Gigi And Olive

Happy Birthday Henry!

2008-08-03T07:42:00.000-07:00

Henry turned 1 today!!!
Ross and Shanti took him to a Jerry Day Concert (celebrating the life and music of Jerry Garcia)! Perfect first birthday for a little San Francisco native!
Happy Birthday Henry! We love you!

Big Hendy for Big Henry!

2008-07-28T13:07:00.000-07:00

The whole family went camping at Hendy Woods for Henry's first birthday. (Minus me and Olive... I was SICK and she stayed home to take care of me!) They all had a great time! It was Ginger's first camping trip, and she LOVED it!

Happy Birthday Poppy!

2008-07-25T22:15:00.000-07:00

Britt's Grandpa Frank "Poppy" turned 90 today!
Happy Birthday!
We love you Poppy!

Ainhoa's Last Supper

2008-07-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

We can't believe how fast a month went by. We are going to miss Ainhoa so much, she's become part of the family! (I've always said I want three daughters!) Ginger keeps saying "Call Ainhoa's Mom and tell her we are going to keep her!" I wish we could!

Armstrong Grove

2008-07-22T12:07:00.000-07:00

Sonoma Valley

2008-07-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

The Bridge

2008-07-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Olive's Water Party!

2008-07-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Olive!

2008-07-17T10:48:00.000-07:00

Update on Olive

2008-07-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

So we have been back and forth with the doctors and specialist getting conflicting opinions about what is going on in her ears and with her tubes. Finally, last week, they were able to get a good look and confirmed that both tubes were still in but the one in her right ear has migrated up in the ear drum. At the time, there was no fluid in her ear, so she could hear fine. We are going to continue to monitor it, because, if she does get a cold and fluid, it won't be able to drain because the tube is too high on the drum, and she will most likely get an ear infection. We would like to wait until closer to winter to do the surgery again, because the life expectancy of the tubes can be short and the probability that she will get more colds in the winter. That way, she would hopefully have the tubes all winter, when she'll probably really need them. The other benefit of stretching theses ones out, as long as there is no problems with them, is less surgeries for Catie.

Today I went to her IEP at Marin County Office of Education. Catie will be going to a special "Speech Pre-School" five mornings a week for two and half hours a morning. The school is structured like a regular Pre-School, except her teacher will be a Speech Pathologist (Catie got a really good, experienced teacher!) and there is the class size is smaller. They told us they have seen hundreds of kids like Catie and that with the consistency of services of every day, she is going to make a lot of progress. Needless to say, we are very anxious for August 25!

Angel Island

2008-07-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

Britt, Ainhoa and Ginger went to Angel Island for a little hike and to check out the incredible 360 view of the bay. It was a beautiful day and as always, incredible views!

Happy Birthday Britt and Pete!

2008-07-12T07:09:00.000-07:00

We had a great day at McNear's Beach celebrating Britt's and Pete's birthdays. As always, there was a ton of delicious and beautiful food... it looked like a catered picnic with all of Shanti's little professional touches! It was a relaxing day and the kids had such a great time, playing with the scooter and skipping rocks. The highlight had to be all three girls licking the frosting off their Dad's birthday cakes!

Santa Cruz

2008-07-09T19:55:00.000-07:00

We've had a great week in Santa Cruz. We rented a cute house just off West Cliff Drive. We could walk everywhere, beach, boardwalk and restaurants. The girls have had such a great time on the rides and Ginger is in love with the carnival games! I am amazed at the rides both of them will go on, ones that I thought for sure would scare them. (Me too.. I swore I wouldn't ride the Double Shot... but ended up riding it four times! I was hooked! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx-DUhGCvRA)

Ross, Shanti and Henry joined us too and rented an adorable little cottage. It was great to vacation with them, we always have such a good time together. Ginger loves Henry SO much! Meesh and her girls came over one day and went to the boardwalk and the beach together. Ginger and Charli are so cute together. They really get along well and enjoy spending time together.

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (which is always incredible), met Pete for lunch and took Ainhoa on 17 mile drive and through Carmel. Ainhoa even surfed one day.

