Well, Kate's working on scrapbooks, so whenever she breaks those out, that usually means its time for me to get back on here and blog! I really need to get better about this...
Here's a rundown of the last 6 months for everyone....
Emma just finished 2nd grade. She did an outstanding job all year improving her reading and
writing each and every marking period. About half way through the year, she really began to start liking football. It started with wanting to watch football with me every now and
then, and over time she began to want
to get football trading cards. Now, she has a little collection of them started and trades with the boys at school. Hopefully, this next school year will allow her to participate in some more activities outside of school like soccer or basketball. She's a good little athlete. We kick the soccer ball around in the yard and she's actually quite good. With school for Kate and I finally settled down, the sky is the limit for what she wants to do.
Carter finished kindergarten. He attended a full-day version by going to his regular teacher in the morning and then spending the afternoon in "kindergarten plus". I think it will certainly ease the transition to first grade and actually having to pay attention all day to what you are supposed to be learning. It was interesting to watch his interactions with his peers as well. The two years at Merrill Palmer at WSU definitely set him up for success both academically and socially. He seemed so at ease from the very beginning. His interests are as variable as ever. Some days its his Matchbox cars, the next day its his Nerf guns, while another its football. One thing he LOVES to do is help Kate give Caraline a bath. She does the bathing, but he helps her get prepared and get the lotions and towels ready. It's like he's her little helper. On the flip side, one thing that he HATES to do is ride his bike. Last time I got him on it, he screamed as loud as police siren while I ran down the street with him...while he was steadied by training wheels. That's my middle of the summer project for him...to get him to not be so terrified of the bike.
Caraline is GROWING! Kate took her in for her check-up a few weeks ago and she's up to 26.5
inches and 16.8lbs. She's babbling like crazy too. One of my favorite things to do with her is to sit her on my bed when we all get home from work/school and ask her about her day. She obviously has no idea yet what I'm asking, but she just jabbers, and jabbers and jabbers to me. The more I vary my pitch and inflections, the more animated she gets. It is quite entertaining. The big event of the last 6 months for her was her baptism in February. Nana 'Pock and Aunt Jenny came up to Michigan with Mom and Dad to spend the weekend with us and share in the celebration of marking her as one of God's own.
Kate is still going strong at Children's Hospital. She has such a cool job. Not to knock the SLP's in schools, but she gets to see the really interesting stuff at her place. Her days are long (10hrs), but the 3 day weekends are nice. I know that she really enjoys it - even on days when her caseload is slammed and reports need to get done...yesterday. It's cool to watch her come home and know that she is exactly where she needs to be in her career. It fits her personality, intellect and beliefs perfectly. I'm proud of what she does and how she does it...in addition to being Mom of the Year everyday to all three kids. I'm darned lucky.
I finally finished up grad school at Wayne State in May. For the Winter term, I did my clinical internship at Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield, working primarily in inpatient care. It was a very good experience and I learned a TREMENDOUS amount from my supervisors and CFY's who I had the opportunity to work with. Two weeks prior to graduation, I accepted a Speech-Language Pathologist
position with Encore! Rehabilitation Services working at the Martha T. Berry Medical Care Facility in Mt. Clemens Michigan. I graduated on a Thursday and started work the next Monday. I gotta scream this to everyone who will listen: I love my job. This is exactly the reason that I went back to school. I view my job like this: Everyone has a story to tell. In some cases, their ability to tell that story becomes impaired because of an event that they didn't ask for (i.e., stroke, TBI, etc.). My job is to help them reclaim that ability and go on telling their story. To have the opportunity to do that everyday...I'm living the dream.
The last bit of news....I got a new truck!!! Actually, I just got it this past Thursday. Kate says that I've been smiling like the Cheshire Cat for 3 days. I can't help it.
