Busy Summer Fun

Sorry it's been a while since the last post. We've been busy with summer school, another small vacation and getting ready for baby sister!

For July 4th weekend we took a short trip down to CO Springs with the camper and went to the zoo and The North Pole again. We met up with Jamie's friend Cindy and her 2 daughters at the zoo and Kinsey really enjoyed having some friends to play with for the day. She wasn't crazy about feeding the giraffes this year, but she really got into feeding the little birds and watching the gorillas. Our day at The North Pole got rained out, but after the weather cleared up, we went swimming at the campground and Kinsey had a great time "swimming by herself" for the first time using a small inner tube and arm floaties! It was amazing to see her enjoying the pool all by herself! The other exciting thing that happened on the trip was watching Kinsey climb the stairs of a playground all by herself - she can climb stairs as long as she has hands to hold or handrails on both sides and this playground had the perfect handrails for her.

Here's a link to the pictures from that trip: https://gangestadjuly2015.shutterfly.com/pictures/8

Kinsey is finished with summer school now and has about a full month off before returning for her final year of preschool. She really enjoyed attending school over the summer - not sure how I'm going to keep her entertained for the next month!

Since Kinsey's on Medicaid now, we finally got her set up for some speech therapy in addition to what she gets at school. I've been wanting to do that for a while since she only gets about 30 minutes of specific time with the speech therapist at school, but insurance was an issue. Anyway, last week she had her evaluation and now we're set up for 2 sessions a week. Right now I have to take her to the office in Fort Collins, but starting in Sept. they have a therapist who will be able to come to the house instead, which will be great so I don't have to drag 2 kids out for an apt twice a week. We're hoping the speech therapy will help her start talking and also help with the drooling, which has already been improving lately, but it sure would be nice if she could stop needing the bibs!

This week Kinsey got a new pair of glasses! The old ones weren't reaching all the way behind her ears anymore so it was getting really hard to keep them on her face. She also needed a slightly stronger prescription for the left eye. These glasses are totally different than before - no nose pads for her to bite off anymore! (Although she has gotten better about that lately. In fact, she pushes her glasses back into place when they slide down her nose and she hands them to me when she takes them off now instead of just chewing on them or throwing them on the floor.)

Catching Up on Our Summer Fun!

We've been having so much fun lately! A few weeks ago, we went on our big vacation for this year to the Mount Rushmore area in South Dakota. We took the camper and stayed the first part of the trip at a KOA campground in Rapid City. We were so impressed with Rapid! They have a great little downtown area (sort of similar to Old Town in Fort Collins) with lots of fun shops and great restaurants, but also a fun little square with a splash park, grassy area and stage. We ended up going there for a little while each day we were in town and the square was packed every day - especially with kids running around in the splash park. Apparently they do free concerts and movies at night on the stage too, but we didn't see any of those. Kinsey really enjoyed the splash park - it was fun to watch her run around with the other kids since the last time we went to a splash park last summer she didn't like it because she wasn't walking and couldn't get out of the way of the water when she wanted to. It's so different now that she can run around like the other kids!

There's also a great park with several playground areas around the corner from the downtown area that we went to one afternoon. But Rapid also has tons of great kid tourist things to do too - we went to Bear Country USA, which is a drive-thru zoo. You're only going about 2 miles an hour, so we were able to get Kinsey out of her carseat and let her come up front with us to see the animals. She really enjoyed it. They also have an area where you can get out and walk around to see some smaller and baby animals (more like a regular zoo) and Kinsey found a young girl to befriend while we were there. She kept grabbing her hand and walking around with her - it was so cute. We took some pictures of them together.

We went to Reptile Gardens where Kinsey really liked checking out the giant tortoises, watching the gator show and hugging a baby alligator, petting a snake and giving a parrot a dollar bill. She was really intrigued by some baby turtles that were in a little enclosed area that she was determined to climb into with them. And she and a python had a mutual interest in each other - fortunately through a piece of glass. It was really cool to watch though - they were watching each other very intently.

We also went to a place called Old MacDonald's farm where Kinsey enjoyed some things she can do at home like a barrel train ride and hugging a baby goat, but she also got to ride a pony and help feed a calf a bottle of milk (boy they drink fast!). It was a fun place.