Fourth of July was great! It was our first day, we arrived, did a quick change, went to a party at Kim and Albie's in Captiola and then to another one at Karen Rice's house in Aptos. All in all, it was a great week!

Tahoe

2008-06-28T10:10:00.000-07:00

Back to Tahoe... fingers crossed that everyone stays healthy... and this time, I brought reinforcements!

We spent the weekend with Becky and Jason Ford at their cabin in Tahoe. We always have a blast with them, they are such a great family. And the girls love playing with Jackson and Tyler. We spent Saturday at a great beach, came back hot tubbed, BBQed, the kids did art projects, and the Dads hit the casinos! Sunday we went to Fallen Leaf Lake to walk to the waterfall and lakes, and had breakfast at the cute little lakeside restaurant. I had never been to Fallen Leaf Lake. It is adorable! There are cute little cabins all around the lake and a country store and restaurant. There are camps for kids and all sorts of family activities. It was really cute, quiet and peaceful.

We had a great weekend! Thanks again Becky and Jason!

Ainhoa

2008-06-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Ainhoa, our friend's daughter, came today to stay with us for a month. She is from the Basque Country in Spain. We are very excited to have her here and to show her around Northern California. First stop Tahoe!

Seriously?

2008-06-19T08:26:00.000-07:00

After the week we've had... Richie, Diego, Catie's ears (Wednesday I took Catie in because I thought something was off... the doctor told me her tubes had fallen out already. I was having a difficult time getting appointments at Packard and have been feeling pretty emotional about the whole thing. Update: Read on to more recent posts... they're actually not out, but one is not in the correct position.) Graduation activities, Ballet, etc. etc. I was REALLY looking to a relaxing week in Tahoe with Meesh, Charli and Jaemysen. Visions of beaches during the day, wine on the deck at night!

Well, to make another long (and yucky!) story short, we got up to Tahoe to an adorable cabin Meesh had rented from her friends. Catie vomited on the way up and had BAD diarrhea (the WHOLE time we were there!). We were hoping it would clear up and she would start feeling better. No such luck! The second night, Ginger woke up A LOT crying that her ear hurt. I took them both to Urgent Care in the morning and Ginger had a really bad ear infection, Catie had some kind of stomach bug (obviously!) and DOUBLE ear infection! And poor little Jaemysen! She started out with what we thought was a cold, but it got much worse. I mean, seriously?! Good thing we had stocked up on white wine!

We sucked it up as long as we could, and did activities that didn't included water (scrap the beach and pool!). We went horseback riding, shopping, eating and mini golfing. We did great, given the circumstances, but ended up coming home a day early.

Meesh and I are hoping next summer will be very, very different.

Pirate Cat

2008-06-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

I swear, we NEVER go to the vet, just once a year check ups and shots. Well, Diego came home with a infected eye, and to make a VERY long story short... he had to have his eye removed! He is now affectionately called "Diego the Pirate Cat" (fitting because Ginger LOVES Pirates!).

Happy Father's Day!

2008-06-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Recital

2008-06-14T20:35:00.000-07:00

Ginger had her end of the year ballet recital and we were so impressed with how much she had grown and learned in the past year. What a week! Another tear jerker!

Graduation

2008-06-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

Ginger graduated from Pre-K today! I know it sounds cliche, but we can't believe how fast she is growing up. Miss Sandie's put on a sweet little graduation where the kids sang us songs, they each received a "diploma" and then we all enjoyed a pot luck. Ginger's teacher Danny even put together a video of pictures from the year set to music and gave each family a copy. Gigi had such a great year. Her teachers were both incredible and so creative and supportive. She's grown so much academically and emotionally. Now we are looking forward to a fun filled summer and then Kindergarten!

"Such a sweet little soul could never be forgotten."

2008-06-12T21:58:00.000-07:00

That quote was on a card we received from our neighbors. It is absolutely perfect, absolutely true of Richie. Richie passed away extremely suddenly and unexpectedly on Thursday. We will miss him dearly.
We love you Richie...

8/28/2003-6/12/2008

THE Playdate day!

2008-06-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

We had the all-boy-all-day-playdate today... and the girls loved every minute of it! First my old McGraw Hill friend Jenelle came over with her boys, who I haven't seen since before Ginger was born. The kids hit it off immediately and Ginger even had a little crush on Jenelle's oldest, Connor!

