Offically the Start of Summer

It's officially summer. Heidi Anne's last day of school was Friday of Memorial Day Weekend. Yep, she was enrolled at her new school for a total of 10 days, (3 of which were 1/2 days). Since it was the same school she went to for Kindergarten and 1st grade, she remembered a few of her old classmates and made some friends. She's already had kids call and set up play dates with her. 

On Saturday Char's Mom came to visit and to see the new apartment. She took us out to lunch to McDonald's, since it's 1 of Rory's approved places to eat. Grandpa even dropped by to say hi. As he left Rory spoke up and told Grandpa "Bye, Bye!" Which was amazing, he rarely speaks, much less out in public. 

Anastasia surprised us by being able to chew on some french fries. She has been stubbornly against solid foods no matter what we tried. Then a switch flipped now she likes trying to chew food, actual swallowing said food is down the road. But it's a start! We got Anastasia her own high chair, now she and Rory don't have to take turns in his high chair. (Notice her cute little pony tale at the top?? I love it!) 

It was super toasty on Wednesday so we took the kids to the splash pad down the road. Rory loves water! He could spend hours with water if we'd let him. He loves water, until it gets on his face or hair, then he can't stand it anymore. Due to this fact, we knew the splash pad could go 1 of 2 ways, Rory would either LOVE it was a passion or HATE it with every bone of his little body. 

At first he was hesitant to run through the water, but Heidi Anne guided him round the pad. He'd get misted by the water here and there, not really getting wet. Then it happened. He paused for a second when a bucket of water drenched him from overhead. I was preparing myself for a big scream but he just ran to Dad who encouraged him to keep playing. Which he did! We knew then that the splash pad was a hit and we'll be visiting it quite often this summer. 

Despite the fun he was having, there was a lot of noise and a number of children running around. Sometimes Rory would just freeze from all the stimulus or come over to us in the quiet(er) shade. We lasted 30 minutes before he began to shake, not from cold, but from overload. We cut our visit shorter than we planned on, but everybody had some fun. 

We even got some ice cream as a treat afterward. The babies and I shared one cup while Heidi Anne and Dad each got their own cups. The babies ate more then I planned on. It was their first ice cream experience. I underestimated the power of vanilla ice cream. 

Since the move we've been busy. Mostly with doctor appointments and therapy assessments. Rory had a speech therapy review and they are going to use a PECS system to help him communicate. PECS is short for Picture ExChange System. Basically, we have various pictures of different items. He bring us a picture of what he wants and we give it to him while repeating the word. The goal is he'll associate the picture with the object or action and will begin talking over time. PECS is a way for us to communicate and reduce frustrations until he can actually speak. We'll see how it goes.