For the end of the trip, we relocated to Custer, SD to stay at Bedrock City, a Flintstone-themed RV and theme park. Unfortunately the theme park was pretty disappointing (pretty run-down and basic) and Custer was tiny and boring too. When we were at the splash park one day in Rapid we met a local who told us about a great hamburger joint and a pie place that we had to try in Custer - those turned out to be the best things about that city. We ate at each of them twice! 

Kinsey also decided on this trip that she likes the swimming pool again - yeah! We were fortunate that the KOA had a regular pool as well as a kiddie pool and we used the kiddie pool to ease her in. Once she got used to having her feet in the kiddie pool, we got her in all the way, then we eased her into the regular pool too. She was unsure, but it worked and now she loves it again like 2 years ago :) We had a rainy, cold day and found a nearby hot springs indoor pool to go to that day. They had 2 kiddie pools - one was only 1 ft deep and the other was 3 ft deep with a little water slide that Kinsey loved! I wish we could've gotten a video or pictures of her on it, but it took one of us to put her on the slide and the other to catch her at the bottom, so no extra hands for the camera.

Of course, we went to see Mount Rushmore while we were there too. Kinsey didn't care about that, but we enjoyed it. Kinsey's favorite part of that was bouncing down a bunch of stairs in the stroller! I'm not sure who enjoyed that more - Kinsey or the people going up the stairs that were laughing at her laughing! Going back up was nowhere near as fun for any of us though!

Kinsey did great on the whole trip - sleeping well in the camper for the most part and was good in the car (as usual). We were careful not to plan too much each day and tried to give her lots of playtime. She was most interested in making friends and playing with other kids everywhere we went. It's so sweet to watch how friendly she is, but at the same time it breaks my heart to see the reactions of other kids sometimes. Some are friendly and play with her or hold her hand, but others stare and some run away :( It's awkward because she approaches them, but then just stares at them, reaches for their hand or starts making gestures they don't understand. We try to help by introducing her and explaining that she doesn't talk, but wants to play, which works sometimes. On the other hand, some kids are extremely receptive to her - like the young girl at Bear Country or 3 young girls we met at the pool one night who took turns holding and hugging her while near the stairs of the pool. They were really sweet. 

Since we've been home, we've continued to have lots of fun. Kinsey started summer school, which is Tues and Thurs mornings for 3 hours. We also started music class on Wed mornings - the same class we used to do a few years ago and she's liking that a lot. We decided not to do gymnastics since she got sick a few days after the trial class (I blame the foam pit)! I can clean everything she touches at the music class, so that makes us feel a little better.

Anyway, we've spent lots of time in the water - going to the beach lake with Aliy and her kids, checking out City Park Pool, which is zero entry with play structures, and going to the local splash park with our MOPS group. I was really impressed with how well Kinsey walked on the sand at the beach! Here's a video and here's one of her playing at the splash park too.

I have so many pictures from vacation and the last couple of weeks - too many to post, so you can view them here instead (If you've already seen them on Facebook, they're all the same). A few pictures and vidoes that haven't already been on Facebook are below.

Enjoying a merry go round. 
Swimming with daddy.

At Carhenge:

 

Enjoying the Pool: 

 

Eating one of the best burgers in the country (as rated by Food Network)

 

Playing at City Park Pool

A hospital stay...make that two!

This is just a quick update from the last two weeks...

Kinsey came down with a cold two weekends ago. Started out as just a runny nose on Saturday, but by Sunday evening we were on our way to the ER with her. As usual, a cold somehow devolved into lots of puking, which began to turn brown. Turned out it wasn't serious, just that somewhere along her system got irritated by all the throwing up and started to bleed. Anyway, she was admitted to the hospital, but improving by the following afternoon. She was sitting up, watching tv, and eating and holding it down. She needed oxygen, but we could take care of that at home, so they discharged her. She was understandably exhausted and slept all night long, but the next day when we expected more improvement, she got worse. She wanted to sleep all day and when she was up, she was complaining and unable to hold even water down again. After a call to the pediatrician, we were headed back to the ER again less than 24 hours later! She was admitted again, but they still didn't find anything more than a cold wrong with her. By the following afternoon she began to improve again, but there was no way they were letting us go home that quickly again. By that night, she was eating like a champ...downing a bowl of Mac n cheese like no tomorrow, staying up till late into the night and causing trouble...she bit through the connector on her IV and was pulling on all her other cords, so they disconnected everything. By thurs morning, she was more than ready to go home. She even walked out of the hospital!

