Update and Pics

She'll kill me for this one day! lol!!

Peek-a-boo!

This is what I found when I went to do laundry. JP decided Mr. Elephant needed a bath!

I'm a big boy! I can feed myself!

Is that Dasha or Elton John?

Dasha in pursuit on my pant's legs!

John Paul and Dasha are both doing great! John Paul had his evaluation for Pre-K last Friday. His eligibility meeting is on April 27th. I'm pretty excited about that for him. He really enjoyed visiting the kids in the Pre-K class while we were there. He also loved seeing the big kids in the hall way. Two little girls both looked at him and said, "Aww he's so cute." My little heart breaker. ;) We had a situation with the school psychologist that did his evaluation. It was quite unpleasant. I won't get into all of the details, but outside of the fact that she was rude and unknowledgable, she was trying to deny John Paul a full year of Pre-K because he turns 5 in May. She kept telling me that "it is against the law" for him to go to Pre-K in the fall and told me he would be placed in the moderately impaired Kindergarten class. I was ticked! So I researched "the law" myself and also had some friends send me more of "the law" and found out she either lied or didn't know "the law" as well as she thought. After all he has been through, he deserves a full year of Pre-K and by law he IS entitled to it until he is 6 years old! I had to make a complaint and it looks like he will be going to Pre-K in the fall. I will not stand for any other placement and the law supports it. We've entered the school system for the first time with a bang, huh?!

Last post I mentioned that they both had hearing screenings later that day. They both had great results and are hearing within the normal range.

John Paul is doing really well with his potty training. He is holding it for a long time now. He's signed potty a few times when he needs to go. And he has just gone to the bathroom doorway a few times and stood until I asked him if he needed to go. He is starting to be able to get his pull up or training pants down by himself. He needs a little help getting them back up though.

JP looked at me this evening with a little grin and then signed bird and cat for the first time! That was the sweetest! He is getting a lot more vocal since Dasha arrived. He tries to imitate her sounds and she imitates his. Dasha said, "mama" for the first time tonight!! She has said, "mamamama mama mamamama mama" many times, but this was the first clear "mama". It made me tear up. After she did it I said, "YAY Dasha, you said mama" and clapped for her. After that I kept saying mama to try to get her to do it again so Rick could hear her. Every time I would say mama, she would clap for me. lol!! Too cute! She did end up saying it again really clearly, but Rick missed it again. Then John Paul walked by and I said, "John Paul, Dasha said mama. Can you say mama?" He giggled and then said, "NNNNNana" really loud. He does say mama too. :)

I have been putting Dasha on the potty too even though she is so tiny on it! lol! She understands what to do when she is on it though. She doesn't let the fact that she can't stand independtly or walk hold her back when she is finished either! She leans over and bear hugs the pedestal sink and pulls herself up. She did this today while I was grabbing a diaper from the closet beside the bathroom! lol! A few days ago John Paul heard me telling her to "pee pee in the potty". He came flying around the corner and pointed his finger at the potty with an authoritarian look about him and said his version of the word potty. It was so funny! Dasha just looked at him like she didn't know what to think. He picked that up from me because he likes to get off the potty and close the bathroom door so that he can run around in there and play rather than use the potty. Sometimes I have to sit him down and tell him (while tapping the potty with my finger) in a firm voice to "pee pee in the potty and don't get up until you are all done." I guess he thought I needed some back up with Dasha! lol!! They are something else together.

Dasha is getting stronger. She is crawling all over the place! She has even learned to crawl all the way up the stairs by herself, with me behind her to make sure she doesn't fall of course! She has learned to walk behind her push walker by herself on the hardwood floor now. She was able to push it on the carpet about a week after she got here, but the hardwoods required more core strength and balance. She has that mastered now! She is a little go getter! She is into EVERYTHING! It is so nice to see though! She can get on and off the couch by herself too. She figured that out right after she came here. She saw John Paul doing it and the next thing I knew she was doing it too. It looks bizarre seeing her do some of the things she does because she is so little. She wears 6 month and some 6 to 9 month clothes. She stood for 4 seconds today with out any support. That was awesome! She likes to crawl over to you and grab your pants to pull herself up and then if you walk backwards, she will hold onto your pants and walk forward laughing and giggling the whole time. She is so happy to be up and moving. Bless her heart, she's just been waiting for someone to give her a chance to get around! She's a very smart little girl. She grabbed the hair brush tonight and started brushing her hair. John Paul likes to brush her hair too. And he is so gentle with her when he does it. It's so precious! I need to get video of it. The other day JP was brushing her hair and she started crawling off. He chased after her and kept brushing her hair! It was hysterical to see.

John Paul is really coming alive even more since Dasha came home. He seems to really enjoy his big brother role! He loves his little sister. He is always trying to help her. If she is climbing then he will grab her hand and pull her up. If he is behind her then he will push her up by her bottom. If she can't figure a toy out then he will stop what he is doing and show her how. What ever she is doing he is always there to supervise and help out when needed. lol! He's such an angel! they both are!