We took Quinn to the eye doctor today. Boy, am I glad Matt came with me, I never would have been able to hold a squirming Quinn for that long! Mother's intuition was correct and Quinn needs glasses. He is apparently very nearsighted so we are going to try and find some glasses that fit him and try to figure out how to get him to leave them on. Unfortunately, that is not the only issue with his eyes. He has a problem that limits his ability to see things on his left side. He is likely going to have pretty major eye surgery in the next couple of years to correct it. In the meantime maybe this knowlege will help us set him up for better learning, like having him seated all the way to the left in circle time. So this all pretty much sucks, but it could be so much worse so I am not going to freak out about it. The worst part will probably be the expense of the glasses that he will likely break on a regular basis :( The best part was that when his exam was finally over and Matt put him down, he ran right into my arms and gave me a huge hug :) It is nice to know that I am needed and appreciated, Quinn doesn't show that kind of unprompted affection very often.

Cooper had a good day. Apparently he can point to someone elses nose with no problem but still ends up pointing to his lips on himself. He got his hands on a half a lemon while I was cooking dinner tonight an sucked on it the rest of the night, what a goof. He also gave Grandma Berta a hug when she requested one, good boy Cooper! He really loved all the extra attention he got from Grandma Donna and Grandpop Bill tonight. One really neat thing he did was after watching Grandma Donna rub Quinn's back, Cooper went over and tried to rub it too! Then right before bed he was chasing after Quinn and I couldn't figure out what he was doing. I realized that everytime he caught him he wrapped his arms around him and I think he was trying to hug his brother! Quinn was not thrilled with this, as evident by the fact that Cooper had to keep catching him :) I thought it was really really sweet though. I love both my boys so much, I just want them to love each other too!

This morning Cooper was a little cranky. I am not sure but I think it was because Matt didn't say goodbye before we left for school (he was getting the dog). My Cooper is such a sensative little boy! He pretty much pulled it together for class and he did a good job as usual. No big breakthoughs, I swear he knows when I am watching! Between schools we went to the playground and he swung in the swing, but also willingly went and played on the slides for a little while too....now that is progress! Grandma Jan picked him up from school #2 and took him home with her. They apparently had a great time, then Grandma Donna picked him up from there and took him to Grandma Berta's house (this kid has a lot of grandmas!). They were actually supposed to come home, but Cooper loves visiting Grandma Berta's little house so he insisted they stop over there. He played in her bed and ate some of her food and then finally came home.

Quinn had his appointment with the ENT this afternoon. He was a really good boy the whole time. Unlike Cooper, Quinn loves waiting rooms! He sat in almost every chair there and let me tell you, it was a huge waiting room. I guess he wanted to try them all out :) The doctor checked his ears (after calling for backup from a nurse), and besides squirming a lot Quinn did good. Both of his tubes are still intact and working well. He did have some wax but the doctor removed it and showed it to me...gross! I guess ENTs forget that the rest of the world just doesn't find ear wax as exciting as they do. Tommorow is Quinn's eye doctor appointment and thankfully Matt is coming with us. I could barely keep Quinn still today and the eye exam is a lot more involved. I think daddy is going to be coming to a lot more doctors appointments from now on :(

Ahhhh...our air conditioning is fixed! And it didn't cost us an arm and a leg (well maybe just a hand or a foot).

Quinn had a great morning at school. His note said that he imitated his aide and also clapped during an appropriate time during class today. Those are both great for Quinn. Then he got picked up by Grandpa Don and they had a picnic at the playground. He must have really enjoyed it because he was in a great mood the whole rest of the day.

Cooper had a good day at school too. They said he was very verbal today which is great. This afternoon his speech teacher came over and she brought her alphabet books that he is so good at. He had them all spread out on the table and she started asking him to find pictures again. He was doing pretty good, then she asked him to find the egg. Instead of picking up the "E" book he chose the "N" book and I was really surprised he got it wrong. Of course, I was even more surprised when he opened the book to the picture of the nest which had an egg in it! Wow, Cooper....just wow! Apparently he also knows all his lowercase letters, this kid is full of surprises!

We are having a crisis at our house. It is 90 degrees outside and our air conditioning is broken! Cooper was covered with sweat all day and Quinn is moaning in his sleep because he is so hot :( Oy!

Besides that we had a good day. Uncle Ben came over to hang out with us and that was great. Cooper really enjoyed having him over and he was extra excited and giggly the whole time. Quinn was his usual antisocial self, but that was to be expected.

Yesterday the kids went over to Grandma Jan's and played in the kiddie pool. They were sure happy that it was hot out! Cooper got accepted to the summer program I wanted to send him to, but at the wrong time. The session he got into overlaps his current program so I think we will have to skip it.