Then the Allen boys (and Erica!) came for dinner. As usual, these four were having a great time, until right after the last picture was taken, Catie was stung by a bee! Erica was awesome and Parker and Charlie were so impressed with how "brave" Catie was!

"Funkbeds!"

2008-06-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

Ginger has been asking for "funkbeds" for months, so she and Catie can share a room. Well, the time has finally come!

Bubbles!

2008-06-07T07:35:00.000-07:00

Britt put on a wonderful picnic for his team from Cisco today. We had a great time and it was so nice to meet everyone I've heard so much about. Everyone was so nice and all the kids had a great time together.

When we came home, the girls went in the backyard to blow bubbles!

Henry!

2008-06-05T19:25:00.000-07:00

Henry (and Shanti of course!) came for a visit today! We got to witness Henry's first trip to the pool! We all had a great time, and Ginger even got to entertain Henry in her clubhouse!

Cutest Clubhouse Ever!

2008-06-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all of Daddy and Papa's hard work we know have the "cutest clubhouse ever"! (Ginger's terminology! Of course!)

Cugini!

2008-05-28T20:52:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful family get together on Saturday and, of course, the cousins ended up in the bath together! So cute!

Coppertone Girls!

2008-05-27T20:49:00.000-07:00

Mexico... in no particular order!

2008-05-26T20:59:00.000-07:00

Customs

2008-05-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you've all heard that the first thing Britt said when Catie was born was, "I want a paternity test!" He was kidding of course, but she did come out very dark, and with a lot of dark hair.

Since then we've had the occasional comment from the outspoken strangers, such as the woman in Toys R Us who looked at Ginger and Catie and asked me, "Do they have different Dads?" We're use to it, and think it's kind of funny, but the all time best has to be the custom agent at LAX when we were returning from Mexico. We handed him all four passports, he looked at them, leaned over the counter to look at Ginger and Catie. He pointed at Catie and said, "Is she adopted?" Britt and I just looked at each other and had to laugh! We told him "No, she's ours." And he said, "Well I see a lot of people coming through after they've adopted a child from another country."

Clearly she got even darker while we were in Mexico!

Hola!

2008-05-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

We are back from our siesta! We had THE best trip to Ixtapa, Mexico. We stayed at the newly remodeled Family Club Med and it couldn't have been a better vacation for us. Everyone had the best time. The beach was awesome... long and flat with calm, lapping waves. Awesome activities for all of us. Both the girls went to their clubs, Catie to the Petit Club just for a few hours in the morning, and Ginger to the Mini Club, where she made such good new friends and had so much fun. Both girls got to go swimming at their clubs, and play mini golf, Ginger even went of the flying trapeze, did yoga and participated in cooking classes and the shows at night! It was like summer camp! And like Britt said "It's like Dirty Dancing, but tropical and the counselors aren't picking up on the guests"! The pools were awesome, the service and the food were incredible. It's the first time I have cried coming home since I worked in Maui for the summer in college! It was an amazing trip and we all can't wait to go back. I will post a million pictures tomorrow!!!

Nudey Booty Roast!

2008-05-07T18:56:00.000-07:00

Leave them with their Italian Grandmother and they end up in a Roasting Pan! Classic!

Words

2008-05-06T06:44:00.001-07:00

Apple
Puppy
Meow (for cat)
Monkey
Mommy
Daddy
Gigi
Papa
Jump
Hop
Rabbit
Ribbit
Banana
Here you go
Are you okay
Hi
Bye
Abre (Open)
Shoe
Sock
Towel
Yeah
Clap
Whoa
Uh Oh
No
Water
Baby
Go
Pee Pee on the Potty
Cow
Moo
Up
Down
Clean up
Dinosaur
Boat
Ball
Catch
Pop
Bounce

Granted, half of these only sound close to how you or I would say them, but she knows what she's saying! And so do we!

"It's like a lightbulb has been turned on.

