Honey Bear

Anytime the word Honey Bear is mentioned in this house, my mom cringes. She hates to even think about it. The Honey Bear at times has run her patience to the ends. For those of you who are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, here ya go. A Honey Bear is not anything sweet, cuddly or something that tastes good. A Honey Bear is something I use in therapy provided by Ms. Brandy, my speech language pathologist. It is a bottle with a straw in it to help me learn how to suck. The Honey Bear allows you to control the flow of liquid into my mouth and encourages me to learn how to drink from a straw.

The Honey Bear was introduced to me about 3 years ago. I struggled with it from the get-go and never got the hang of it. I never really wanted to put my lips around it or even attempt to suck from the straw. When someone would squeeze the liquid into my mouth, I would drink and swallow but never figured out how to get the liquid from the straw myself. I think that ended up only lasting about 6 months and then mom threw that out the window. This is when we started practicing drinking from a regular cup. I ended up accomplishing that and I am currently drinking from a cup with the help of someone holding and tipping the cup for me.

So when Ms. Brandy brought the idea of bringing the Honey Bear back, my mom just curled her lip and said okay ~ with a heavy sigh. We started this a week ago and I have pretty much accomplished it ALREADY. My mom and Ms. Brandy are sooo impressed and can't believe it. I don't even have to have someone squeeze the bottle to remind or encourage me that I need to suck to get the liquid out. As soon as the straw comes to my mouth I immediately put my lips around the straw and begin to drink. Now if only I would hold the bottle myself. I guess that is just another thing I have to work on. Here's a video of me showing off my new skill to Ms. Brandy.

Fishing

Last weekend, my Aunt Jen and her dog Daisy came down from St. Louis to visit. We ended up spending some time on the farm. She took me for a 4-wheeler ride and I got to go fishing for the first time. I really wasn't in to it that much but I did catch the 1 and only fish of the day. It wasn't a big one so we ended up throwing it back. We probably only caught one because once we reeled in that fish, Daisy thought it would be fun to play fetch with the cork every time we threw it out in the water. So that was pretty fun to watch. She was swimming all over the pond. The say labs love water and let me tell you she does. The next time we go fishing we may have to tie her up so we can really catch some.

I was not wanting to look at the fish or even touch it!

Daisy swimming after the cork.

Peek A Boo

Here is s little game of peek-a-boo.

Easter

Everyone came over to our house for Easter. We all had a good time, with an abundant amount of food and Easter treats. There was also some basketball action to be viewed.

Bubbles were blown.

Books were read.

Birthday's were celebrated.
My Aunt Tori's birthday was on Saturday and what a great birthday cake than a Blizzard from DQ.

And eggs were hunted - lots and lots of eggs!

Someone was even mean enough to put an egg in a thorny bush.
Take a good look at Luke's face, it's priceless!

And Easter baskets were specially made by Aunt Jen.

Look at all those eggs. This was after finding the goody treats inside.

I think this catches me back up from last month. Hopefully April isn't as hectic, although it is already a third over.

Dying Eggs

So we carried on the tradition of dying Easter eggs again this year. I tolerated it much better than I did last year. I even got my hands messy, so that in itself is an improvement from last year. We made all sorts of colored eggs and dad even wrote on some of them to personalize them for me and my cousins and even my Aunt Jen's dog Daisy.

Dad preparing the eggs and writing our names on them.

Ready to dunk!

Let the waiting begin.

...and more waiting!

Is it ready?

Discovering what that stuff in the cup is.

Eww...it's wet.
I even splashed some out of the cup and got it all over myself and my chair.

The finished products!

New eyes

What happened to mom? That was a question I had been asking myself last week. She was walking around the house with these weird looking goggles. Apparently, she got Lasik done, so now she no longer has to wear glasses or contacts. She says it is awesome being able to get up in the morning (or middle of the night if I wake up) and not have to grab for her glasses just to look at the clock that is just a foot away is the best feeling ever. She says it was a little blurry at first but that is normal for a week or two before they are completely healed.

She did look pretty funny in her styling goggles and she did complain a little about having to wear them but she says it was totally worth it.

Who is holding me? She is scary looking!!

Oh wait, it's mom!

Birthday Party

So my cousins birthday all fall around the same time, so they usually just have one big birthday party together. My cousin Luke turned 7, Drew turned 5 and Seth turned 1. It was a fun time watching them open all their presents and blow out the candles. Seth even got his own cake but he wasn't very interested in it.

Luke trying out his new sleeping bag.
"Is there anything good in here?"

Their new ride!

Also, my cousins are going to have a special delivery coming this summer. They just found out that they are going to have a baby sister. I wonder if she will get her own birthday party or have to celebrate it with the boys...hmmm. All I know is she is going to have to be tough around all of us boys.

Finally settled in

Man, March was a busy month. Which is probably why there were only 2 updates the entire month. One of the biggest events that happened in March was us selling our house. Which I know I mentioned in a few other posts (here and here). And now that we are finally settled in, here are a few pictures of our temporary new home.

But, first here are some pictures of our old house.

Our old house.

Our pool which I will dearly miss. Although Dad says he will not miss it.

Our new duplex.

My Room

HAPPY EASTER

I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter! Stay tuned this week for updates on last weeks adventures and celebrations (from my cousins birthday party, to mom's new eyes, to dying easter eggs and so on).