The kids had good days today. They both did a good job at speech. Quinn made some nice sounds and good eye contact. Cooper did alright until Ms. Angie put him on the swing, then he did great! He even said "Hi" to her when the swing swung around so he could see her.

Cooper did something really neat tonight. I was having him point to stuff (eye, ears, nose, etc.), then I decided to go for broke and said "Where's Mommy?"He wasn't sure at first but when I pointed to myself he got it and came over and pointed to me! Then I asked "Where's Daddy?" and he went right over and pointed at Matt! Then the best and most amazing one "Where's Quinn?" Yup, he did it! He totally knew what I was asking and went right over and pointed to Quinn!!! We didn't manage to get a "doggy" or "Grandma" out of him but I think that is because he was tired of the game.

Yay, Cooper!!

Even though it wasn't nearly as fun as going to the zoo, Quinn seemed to enjoy his day off. He looked relieved when I left him in his pajamas this morning and he had a great time hanging out with Grandma Berta while I took Cooper to school.

Today I got to watch Cooper's class which I always enjoy. Cooper is so funny, he is very different from the other kids in his class. One of the other mothers told me today that Cooper always looks like that kid in the class that is bored because he is so far ahead of what they are teaching. That may be, but until he starts talking he is going to be stuck on that kind of level. All he has to do is open his mouth and start spouting equations or physics theorys and I am sure we could move him to a more stimulating class :) This morning it appeared that he was staring out the window instead of paying attention, but once it was time to read the book it became clear that he was actually staring at the book (which was propped up in front of the window). He got really excited when the teacher got the book and he didn't take his eyes off it or her the whole time she was reading it!

Other highlights from Cooper's day:

• He handed a toy to another child when his teacher asked him to.
• He got a little too excited about the water table and ended up soaked.
• He did a great job imitating patting the table during his discrete trial training.
• When we went to the playground between schools he was really interested in the other kids. He didn't want to get out of the swing (sigh) but everytime another kid came near us he would get a big smile and watch them really closely.

Tommorow I have an meeting with Cooper's head ABA therapist and then on Thursday he goes to the ENT to have his ears checked for school. I need someone to drive Quinn to speech at 1PM Thursday if anyone whose name starts with a "grand" is available. This is our last session at Loyola until Fall :( I can't believe Cooper is going to have to miss it (and maybe Quinn if I can't find someone to drive him).

Today is Quinn's birthday. He is five years old. I still can't believe it. He had a happy day with lots of extra cuddles from his mommy. He is such a sweet and wonderful little boy, I really do love him to death. I wish his birthday day was a little nicer weather, but at least there were lots of puddles for him to splash in :) Tommorow Quinn has the day off because his class is going to the zoo and I can't go with him. I feel like a bad mommy, but what can I do....they didn't give me enough notice to find someone to go with him. We will have to make a special trip to the zoo this summer.

Cooper really enjoyed playing with all of Quinn's birthday presents today. Quinn had a great time just playing with his balloons and his beads. He discovered the beads make an excellent sound when he bangs them on top of the dining room table. Cooper said "more" again tonight for another grape, but then refused to do it again. As long as he says it once a day I will be happy with that for now :)

Has it really been that long since I posted?

Today the boys both had pretty good days. Cooper did great at school this morning. They have this toy that is an ice cream cone and when you push the button the top pops off. Well, for the last two days Cooper has been requesting it pop by saying "Pop,pop, pop"! They also put a new toy in the sensory area, a pop up tent that is shaped like a school bus. He loves it and today he was playing in it with another little boy in the class. They were interacting and playing with each other idependently and that is a big deal. His teachers were very excited about that! Tonight he was playing with our "Memory" game, he loves all the little cards. Well, when he went to play with something else Grandma Berta put it away and up on the book shelf where he couldn't reach it. After dinner he wanted to play with it again, but instead of just dragging me to it or just pointing he was also saying something. It sounded like maybe he was saying "chips" which kindof makes sense because they are little square cards. But whatever he was saying it was an obvious verbalization to request something with no prompting! Yay Cooper!

Quinn had horseback riding today and we went even though it was pouring. He rode in the indoor ring and had a great time. He was smiling and happy and really interactive. He rode Twister again today...I am really scared to ask what happened to Snowy... maybe I don't want to know.

Today we had speech therapy at our therapists house. That was interesting, her "home office" is not childproofed. She kept saying "oh there's nothing over there that Quinn could break", umm no there were 30 things over there that he could break! I think we will keep having therapy at our house for now. Cooper did great though. He said "more" twice clear as day. He also was wispering "go" while she was trying to get Quinn to say it. The cutest thing he did was when she was trying to get him to say something and he mouthed it but didn't make any sound (typical Cooper). She was a little frustrated by that so she said "Why don't you turn your voice on?" Well Cooper just looked up at her and put his hands up as if to say "I don't know, you tell me.....you're the professional." Quinn was way too distracted by all the shiny breakable things at her house to get much out of his session....sigh.