2008-05-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

Catie has been having some of her best days at preschool. She is really enjoying it and interacting with the other kids and is so comfortable with the routine of all of it. She's been doing great at speech, especially with the matching game she does with Doug and her quiet/focusing exercises she does. She tends to talk more with her home teacher than in speech. This is mostly because it's a more natural environment with the home teacher, they're here at home, playing and incorporating a ton of language. With the home teacher she's putting together a puzzle that has three pieces for each space, in this case dinosaur. She has only done puzzles with one piece per space before, but she did this one the first time we gave it to her! And when we asked her to clean it up, she did and said, "dinosaur" each time she put a piece in the bag. Last week she said "clean up" every time she put a piece in the bag! She's pointing to her nose when we ask where it is, EVERY TIME! And she's getting her eyes and ears too! She's saying "Here you go" when she hands me something! She's is coloring vertical and horizontal lines when we draw one and the ask her to do one. She's following directions so much more. She's answering "No" more consistently when she doesn't want something or to do something. When I say "Catie, look" she's stopping what she's doing and looking! I put her on the potty tonight before her bath and she said "Pee pee on the potty"! She is saying "Hi" a lot more, hugging and kissing constantly (nothing new!!!). When her friend came over the other day she said "Leah" before any of us did! We were so excited! She definitely is right in with the kids at play dates now, before she use to hide out and play more by herself. Easter was our first big family get-together since Catie's surgery and it showed us a lot. Before, Catie spent a lot of time by herself, in her playroom or somewhere else separate, it always seemed like the big family get-togethers were too much for her. On Easter, we drove up to my Mom and Jim's and Catie fell asleep for a little while in the car. She woke up a few minutes after we got there (which use to make it even more difficult, because when she had just woken up, she had an even harder time warming up to everyone). It only took her maybe five minutes in my lap to warm up, and then she was right in the middle of the party ALL DAY! Such a huge change! And such a welcome one. As I have said before, having the social concerns clearing up means so much to us, because we know now that we are dealing with speech and focusing difficulties, not autism.

All of these changes have been amazing. Britt said it best when someone asked him what the biggest change has been. He answered, "It's like a light bulb has been turned on." Exactly!

Go, Catie, Go!

2008-04-22T12:55:00.001-07:00

The girls were watching Go, Diego, Go! in our room while I got ready this morning. At different parts during the show Diego will need something to help him solve a problem or get through a situation, and he'll have his Rescue Pack change into something to help out. Rescue Pack changes into three different things and Diego (with help from the viewers!) chooses which one will help in this particular situation.

This is what I overheard this morning, after the three options were given:

Diego: "What do we need?"
Catie: "Water slide!"
Diego:"Yes, we need a water slide!"

Go, Catie, Go!

Poo Poo on the Potty!

2008-04-21T20:21:00.000-07:00

Enough Said!

"She's not going to qualify."

2008-04-17T19:53:00.000-07:00

I never knew how happy I would be to hear those words! In most cases, we would think, if you didn't qualify for something, have a negative connotation. Not this time.

Right now, Catie receives services for speech from the Golden Gate Regional Center. When she turns 3, she will start receiving services from the Marin County Office of Education. Today we had our first transition meeting with Pat (our contact at the regional center) and Terry from Marin County Office of Education. We walked in and Catie immediately went to the toy box, picked up a dinosaur and said "dinosaur"! I looked at Pat and said "She just said dinosaur! She's never said that before!" So of course, Catie said "dinosaur" again! Then she picked up a toy apple and said "apple! apple! apple!" It was awesome!

We spent awhile talking about Catie and all the changes and progress she's been making. Pat hadn't seen Catie since she had her tubes put in and had only heard me telling her and of course getting reports from Catie's speech therapist and home teacher. Both she and Terry were so impressed with all Catie's progress and Terry commented a few times on how bright he could tell she was and how he thought she was going to continue to make huge gains in her verbal communication. Of course I was eating up with a giant smile on my face!

We discussed our areas of concern with Catie's development and Terry let me know what kind of speech services County Office of Education offers. He then told me that Catie will definitely qualify to receive services and will be evaluated in about 6 weeks to see which program will fit her best.

At the end of the meeting Pat told me that before Catie officially transfers they could evaluate her one more time to see if the Regional Center could still offer her services along side the County Office of Eduction. I said that I didn't know they could offer her services after she turned 3. Then she said...