Since we've been home, she's been doing great. Her cough is even gone now and she's been eating like crazy...guess she has to make up for not eating for 3.5 days! She's even been causing trouble as usual. This is her latest...really trying to climb out of her crib!

And we've been doing lots of playing. I recently taught her a new matching game. She continues to impress me!

Anyway, tomorrow we are headed out of town on our first summer vacation to Mount Rushmore, so lots of pictures coming in the next few weeks!

End of School

Kinsey finished her second year of preschool this week . . . I would say it's summer, but it's hard to wrap my head around that idea since it's been 40, rainy and cloudy all week long and doesn't feel one bit like summer :(

Her class did their end of year program last week and my sweet girl was a flower in the story of a butterfly's life. Cutest little flower in the world! And I was so proud to see her standing up on the stage all by herself!

 

Kinsey will have Extended School Year again this summer, which is 2 mornings a week for 5 weeks, but we've got a few weeks off before that starts. We're looking forward to a vacation in our camper in a couple of weeks. I'm also signing Kinsey up for a toddler gymnastics class that's one morning a week. We went for a trial class this morning and she enjoyed it. They have a little obstacle course to go through, a small trampoline that's built into the floor, a foam pit and floor fun time. I think she'll like it even more as she gets used to all the activities. 

Kinsey gave me a heart attack this week - she managed to find one of those Silica Packets that comes in bags and shoes for keeping them dry and of course she put it in her mouth. I found her with it after she'd already put the entire thing in her mouth and went into total panic mode because I know they clearly say on them Do Not Eat! I'm always really careful about throwing them away because I knew this is exactly what would happen if she found one. I quickly fished as much of it as I could out of her mouth, attempted to rinse her mouth out, looked up the danger online and called Poison Control. Turns out Silica isn't toxic, it's mainly labeled that way because it's not food and it could be a joking hazard (the little Silica beads are hard). I watched her carefully the rest of the afternoon to make sure she was ok - she was perfectly fine after she got over being upset from me fishing it all out of her mouth - I was the one who was traumatized! Not that I'm going to relax about those packets now, but at least I know they're not toxic! 

Last night Kinsey did something new - she picked up her little cup off the table and took it straight over to the water dispenser in the door of the fridge. She put the cup behind the lever, so she didn't get any water, but she had the right idea! I helped her do it a few times (putting just about 1/4" of water in the cup each time). I tried to get it on video, but it's not very good.

Not much else to report right now. Hopefully the weather will improve and start to feel like summer soon and we'll be able to go out and play with the baby goats and do other things outside! 

Catching Up

I'm catching up on a few weeks in pictures and videos: 

The Garbage Man visited the Preschool class a few weeks ago and all the kids thought that was pretty cool. Kinsey sat in the front seat: 

 

 

Gramma bought Kinsey her own purse for Christmas this year (a real leather one from Florence, Italy!). It's full of little toys that she can play with when we're waiting for our food at a restaurant and it's a great way to keep her entertained. She loves taking it in with her and insists on carrying it on her shoulder just like mommy! 

 

Silly girl! 

 

Last weekend the local kid's store Clothes Pony celebrated their 5th birthday with a pony out front, appropriately. Kinsey got to pet and brush one of the ponies while we waited in the long line for a short ride on the other pony. She loved it and it gave me inspiration for her birthday party this year (more on that when it gets closer). 

 

Kinsey also has some new friends to play with here at home now too . . this week one of our goats had her babies! We have a little boy and a little girl and they're so adorable and tiny! They are dwarf goats, so even mom is little. Kinsey loves them and she's even really gentle with them too!

Kinsey's really growing in lots of ways and doing cool new things all the time. A few weeks ago I took this video of her putting together some matching animal toys. This was super impressive because she was matching the colors, but also because she was making sure the body parts were matched up correctly so the animals could stand on their feet and also because these are a little difficult to push together, especially for her hands.

She's also started clapping for herself when she does something. I took this video the other day. They've taught her this at school.

Things are moving along well with my pregnancy. A few weeks ago I took my 20 week belly photo and Kinsey had to get in on the action:

Easter Fun and a Growth Spurt

Kinsey really enjoyed Easter this year! She had lots of fun coloring the eggs again and the Easter Egg Hunt was a big hit - so much fun that she could walk around by herself!