This morning Ms. Kerri from KKI came over for another home visit. We talked about Cooper's routines and how we should use more routines. Really? How did I end up with two kids who need routines so badly when I can't stand them (routines not the kids)? Oh well, we will work on it. She video taped me playing with Cooper but promised me it wouldn't show up on Youtube, it better not! When I signed Cooper up for this amazing program I had no idea I would be video taped so much :(

After that Cooper had ABA therapy so Quinn hung out with Grandma Berta. I was in a hurry so I asked Grandma to put Cooper's coat on for me, well she put Quinn's coat on him by mistake and Cooper made sure she knew it. He dealt with it though, since we were really late. He is doing great at therapy. They made all these photo cards so he can work on identifying pictures when requested, and it sounds like as soon as they pull out a new card he masters it. I think it is time to accept that just because he can't say anything it doesn't mean he doesn't know everything.

This afternoon I sat down with both Quinn and Cooper and we played with a game that the speech teacher lent us. They both did so good at taking turns and Quinn amazed me with his following directions. It was simple "put in" and "take out" but he really understood and followed my verbal direction really well. Maybe things are really starting to click, I sure hope so anyway.

Today we didn't have to go anywhere! It was awesome! I love Spring Break! We just hung around the house and played all day. Quinn and Cooper are both feeling much better and they really seemed to enjoy having the day off. I took advantage of the free time to make some much needed phone calls. I made appointments for both boys to see the ENT, she tried to give me appointments back to back and I said no way, taking two kids (well my two kids)to the doctor at once is crazy. I would rather drive all the way up there twice thank you very much! Cooper needs to have his hearing checked for school and Quinn is overdue to have his tubes looked at. I also made an eye appointment for Quinn. I am wondering if maybe his new lack of attention to television and during circle time is because he can't see well enough. I have been a bad mommy, we missed two years worth of check ups (at least). But really, what a nightmare it will be to put glasses on Quinn, I am not looking forward to what seems inevitable. I am going to bring Matt with me this time so he can hold Quinn for the doctor, he is just getting too big for me to struggle with :( Next Tuesday a lady from DDA is coming over to "verify our disabilities", what fun! I don't care as long as they help us somehow. We get a two for one visit for both Quinn and Cooper, we will see how that goes.

Dinner at Grandma Donna's

When we got there Grandma had a Passover surprise for Cooper. Number magnets!!

Quinn liked the swing at the playground.

Cooper loves to swing.

Swinging together.

Whoa, aren't you too old to be doing that Grandpop Bill?

Cooper liked the tire swing better when it was just him.

Quinn really "loved" the tire swing, as soon as he got on he started smooching it!

A rare photo of the two Banta boys together. At least one of them is smiling at the camera.

Grandma bought Cooper mini Drumsticks, it was the perfect size for him!

He loved it!

I took Quinn to the doctor today and he has a sinus infection. He is now on antibiotics and should be all better very soon. He was so good at the doctors office. As I was holding him down so she could look in his ears the doctor looked concerned that he was squirming so much. Then she realized he was actually smiling and laughing! For some reason Quinn thinks messing with doctors is really funny :)

Cooper woke up this morning with a cough, we are still waiting to see what comes of that. He had a great day at school. He apparently said "go" twice on the swing. That is something I have been working on with him but I only get "o", his teacher said he definately said the "g" this time. Another neat thing he did was while he was snacking on a cookie he took it and put it to the mouth of one of Quinn's stuffed animals and pretended to feed it! I didn't prompt him at all and I was shocked that he would do that! He also pointed to his nose instead of his mouth when I asked where his nose was, but that may have just been luck.

I thought Quinn was doing better today so I sent him to school. Nope, still not better. He did okay at school but his teacher seemed less than thrilled he was there. Then we went to horseback riding and he just wasn't himself. Tommorow I will be calling the doctor, time to get rid of all that snot.

Yesterday Quinn did the greatest thing. I came home after being gone pretty much all day and he walked right over and met me at the door with an honest to goodness hug! It was amazing :)

They are teaching Cooper to touch his head when told at school so I tried it out tonight at home. He did great! He didn't even need a visual cue all I had to do was say "touch your head" and he did it. Then I decided to go for broke and ask him to touch his nose. He touched his mouth but it was close. I think we need to practice that one in front of a mirror. He is also bringing his own plate and the ketchup to the table everynight for dinner. He is getting so good at following directions!