"Well, she would have to be diagnosed with Autistism, Cerebral Palsy, or Down Syndrome to continue receiving services from the Regional Center after she turns 3."

And Terry said...

"She's not going to qualify."

And Pat said...

"No, she's not going to qualify."

That's the best news I have ever heard.

Just like Gigi!

2008-04-15T18:07:00.000-07:00

Ginger was in the shower... and I found Catie looking at herself in the mirror wearing Ginger's brace! So cute! She loves to do watch Ginger does!

Princesses in their castle!

2008-04-15T08:23:00.001-07:00

Hot! Hot! Hot!

2008-04-12T08:17:00.000-07:00

It was HOT today! We took the girls to the Giants game, Catie's first! (Another difference with the second child... we took Ginger to her first game right at the beginning of her first season, when she was 6 months old... Catie at 2 1/2!) We had a great time but could only sit in our seats for 1 1/2 innings because it was way too hot for the girls! When it's like 88, there isn't a breeze and the sun's beating down on us, our seats are HOT! The girls were getting way overheated so we walked around, did the slide and had a great time!

When we got home, we turned on the sprinklers

and had water play!

"Well, it IS broken!"

2008-04-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

Our doctor called and confirmed that Ginger did fracture her arm! We were having a playdate/picnic at the park with a bunch of her friends and she was having a great time! She tripped and fell on her arm and I could tell immediately this wasn't her average injury. It there was ever a time she would bounce back super fast, it's at playdate/picnic with her buddies! She tried to, poor thing. She went back to the play structure and wanted to play but her arm just hurt too bad! She has been such a trooper! The doctor even said it was hard to tell where it was hurt because she was being so "stoic"! We are very lucky because it is the most minor fracture possible and she has a brace instead of a cast which is so much easier.

Worst Blogger Ever!

2008-04-09T21:23:00.001-07:00

I am officially The Worst Blogger Ever! I have the best intentions, but run into a little trouble uploading pictures and am deterred from wanting to try again! But Catie is doing so great, that I want to make sure I keep record of it!

She had the best session with Doug, her speech pathologist, today. She didn't more parroting than she has, and he went through all the vowel sounds with her and she said them, and laughed so hard when he and I got so excited for her! She was so funny! It was so great to see her enjoying it so much. We could tell by the look on her face that she was excited anticipating our reaction to her saying what we asked of her. He does a matching exercise with her where he asks her to hand him the matching card to the one he is holding in his hand. And she did it almost every single time! It was such a great day.

Here's some more of what we've been seeing from Catie:

She's joining in groups of kids more and enjoying participating/playing with them.

Today at school she joined in with a group of kids playing Legos. At the Easter Egg Hunt downtown she joined a group of girls who were dancing, and it was different. Before she would dance, but not really with the kids. These were kid we didn't know and she was right in with them, looking up at them, laughing with them. She's joining in a lot more with her and Ginger's friends. It's great to watch her really connecting with and enjoying other kids.

She notices conversations going on around her. Really looking at others when they are talking.

She's understanding commands (Come on, let's go... Please go wash your hands... Can you give Mommy a kiss) and following through.

All of this progress is awesome! Especially all of the social progress... playing with others, joining in more, interacting more. I feel like with that all clearing up, our autism fears are going away and what we are really left with is speech delays. I can't tell you how good that feels! I hear by promise to keep better records of all her progress and just our everyday activities. Wish me luck getting my IPhoto problems straightened out so I can get some of the great pictures we've taken lately, up!

Progress

2008-03-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Catie had her surgery a week ago today. It was such an emotional day for everyone. I don't think we realized how much so until they came out of the operating room and told us that her hearing, with the tubes, was great and that she wouldn't need hearing aides. That's when I broke down. There had been so many unknowns and we finally had someone telling us something definitive.