Kinsey has also been enjoying the goodies the Easter Bunny brought her, including these cool large stamps and stamp pads.

She's really trying to communicate more these days. She's constantly pointing and making a noise that's an obvious question. She's also getting frustrated more because she can't communicate. She's had some rough days at school lately crying a lot when she doesn't get what she wants. She's also got a new fun way of taking a bath - she likes laying down and "swimming" in the tub, on her stomach and her back.

We're making progress on the addition to our house - the foundation was poured a week ago and Kinsey really enjoyed "supervising" from the windows. The framers will be here next week so I'm
sure she'll really enjoy that!

Kinsey spent a solid week eating everything in sight and then she spent a week sleeping a lot more than normal so we figured she was going through a growth spurt. We finally measured her and we were right - she grew 2 inches (up to 40" now) and gained 2 pounds (up to 30.5 pounds now)!

On another note, we'll be at 20 weeks with Kinsey's future little sister on Monday. Halfway there! I can feel her moving around all the time now and we're starting to see my stomach move when she moves too. I'm sure Kinsey will get a kick out of it when she can really see her moving! And if you haven't heard yet, her name will be Winnie Ann :)

Catching Up

Kinsey had a really bad cold a couple of weeks ago (only a week after recovering from a minor one). She missed a whole week of school because of it and had a rough couple of days before she started to recover. We took her to the doctor to be sure she didn't have RSV because that's been going around here, but she didn't have that or the flu. We were able to avoid the hospital since we had the oxygen here at home and were able to monitor her oxygen levels, which were down in the 70s even on oxygen sometimes. But she recovered after a rough couple of days and quickly got back to her normal self.

Since recovering from the cold, she's been eating like crazy! At first I thought she was making up for not eating for a few days, but she's kept it up with every meal for the last 2 weeks. She must be getting ready to grow! She's getting better at using a fork and spoon on her own. I've tried to get her on video with a spoon a few times, but as usual, she always stops as soon as I get the camera out. Stinker!

She's been having a fabulous time at school too. The teachers are always telling us how social she is - constantly wanting to hug her classmates and following them around on the playground.

We finally took her for updated allergy testing recently and it appears that she has outgrown the egg allergy! Woo hoo! The doctor said all the breads she's been eating helped get her body used to eggs. We need to do a "challenge" with a little bit of cooked egg like scrambled or french toast and watch her for a reaction, but she was sick and we haven't had a good time to do that yet. But we have given her things like mayonnaise and she had some items from a salad that had hard boiled eggs on it and no reaction to those.

Kinsey's personality has continued to expand and she's finding new ways to express herself all the time. She knows how to ask for what she wants, usually by pointing and making a noise. She's been playing with her baby dolls a lot lately and I see her wrapping them in "blankets" all the time and carrying them around like that or I find them laying on the floor under a blanket. So cute. She's also been loving the warmer temperatures and being able to play outside, especially with the chickens and goats. It's fun that she can walk around outside by herself - now she can really play outside.

We watched her do something really interesting a few weeks ago - Jamie put the hamster in the bath tub and Kinsey was standing outside it watching him run around in the tub. She really wanted to get to him, but couldn't reach so she decided to try to climb in the tub. Turns out she can get one leg up on the edge of the tub, which in itself is impressive because the tub edge is pretty tall. But she still couldn't get in, so she turned around and grabbed the stool that's under the sink and we use for her to wash her hands in the sink. She pulled it out from under the sink and over to the tub, climbed up on the stool while holding onto the edge of the tub, swung one leg over the tub and then grabbed Jamie's hand to stabilize herself while swinging the other leg into the tub! We were so impressed with the thought process and problem solving skills that went into the whole thing.

Fortunately Kinsey recovered from her cold in time for us to take her to see Disney on Ice last Saturday. We'd bought front row tickets for the show so we were so glad we were still able to go. And Kinsey LOVED it! She got frustrated with us a couple of times because we wouldn't let her get down - there was no wall between our seats and the ice rink and we were afraid she's try to just walk right out there. She wanted to reach out and touch all the characters, especially Mickey and Minnie and some of the toys from Toy Story. Here are a couple of pictures and a little video. You can see how excited she was watching the show. We'll definitely take her to see a show like that again!

I think I remembered all the updates for now. . .