracked me up. Here was her caption: "i wanted to take picture with a celebrety...somebody cool and handsome but all what i got is Chelsey Clinton." Natasha sure has connections!
We love you, friend! Hope your birthday was a blast. :)
And happy Valentine's Day to you! We often do not mention birthdays on our blog.....not that we forget, but it's hard to keep up with it once you do one. But my friend, Natasha, who lives all the way over in Belarus, has to share her birthday with the day of love. And since she is so far, and i always forget to plan to send a gift far enough in advance, I wanted to post a little something for her before her birthday is over (which gives me only about an hour since it's 11 p.m. there right now!).
We became friends in the fall of 1998 when I moved to Belarus for the first time. We were not best buds right away or anything like that, but it's a friendship that has grown over time, and now I have to say she is one of my closest friends, in my heart anyway. She is funny and real and not afraid to share her thoughts and opinions which is something we Americans hold back all too often. Besides that--she has an incredible life story--growing up in one of Russia's "secret cities" and coming to know the Lord through meeting a believer in an aerobics class of all things. This woman just continues to grow and endure the twists and turns of life. I guess you could say she's one of my heroes (those of you who know Nate Jones may have heard a hero speech here or there). I'm praying for this to be an incredible year for you, Natasha. Thanks to skype, hopefully we'll be able to have many conversations through the wonders of the Internet.
This photo was taken by Natasha when she was visiting and I love Lewis' hairdo. She really captured him at a great post-bath moment.
Before Natasha went back to Minsk, she spent some time in California. Desperate to meet a celebrity, she went looking in the Los Angeles area and found none other than:
Chelsea Clinton!! She posted this picture on her Facebook account and it absolutely cracked me up. Here was her caption: "i wanted to take picture with a celebrety...somebody cool and handsome but all what i got is Chelsey Clinton." Natasha sure has connections!
We love you, friend! Hope your birthday was a blast. :)
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
bubbles, snow and the Gap
We finally got to meet Lewis' new speech therapist on Friday. John Paul (Logsdon) is a very enthusiastic fellow and hit it off pretty well with Lewis. He blew bubbles and had a ton of other fun toys that lured Lewis in. These items proved to be good motivators to get Lewis to respond. Hopefully in time we'll see him communicate through signs and/or sounds to express his anger or desire for "more" bubbles etc. We have hope that this will be a good match for Lewis.
This weekend we went to Louisville to see my family and so that Justin and I could visit the Gap Clearance Center near the Cincinnati airport. I had some gift cards to redeem which go a long way at this place. I found some great deals on maternity stuff while Justin stocked up on a wide variety of shirts. Our best deals were for Lewis--shirts for 49 cents and socks for a quarter a pair!
Our visit also gave Justin an opportunity to work with my sister Ellen on some campaign materials. If you haven't heard, she's running for a seat on the Louisville Metro Council to represent District 18. It's pretty exciting! I have to say that we're more excited about her race than the other elections this year. :)
We forgot to take lots of pictures this visit, but managed to get one of Lewis and Grandpa before we left.
Side note: We did have a bit of a tricky ride on the way home in the pouring snow. Traffic was slow and there were some accidents (mostly on exit ramps), but once we got past Sonora things cleared up. We got home without any trouble and found that there was no snow in Bowling Green!
We finally got to meet Lewis' new speech therapist on Friday. John Paul (Logsdon) is a very enthusiastic fellow and hit it off pretty well with Lewis. He blew bubbles and had a ton of other fun toys that lured Lewis in. These items proved to be good motivators to get Lewis to respond. Hopefully in time we'll see him communicate through signs and/or sounds to express his anger or desire for "more" bubbles etc. We have hope that this will be a good match for Lewis.
This weekend we went to Louisville to see my family and so that Justin and I could visit the Gap Clearance Center near the Cincinnati airport. I had some gift cards to redeem which go a long way at this place. I found some great deals on maternity stuff while Justin stocked up on a wide variety of shirts. Our best deals were for Lewis--shirts for 49 cents and socks for a quarter a pair!
Our visit also gave Justin an opportunity to work with my sister Ellen on some campaign materials. If you haven't heard, she's running for a seat on the Louisville Metro Council to represent District 18. It's pretty exciting! I have to say that we're more excited about her race than the other elections this year. :)
We forgot to take lots of pictures this visit, but managed to get one of Lewis and Grandpa before we left.
Side note: We did have a bit of a tricky ride on the way home in the pouring snow. Traffic was slow and there were some accidents (mostly on exit ramps), but once we got past Sonora things cleared up. We got home without any trouble and found that there was no snow in Bowling Green!
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
happy super tuesday
We don't get vote or anything special today, but we are enjoying the outside temperature! The unseasonably warm weather has allowed us to spend more time outdoors. Lewis enjoyed going to the park the other day when there was still a chill in the air.
Since then he's actually gotten to go out without his hat a few times. He loves the play equipment at the park, but especially going up the steps,
and beating on the big sturdy posts they makes those contraptions with.
We also cut his hair again over the weekend. It has grown so much in the last six weeks! It was even starting to curl up after his bath.
Now he looks like this.
At the request of some of our faithful readers, here's my first side shot at 18 weeks pregnant. Not huge, but certainly bigger than at this point the last time around.
My doctor says I'm growing right on schedule. The baby's heart-rate yesterday was 159 bpm. The poor nurse had a hard time figuring that out though, because the baby was moving so much. I'm only feeling small motions here and there, but this may be a wiggler! We scheduled our ultrasound for President's Day. This baby is sure to be a true patriot--due on the 4th of July, in an election year....it seems like every milestone is on some sort of holiday. Hopefully we'll get some cooperation and find out the sex. :)
We also get to meet Lewis' new speech therapist this Friday. We are excited to see what his approach will be. Lewis does seem more interested in communicating lately, even if that means screaming to get his point across. Hopefully John Paul will have some techniques to motivate him.
We don't get vote or anything special today, but we are enjoying the outside temperature! The unseasonably warm weather has allowed us to spend more time outdoors. Lewis enjoyed going to the park the other day when there was still a chill in the air.
Since then he's actually gotten to go out without his hat a few times. He loves the play equipment at the park, but especially going up the steps,
and beating on the big sturdy posts they makes those contraptions with.
We also cut his hair again over the weekend. It has grown so much in the last six weeks! It was even starting to curl up after his bath.
Now he looks like this.
At the request of some of our faithful readers, here's my first side shot at 18 weeks pregnant. Not huge, but certainly bigger than at this point the last time around.
My doctor says I'm growing right on schedule. The baby's heart-rate yesterday was 159 bpm. The poor nurse had a hard time figuring that out though, because the baby was moving so much. I'm only feeling small motions here and there, but this may be a wiggler! We scheduled our ultrasound for President's Day. This baby is sure to be a true patriot--due on the 4th of July, in an election year....it seems like every milestone is on some sort of holiday. Hopefully we'll get some cooperation and find out the sex. :)
We also get to meet Lewis' new speech therapist this Friday. We are excited to see what his approach will be. Lewis does seem more interested in communicating lately, even if that means screaming to get his point across. Hopefully John Paul will have some techniques to motivate him.
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