TGIF

The week has flown by in a big blur of sleepless nights, crying fits that seems to last for hours, yucky colds, long exams, death-defying plummets over crib railings, long afternoon naps, and packing suitcases, with a few intermittent trips to the park thrown in to keep the sanity.

So to celebrate the fact that it is Friday and we have successfully made it to the weekend, the girls and I took a morning adventure to Highgate Wood - a park we haven't yet explored.

It's a straight shot from our house on either the bus or the train. Victoria has been wanting to ride the train for the last couple weeks, but since it's almost a mile walk to the train station, I decided we would take the train there, and then the bus to come home (since it drops us right outside our door).

We took our time getting to the train, stopping along the way at all our usual stops (it's the same route we take to Antalya's school everyday). Victoria was so excited when we made it to the train (you'd think this girl had never ridden the train before), but she played it cool sitting in her own seat for the entire 10 min ride.


The park was beautiful. But then again, all English parks are truly amazing. It's one of the things I will most miss about living in London. I loved walking through the wooded area, but Antalya all too quickly spotted a bright colored something in the distance and took off at mach-speed through the trees in hopes it was a playground.


The girls were happy to play while I chatted with a friend. It was like a little piece of heaven. I can't remember the last time I sat down on a park bench with a friend and was able to hold a conversation. Only once did I walk search the entire playarea in a bit of frantic wondering where Antalya had run off to (she was there the whole time, just hidden from my searching eye).

When we had had enough of the playground, we headed back to the wooded area for some climbing.


And then after a quick stop for ice cream we were on the bus back home - dirty and a bit tired, but happy!

And now for an update on all of us:

Jason is three exams down, two to go!

Sunny has surprisingly convinced her body that sleep isn't really all that necessary and is managing to get the house organized and things packed (hoping to be completely done and ready to go by next Saturday).

Antalya is finally on antibiotics for her sinus infection and eye infection. She was able to sleep last night, so I think we are on the mend (although watching Monsters Inc and eating popsicles at 1:00am was memorable, it's not something this momma enjoys on a regular basis).

Victoria has decided she is ready to be a big girl (despite my wishing that she would stay in a crib for another year). I took the side rail off her crib this morning and she was thrilled. And today instead of going down for a nap she got to sit on the couch with Antalya and watch a show. I was pleasantly surprised when this happened:

The Zoo

Yesterday we headed to the zoo with my mom and sister-in-law and her kids. I wish I could say Antalya was excited to see the animals, but no matter how excited I got, she just couldn't care less that there was a giant giraffe in front of us, or a monkey swinging in a tree. But we did find plenty of other things to entertain.

Why I Haven't Posted Lately

It seems lately as soon as I get a chance to sit down to the computer this cute little face wakes up from her nap and demands some attention (in fact, just as I wrote that sentence she woke up...argh! I better make this quick).


We've been busy chasing birds.


And chasing each other.
(The white dot is Victoria crawling as fast as she can to get the pink dot (Antalya) who is sprawled out on the grass)

And doing coloring. Lots and lots of coloring.



We've been playing in sand.


And admiring the tulips that are everywhere!


What have you been doing to enjoy the springtime weather?

Life is Therapy

Would you believe it took three years to work up to this hands-covered-in-sticky-gooey-icky-yucky-slimy-paint moment? It was a proud momma moment indeed!


For more Life is Therapy click here.

Life Is Therapy

It's been about eight months since Antalya has had any formal therapy. I try to make up for it with activities at home and encouraging her speech and practicing new sounds. Despite the lack of therapists in our life lately, I think she is still progressng and learning so much everyday.

I recently found this post about Life is Therapy (thanks Michelle) I couldn't agree more. There is so much to be learned everyday and so many new skills our little ones with special needs can be working on and perfecting without a "therapist" helping them along. Don't get me wrong - therapy has it's place, and I am anxious to get going with a regular program again (we had an assessment with a speech therapist just this morning).

So along the theme of Life is Therapy, here are some of the fun things we did on Saturday at our family outing to the Museum of Childhood..

Played with sand and was fascinated (like always) at the way it moves through little fingers.


Used gross motor skills to climb up into the ambulance and pretend drive it.

Practiced good cooking skills.

Learned about colors, mirrors, and lights.

Experimented with different textures and sensory input.

Sat a table in a public place and ordered food to eat (this was a BIG one - we haven't taken Antalya out to eat for a very long time, but we decided since the cafe was right there and there wouldn't be much of a wait for food, it would be good practice for her to have to sit at the table and eat whilst surrounded by people and distractions). Sorry there is no picture of this one - I was so impressed with her good manners that I was afraid pulling out the camera to document it would ruin the moment :)

And Victoria had a great time too!