Getting Back on Schedule

Well, we're trying to at least! Auggie's speech and auditory therapy sessions started back up on Monday. Speech went well! Ms. Darlene was impressed by how much better she's understanding Auggie. She hasn't seen him since the week before Christmas so she was very surprised to understand him better. He showed off his version of "There he is!" verbally and she liked what she heard. YAY! She was happy with how he's attempting to say three word phrases. We just really need to focus on getting him to enunciate!

Auggie's auditory session wasn't too great. We've all been dealing with a cold so we've all been tired, stuffy and not feeling too great in general. Auggie was having a difficult morning so he wasn't too happy when Ms. Melinda walked in the house. He ended up pulling the Play Doh out of her bag while we were talking so that helped his mood. He had fun with it but I am so happy we don't own Play Doh yet! It's only been in the house twice and I've found little bits of it around! He likes using the rolling pin to flatten out the Play Doh but he doesn't like using cookie cutters on it. I love seeing him concentrate on it. Aside from his attitude, he signed a little bit and played with both of us.

We found out at Melinda's last appointment (before the holiday) that Auggie may not qualify for the Head Start Program in College Station. WHAT?!?! I couldn't believe it! I'm very glad that he's up to speed and where he needs to be but WHAT?? How can a child with a profound hearing loss not qualify for a program to help children with disabilities? Melinda said he probably would qualify under speech. If he doesn't, they may be able to find a loophole. Well, I hope there's a loophole. We've been planning on him going to Head Start since we heard about it. I know being around other little kids will really help him out and he'll enjoy it! I just wish we didn't have to wait until May to figure out if he'll qualify or not. Our case worker didn't seem too interested in answering my questions at our last meeting so I figured I'd just wait and bombard her when I see her again (whenever that is!).

Auggie has been showing his Terrible 2 side lately and I'm hoping once we get on a better schedule, he'll be better. I'll even take just a little bit better. Tim has been out of town a lot and I'm sure that wears on all 3 of us. Auggie will ask for Daddy all day long but once Daddy's home, Auggie will play with him for 10 minutes and then want to be all over me again. I have a feeling there's a Father-Son weekend coming up once Tim gets back from his 2 week work trip. We spent the weekend at my parents' house and we had a few melt downs (me included). It'll get better. But anyway.. enough with the tantrum talk!

Auggie and I went to the park after his speech appointment on Monday. He enjoyed being outside even if it wasn't for long. Its been cool here and on top of our colds, I didn't want to get any sicker. He really surprised when he counted to 20 (!!) all by himself! He was walking around the playground's border and counting his steps. He took more than 20 steps but he didn't skip a number! There was a mom there that heard him and she laughed and said "he sure doesn't sound like a 26 month old!" Go Auggie!

Auggie has also started interacting with the shows he watches on TV. His newest obsession is Shaun the Sheep. It's a cute claymation-type cartoon about sheep, a farm dog and their owner. Shaun sometimes dances at the end of the episodes and the following video is a little bit of Auggie dancing. Under the video is a better version of the dance Auggie copies.

Mr. Excited!
He ate 2 blue Dum Dums in a row. He was very happy about that and then he
saw his tongue! 

Auggie sat down next to PawPaw. When he saw me pull out my camera, he
pulled PawPaw's arm closer around him. SO SWEET!

Auggie still didn't like Santa!

Paparazzi!

I found Auggie laying down like this
towards the end of the  party

We Wish You a Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas already! I can't believe it. Well, I can never really believe how fast time flies with Auggie running around. 

Auggie got his big Christmas present last weekend- a train table! He loves it! Now he just needs some trains and track to go with it. I have a feeling Santa might take care of that! Auggie will come up to Tim or me and pull us into his room so he has someone to play in front of. The keywords there are "in front of" since he really doesn't want us to actually interact with him while he's at the table. It's cute but it'll be nice when he'll play by himself with his toys in his room. I say that and I know once he plays by himself, I'm going to say "oh, where did the time go??"

Where has the time gone? Auggie's beginning to sing along with us when we sing to the radio or when Tim busts out with a random song doing dishes. It started with the ABC's and he's now singing along to The Lumineers or some Black Eyed Peas.  He's even started mimicking Tim's whistling! His squeals are pretty high up there so he lets out a short squeal to match Tim's whistle. It's cute! 

We're continuing to work on his signs. Auggie's added "alligator," "silly" and "kangaroo" to his vocabulary and he's using "music," "dance," "mommy" and "daddy" a lot more. (Remember, if you'd like to see what the signs look like, please click the link included on each word.)

Auggie's also using "where" often! I think it's his version of "what's that?" Haha. Every toddler I've known has gone through that phase and I'm sure Auggie will go through it, too. He'll hide his cars or trains and come up to us with his index finger pointed and waving and say "wheerree?" Then one of us will say "where's what?" and he'll giggle and run to go find them. 

Well, I will leave y'all with some photos and a couple videos

lights!

Twas the Night Before Christmas

What are these things??

