Posting for Daddy

This blog posting is for Mike as he's out of town visiting his family in Omaha. We miss you and wanted to show you what the girls are up too. Saturday was filled with a birthday party, grocery store mayhem, and goofing around at home. Love you and miss you, R & C & S

Cece's 5th Birthday

When we asked Cece what she wanted to do for her birthday, she said have "a party." So yesterday (2 days before the official date of 2/20) we threw Cece her 5th birthday party. With the help of Kodiak's Bay Bounce (a new business in town which is opening a 'bounce' place and renting bounce houses), we rented 2 bounces houses (one for the smaller kiddos and one for Cece and the older kids). Balloons, food, drinks, cake/ cupcakes, party favors and Springhill Hall...and we were ready. We were so lucky to have so many friends and family join us. What a great (noisy, chaotic, fun) time! Special thanks to my hubby for manning the kitchen and to McKenzie and Joseph for helping with the party and taking pics. Here are a few of Joseph's pics.

Pics include the kids with the bounces houses (the larger one had a climbing wall in back which led up to a slide), cake and cupcakes (the cake was from Strawberry Shortcake pan from Grandma Elaine which was converted to a mermaid at the birthday girl's request, cupcakes were chocolate "sand"-covered for the beach and blue vanilla for water) (almost forgot to take pic of the cake and took this pic right after making the first cut :(, piano playing, gift opening, friends! Thanks again to Joseph for taking the pics.

Sophie and speech therapy

Sophie has started speech therapy this month as she's a bit delayed in her expressive language though her receptive language is great. She had a 2 hr assessment with an infant learning specialist, Amanda, who reported that it was the best assessment she's ever completed (very few children can tolerate 2 hr testing...of any age). Sophie was so eager to show what she knew and connected quickly with her new teacher. I've known Amanda for years and am so grateful that she'll be working with Sophie as she has a true gift with children.

It's a bit of a reversal for me being the parent of the patient as usually I am the therapist..albeit for physical therapy. So informative and eye-opening (i.e. a 2 hr assessment by a teacher was much more thorough than a 1 hr eval by a SLP, when you're paying for services co-treatment by professionals seems redundant and wasteful, silliness with children can be key in connecting with them, parents should be given precise instructions to help their child rather than the professional assuming their expertise is solely needed in meeting long long long term goals, etc.). Pediatric therapy is traditionally 1:1 with therapists for very long periods of time. Therapists can work with certain children for years and years, often with little connect and/ or contact with parents. And yet what does 1-3 hrs/ wk out of 70 to 112 waking hrs/ wk really amount to. Quite a bit of profit ($) for the therapies but I know there must be a better model that benefits the children more. Early Infant Learning in Anchorage is progressing to more parent instruction with one professional rather than 3 to 4 disciplines (SLP, OT, PT, and education/ infant learning) all converging onto already stressed families. The discipline that is 'most' needed will determine which professional sees the child and family OR which professional the child responds best to. And while this can be a bit of a sting for some therapists (as we all want to save the world), it really is in the best interest of the child and their family to prevent appointment overload and exhaustion while helping parents learn specific tactics or exercises or activities to help their children on a daily basis. And while there are certain children that truly need the 1:1 contact with multiple professionals, that is probably the exception rather than the rule. Food for thought.

Pics are of sleeping beauties, Sophie trying to use the potty on her doll's house, a few pics of the dishes I made for Mike and I (3 day raw food diet...nearly killed us but we did it; lasagna, apple pie and burgers) and an example of good ol' Kodiak driving this winter. -R

Final vacation pics

Pics from our visit to the Long Beach aquarium, Santa Monica and the LA Zoo. In the 2nd and 3rd photos, Mike and the girls are petting sharks. Great times, good memories but we're all happy to be back in Kodiak. Back home. -R

A few more vacation pics

Yet more pics. Cece in Puerto Vallarta along their boardwalk (beautiful beach, water, sculptures), Sophie and Cece with Pluto (Sophie's favorite disney character), Cece's cool dance moves at a kid dance party (Mike taught her everything she knows), Cece and Sophie with Ariel, Sophie with a new toy at the pirate party and a few more statues in Puerto Vallarta.

More vacation pics

I'm feeling the need to wrap up posting pics of our vacation...and then I can post the latest (or rather our recovery) on our raw food 3-day detox diet and other family events.

So to recap, on 1/6 we flew to Anchorage to Portland then LA in an agonizingly long day. Flying from AK and then with children is only for the brave of heart and only to be attempted on a rare occasion. Upon arriving in LA after ~15 hrs of travel, we dragged our weary selves to our hotel. We enjoyed a day in Long Beach and at a local walk-in clinic (Sophie was refusing the meds her Dr prescribed on Thurs. for a skin problem). That night after enjoying a greek restaurant and Boston's pizza, Cece twisted her ankle. In the morning, a few hours before our scheduled cruise boarding, I took Cece to a local ER as she had a lump on the outside of her ankle and limping painfully. Luckily, Cece had no fracture and was back to normal in a day or two.

We eagerly boarded our boat on Sunday and so our cruise began. Nice people, good service, terrible GF food, and okay activities for children. We had a one day stop in Puerto Vallarta and then 1 and 1/2 days in Cabo San Lucas. Mike went on a fishing charter and Cece had a dolphin encounter. After our cruise, we spent a day around LA (the zoo, a raw food restaurant and then Santa Monica) before the long flights back to Kodiak. Good break from the cold in AK but we're now happy to be back home in Kodiak.

Pics above include the girls posing with a macaw in Puerto Vallarta, dinner, Sophie in the Oceanear's Club, and Cece lounging on our small deck 2 minutes after we got to our cabin.

Disney Cruise 1/2012

We've recently returned from a family vacation and Disney Cruise. So much to tell and so little time- highlights included Cece's dolphin encounter, Santa Monica, trip to a zoo, holding a baby tiger, PF Changs GF beef and broccoli, the pool at night and family time. Low points were 2 long days of flights, a trip to a walk-in LA medical clinic, visit to an ER in LA (everyone's fine now), and disappointing food on the boat. But all-in-all it was a great get-away and we're happy to be home. More pics to follow. -R