Category Archives: Developmental Milestones

Identifying Jordy’s Speech Delays (and Videos that Helped)

The first photo I took during the pandemic

As Jordy and I were driving home from speech therapy today, I was playing my favorite preschool videos on my phone so he could listen to something enriching. Then I thought that it would be nice to write a post about how we identified his speech delay, similar to how we identified when Jia had a soy and milk protein intolerance back in the day (Jordy had the same when he was an infant).

The 2-year checkup

So right at Jordy’s 2nd bday January 2020, he had his well-child exam, the 2-year checkup. I filled out the questionnaire they make you do about food insecurity, if your child can perform certain tasks, and then of course, how many words they use. It was a tough one. Over the previous few months, he’d say a couple key phrases, like “I see sky” and “I see tree” which I thought was great. His verbal skills didn’t really expand beyond that, and I was not entirely sure if Jordy was speech delayed or if he was just “a boy.” As a young parent, it’s pretty common to hear how verbal and mature girls are, compared to boys being more physically capable. Jia was extremely verbal as a young child, and today I even glanced back at my last WSDW post from March 2016 when Jia was 2, and I was loving how she said her first 6-word sentence, which was “No Mei Mei, go in kitchen!” (However, yknow I really think that counts as a four- maybe five- word sentence at best).

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What’s She Doing Wednesday: What We’ve Been Doing… for a while!

wsdw what weve been doing 3.23.16It’s been a hot minute since I last wrote a post of any kind so I’ll try to catch you up to speed on what we’ve been up to! I’m sure I’ll forget a huge handful of things I meant to update you on (photo dump at the end of the post, PROMISE), but I’ll try my best in this post before I need to hit the hay: Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: What We’ve Been Doing… for a while!” »

Day 3 of the “3-Day Potty Training” Method (+video)

Blog Post 12.29.15 Day 3 of 3 Day PottyBy no means do I feel like this means we have reached the finish line. We have definitely not. Our adventure with “3-Day Potty Training” seems to be turning into “3-Day x 2 x 2 (?) Days of Potty Training” and that’s being optimistic – let’s keep hoping in “days” and not “weeks” or “months”! 

So today felt like we were treading backwards up until about 6:30 PM. Throughout a majority of the day, we were dealing with hefty accidents (large puddles) and running her over to the toilet only for her to quickly say “all done” with nothing to come from it. On the one hand, she was going about 4 hours between accidents, which told me she was holding her bladder somewhat, but on the other hand, we weren’t communicating effectively with one another. 

I started to really think this Lora Jensen is bonkers despite her track record with her 8 successfully trained children. Then something changed. 

Continue reading “Day 3 of the “3-Day Potty Training” Method (+video)” »

Day 2 of the “3-Day Potty Training” Method (+video)

Blog Post 12.28.15 Day 2 of 3 dayToday has been a bit less traumatizing. I write that with a big headache (as I wait for the Excedrin to kick in), since today I’ve been holding my own pee and forgetting about hydrating myself, haha. How appropriate! 

The method doesn’t change from Day 1 to Day 2. Same ol’ same ol’. Don’t leave the house, don’t ask “do you  need to go potty?” (though we are guilty of throwing this phrase in on accident, a couple times), offer rewards for successful potty visits, keep a close eye on your child, keep them busy right next to you, and slather on a good healthy heaping of positivity, praise, and love.  Continue reading “Day 2 of the “3-Day Potty Training” Method (+video)” »

Day 1 of the “3-Day Potty Training” Method (+video!)

Blog Post 12.28.15 1_Day 1 of 3 Day Potty20-30 pairs of Minnie Mouse and Disney’s Frozen underwear. Check. 

Moist (FLUSHABLE) wipes for post-potty bottom cleaning. Check. 

Potty chair AND mini potty seat. Check. (chair for the car, mini seat for the house)

Rewards chart for stickers as well as mini chocolate candies for going in the potty. Check. 

Fluids fluids fluids. Check. 

Fibrous foods (pears, other fruit, veggies, beans, brown rice). Check. (I am not condoning Metamucil or other like-supplements for your child)

Plan to stay indoors and at home for three consecutive days. Check. 

Crossing your fingers that your toddler will pee her entire bladder’s worth in the tub tonight so she doesn’t pee in the bed. Desperate check. Check check check. Please please please (yeah right, wishful thinking)

Continue reading “Day 1 of the “3-Day Potty Training” Method (+video!)” »

What’s She Doing Wednesday: Holiday Photo Dump and a Few Other Things…

DSC02700aSo I’ve been bad about posting. It’s been a little bit me being lazy and enjoying the downtime, and a little bit me being busy with career-oriented things. Plus, Jia is finally NOT SICK. It took her a good two whole weeks to get over this last cold, full of snotty and congested sinuses, lots of phlegm, and that Nose Frida Snot Sucker was really going to good use! Getting down to it: Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: Holiday Photo Dump and a Few Other Things…” »

What’s She Doing Wednesday: At it Again (Sick, that is)

IMG_9716October 16th and November 12th: The onset of symptoms including a fever, twice in a month. This last Thursday, I picked her up from daycare to find her inside (other kids were playing outdoors) with one of her teachers. Jia was “helping” her gather her classmates’  coats, and she let out a dry cough. Her teacher reported that Jia has been off and on fussy in the afternoon and coughing occasionally. She said that she was afraid that maybe she had a fever, but she hadn’t felt warm to her. Took her home, she was definitely a little fuss ball on the ride home, but once we were inside she was happy as usual. Right before her bath, I took her temperature since she felt a little warm to the touch and her temp was around 101F. Rut-Roh. Our ibuprofen was expired by 2 weeks, so I made a quick call to Jeff and had him stop by the pharmacy on his drive home, and I gave her a dose of the expired stuff (meh, 2 weeks isn’t a big deal) and started her bath. The next day I kept her home from daycare as a precaution despite not having a fever in the morning and she’d developed congested sinuses. Then that progressed to congested coughing, which is still around. We are day 5 of her congestion, with no real great improvement – only a slight improvement from when she started to lose her voice over the weekend and she’s gotten it back about 95%.  Continue reading “What’s She Doing Wednesday: At it Again (Sick, that is)” »