Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Christmas Break and more . . .

I'm sorry to admit that I didn't get any pictures of the girls opening their Christmas morning presents.  I know -  it's terrible, I didn't get any "first" Christmas photos.  I did get some video but nothing really worth posting.  At least they'll have that to see but I am sad that I missed the opportunity for some memorable shots.  It just got too crazy and everything went very fast.  Santa brought the girls a new indoor trampoline along with stockings full of socks, shoes, and dress up clothes.  Ever since, they've pretty much been alternating between bouncing and dancing. 

The trampoline has turned out to be a great addition to our playroom.  The twins' coordination has improved drastically just in the few days since Christmas.  They've gone from not being able to get their feet up at all and falling down to jumping pretty high and being able to maintain it.  It is great to see Courtney who probably is jumping a foot high now and landing on her feet!   It was only meant for fun but has turned out to be a great "therapy" tool for the twins.  In addition to the coordination benefits, it's also been teaching some valuable sharing lessons and counting as they each get 30 seconds when they're all wanting on it.  Camryn now looks for someone to start counting when it's her turn even if no one is waiting!  

The girls did very well with all of the exciting activity.  We haven't been venturing out too much because it is still difficult to keep everyone "contained" wherever we go but, we did enjoy a great dinner and evening with family on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning brunch.  After that, we had friends over Christmas day who cooked for us and played with the girls all day.  That turned out to be a great present for me!   Santa left me a copy of "Mama Mia" in my stocking and we had it going most of the day Christmas day.  By the end of the day, I think Katy pretty much had every scene memorized!  It's been on at least twice daily until loaning it out to a friend last night, so we did get a break from it today!   

In addition to venturing out to our family gatherings, we went to one friend's Christmas party which all the girls enjoyed and made a quick visit to the park to feed the ducks.  The girls all were very quiet and tried hard not to scare the ducks away.  I think it's more because when the flock flees it's a pretty scary sound and sight for them!  

Here are a few pictures of the activities I was able to capture . . . (By the way, for those who have asked about "bigger" pictures, you can click on the pictures and they should enlarge for you.)


Our visit to the park . . . 


Here come the hungry ducks . . . 





At our friends Christmas party . . . 

The best present of all was in this big green bag (it's Courtney!). . . 

Courtney and Braxton  who was very attentive to her all evening!


Courtney trying out Braxton's new scooter



Courtney demonstrating one of the many uses of diapers . . . 

Camryn's reaction to Courtney's clowning around  . . . 


Camryn telling her sisters to quiet down   . . . 


After spending a few minutes with Katy in her room, Camryn emerged as a new, cool dancer . . . 


Katy showing her little sisters how to twirl . . . 


and, how to be hip . . . 

how to slow dance . . . 

followed by a little "thank you" kiss

Katy playing a scene from "Mama Mia".   Camryn sings along too.


And that's the end of that show!

Other notables from this Christmas Break . . . Since we've been "cooped" up in the house all together much more than usual, Katy and Camryn have begun playing together a lot.  It's really cute to see them interact and they're very well suited to each other.  Katy has been allowed to join the 5 to 7 year olds in their "hip hop" class (a whole year early - I'm so proud!) which is a perfect fit for her.  She doesn't fool around at all in this class because she's completely enthralled with it and she is usually the best listener there.  She follows the instructor and then practices everything at home with Camryn.   Camryn holds her own with Katy but really enjoys the constant activity.  They play in the mud and dirt outside together and then come inside and play dress up and dance.  Courtney also loves to dance but she doesn't interact with the two of them quite as much.  She's always busy playing and doing something but I don't think she enjoys Katy's bossiness much (or the mud)!  But, she's never excluded and if she approaches the other two, they're quick to include her in their antics.  It's very heartwarming to watch and their interaction has grown substantially since Katy has been home with us every day.   

And, last but not least, I was finally able to get the girls assessed as far as development and speech goes.  Early Start called me back after I complained and said that there really is not rule that says they have to wait 6 months for internationally adopted children and made an appointment for me to bring them in today.  It went very well and they estimated the girls to be 50% behind in language and 25% behind developmentally.  Not bad at all considering they've only been exposed to English for 2 1/2 months!  Tomorrow I go back without the girls and listen to the recommendations made on helping them catch up before their 3rd birthday.  Both girls did great and really showed how far they have come - especially Courtney.  She actually was a little more advanced then Camryn in a couple of areas and wasn't really behind in any.  All of her "autistic" type behavior seems to be gone except in the bath tub and in the pool where she tends to get very "spastic".  But, that will eventually go away too I'm sure.  Even her eye doesn't wander anymore - it's just amazing to see.  So, even though I'm confident that the girls will catch up on their own I will get the help recommended to try to get them on target in the next 4 months.  After that they're turned over to the school district, however, I think the Montessori school will be more helpful so I'll stick with them.  

So, that's been our week in a nutshell.  Always busy and always happy.  It's such fun watching all of these things happening but, a little tiring at times too!  So, I'm done for the day and will start again in 7 1/2 hours when my early bird Katy wakes me up!  

Happy New Year to all!  So many families will be built and added to in the New Year - I can't wait to hear about some of them!




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