Auggie's Christmas ornaments (2010, 2011 and 2012)

hanging out at the park

Just swinging

(Sorry, I still haven't figure out how to make the videos bigger):

Look! It's a Bird! It's an Airplane....

Nope! It's just Auggie signing away!

He's signing "more,""outside," "bird" and "airplane!" Auggie's version of outside is a little different but he definitely gets what he wants across. He is in love with birds! I can't believe how much he likes them... but then again, Tim and I love birds, too. Auggie likes to sit or stand at the back door and look at the White Wing Doves, House Sparrows and Grackles on the fence, bushes or power lines.




Auggie is also eating more! Can you believe it? It only took him 8 months to start liking and eating solid foods! This morning he had a little bit of waffles for breakfast. He enjoyed them with and without syrup. He kept shoving all the pieces in his mouth and then spitting them back out. When he's done eating, he usually signs "all done."




He's also been eating cheese nips, 'nilla wafers, dried cranberries and he even had a few Frito chips on Sunday! I am definitely loving that he eats but I hate having to clean up all those little pieces he leaves on the floor. Guess I better get used to cleaning our floors more often!

Sunday brought the College Station area some cloudy weather which turned into rainy weather on Monday. If you're from Houston, you know what I'm talking about. We only got about 0.4" of rain here but some Houston areas got up to 6"! No thanks! I don't miss seeing some highways flooded. Monday turned into a good day to hang out at the mall. They have an indoor playground at the food court so I took Auggie there for an hour or so. Once he figured out how to go down the slide, it was all he wanted to do! He only had one fall which knocked off one of his BAHAs but once it was back on, he was on the move again. There were 2 little girls a little older than him and then 2 older kids (probably 7 or 8) so the playground wasn't that busy. I was surprised.




Since I am oh so late in posting actual camera pictures, I'll start from where I left off- Christmas!

Auggie and Delaney had a little playdate while we were in La Porte
over Christmas weekend

He wanted to see what Cat was up to

The Wrights

Daddy and Auggie opening up a present

Cole in his Christmas gear

He stole Drake's hamburger patty (it's fake)

Drake and Nathan got Nerf Tommy Guns from Uncle Kristopher

Auggie, Drake and Nathan playing with Drake's grill

 The day of New Year's Eve, we met up with Jen, Dan and Zane at the Brazos Valley Children's Museum to drop the ball at noon. It was fun. I know the kids had a great time playing in the "under 3" area. Here are some pictures.

Playing with the boy in the mirror

Why the long face, bud??

Zane!

Auggie and Zane playing at the Children's Museum

Hi there!

What is THIS??!

He likes to lean back

The "crystal" ball the Children's Museum
dropped at noon on New Year's Eve

Auggie eating a wafer cookie

I'll have another good post for you on Thursday- more pictures!

Happy New Year!

Between going to and from Giddings and La Porte last week, I decided to take a break from blogging. I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We spent Christmas weekend in La Porte with my family. We had a great time seeing all the kids anddd of course, staying up til 2 or 3 in the morning having some good ol' adult conversation!

Auggie had a few firsts while we were seeing family. He had his first ever Sonic drink! We get 'em hooked early in the Rigby family! Haha. He drank out of Gramma's cup while no one was watching. I was surprised he actually got something from a straw that long.

He's also started to sign bird and say "quack quack" more often. He's even started saying "GO!" when we're playing with his pop-up toy. I'm hoping to get a video of it soon. He always seems to stop just about the time I get my camera going!

Auggie's also working on all four of his premolars. Poor bud! He's been chewing on everything. Luckily he sticks to mostly toys and stays away from dirt, rocks and other yucky stuff. Only one has popped through the skin so I'm sure the other 3 are working their way out. I hope they don't cause too much trouble for him.

We spent New Year's Eve in Giddings. We spent almost 2 hours popping fireworks and playing with sparklers. Auggie liked the fireworks as long as he was in my arms. It was nice being around family for another holiday and even better that Auggie slept through the night in the pack-n-play! We've had some rough nights in pack-n-plays.

I'll have more pictures for you on Thursday but here are some from my phone.

Guess who is working on all FOUR of his
premolars!?!
Yep! That guy!

He enjoys playing with the tool bench.
Within the last few days, he even uses the hammer
on it 

MMM... drum sticks!

Playing with a nerf gun

He loved following Nathan and Drake around
He is SO ready to be able to run with them!

Being silly in Target

Being silly in Target

Auggie was happy to have the dogs back

Playing with another Christmas present

Monday morning

mmmm... those toes are yummy!

Made these for my sisters, brother and mom & dad for Christmas

Playing in his toy bucket

Sick day last Thursday
Daddy and Auggie watching Signing Time

Trying to make the puppy wiggle his ear
I broke the battery compartment the other day...
I still feel bad!

New bath toys! Everyone knew Auggie would like the bathketball
set... he got 3 for Christmas!

Laying down on his pillow corner

Aunt Jamie and Gramma got Auggie to eat 3 fruit loops!

Auggie loved looking at Mom's Dopey figurines