The next few days we felt like we were severely hungover. I don't think we realized how much of a toll that not knowing and waiting had been taking on us. We were exhausted but eagerly watching Catie for signs of change. As she started progressing with little changes each day, we finally started to believe and really see that yes, we are on the right track. For months I had been fluctuating between all the different possible diagnosises one minute to "I know she's going to be fine" the next. I realized Tuesday that all those months, more than knowing she was going to be fine, I was hoping and reassuring myself that she would be. Tuesday a calm and confidence came over me, it's difficult to explain. I really knew, I felt it, I could see it... she is going to be more than fine. She is such a smart, loving, happy little girl... she just can't vocalize herself right now. But she will. We have seen some great little changes in her already, signs of progress.

The biggest changes we have seen are Catie is looking at people more now when they talk to her, interacting with people more and really enjoying it. These may seem small, but it's huge for us, and they are great first steps. Before it was like Catie didn't realize we were talking to her. It's amazing to think that for years she hasn't know we were talking to her. And how much she adapted to this world, not being able to understand us. She can communicate with us so well without using words. This is amazing to see how much she adapted, how well she communicates without words, and how happy she is. I feel like I would be so irritated and frustrated if I couldn't understand what was going on around me and if most people couldn't understand. Now it's like a light bulb turned on and she realizes we are communicating with her. There seems to be a different connection with her now with all of us, like she understands now, she gets it. It's difficult to explain but it's amazing to watch your daughters play together, the same as they use to, but something is just a little bit different. There is a different connection between them. It's amazing. There's nothing better.

Here is some more of the progress we've seen so far:

Friday:
Nonna pulled into the driveway, I pointed and said "Look, Nonna's here". She looked (which she never did before) and she walked to the door to greet her.

Saturday:
She was tired and ready for bed. I asked her "Are you ready for night-night?" she started walking to her room. (Awesome!) I said "Wait, go say night-night to Daddy. Kiss Daddy night-night". She walked out to the kitchen (Even more awesome!)

Sunday:
She and I went out to grab coffee. When we walked in the house she called out a definite greeting that sounded like a combination of hello and hola.

We were at the Discovery Museum and Catie and I were in the Tot Spot. I asked her if she wanted to go find Ginger and Daddy. She obviously stopped and thought about it, then ran all the way back to where we split from them. Then took my hand as we walked I kept saying "Where's Daddy? Where's Ginger?" She was saying their names and attempting to say "where". She ran up to them and was so excited to see them.

Monday:
At school she sat and played with two other kids. She never did this before. If she interacted with kids before, it was to take something from them!

When I picked her up from school, I had her on my hip and was talking to Auntie Sue, her teacher, and two mom's walked and greeted their kids at the door. Catie's back was to the door, but she turned to look at the interaction. Auntie Sue and I looked at each other and both said "She never would have noticed that before".

Tuesday:
We were getting ready for the gym and I said "Come on Catie, let's get dressed". She came in her room, turned her back to me so I could pick her up and put her on the changing table to change her diaper and get her dressed.

She had her first session with her home teacher since her surgery and she did better than she ever has. She interacted with her more and said or attempted more words.

Wednesday:
As we walked up to school, we saw Lisa and her daughter Nina. They said "Hi" to us and Catie responded "Hi". I looked at Lisa and said "That was Catie, wasn't it?!" She said "Yes, that was Catie!" I got tears in my eyes! Then Lisa talked to her some more and Catie looked at her. Lisa said "She never would have done that before!"

Catie had her first speech session with Doug since her surgery. He said he could hear her saying some soft sounds. This is incredible because Doug is the one who suggested we look into hearing loss more because he wasn't hearing her say any soft sounds.

Her new words since the surgery...
Hello
Hi
Key
Popcorn
Rabbit
Hop

Also, Papa mentioned that he thought her voice sounded different. Britt and I did too so we were happy to hear that he noticed too. Words she was saying before the surgery like Mommy, Daddy and Ginger, sound different too... clearer. It's all so awesome.

We know we have a long road ahead of us and each of these are baby steps. But we are so happy to see progress and know that we are only going to continue to see her continue this progress. We have all the time in the world, it's a journey not a race. And we are so grateful for all the support and help that she is receiving to continue on this journey and to continue making such great progress. We are also extremely grateful for all the love and support we have received from family and friends. That support is invaluable and we couldn't have made it through the past few months without.

January Pictures

2008-01-01T12:21:00.000-08:00