by Rachel | Family Life
The first thing I noticed when I looked at Parker’s 20 week photo was how chunky those thighs are getting! He’s nowhere near a “chunky monkey” but it seems like he adds a new little roll every day. Yay!
This week has been a big improvement over last — mostly because Parker (and therefore, all of us) slept much better. Not only are our nights more restful, but Parker has been either sleeping in or going back to bed after an early morning feeding, which has given me some time to work or be productive around the house.
This is a pretty typical snapshot of Parker playing in the morning after he wakes up. Hanging out in his footie pajamas, wishing his feet were bare so he could snack on them. What a goofball.
We kicked off the week with a day trip to Peoria, since Josh and Jeni (my brother and sister-in-law) were in town. They moved to Denver over the summer and hadn’t seen Parker since he was brand new. The funny thing about this picture is that the baby had just spit up all over Josh’s sleeve, so I wiped it up with a paper towel and kept taking photos until I got a keeper. Needless to say, Josh was ready to hand Parker back over at that point.
Poor, poor Sadie. On top of having to deal with a new baby these last few months, she’s had TERRIBLE allergies since August. After several trips to the vet and different treatments, she finally got an allergy shot this week that seems to have done the trick. But that hasn’t stopped her from being a big couch potato every night.
Recently I put together Parker’s high chair, and it has been awesome letting him sit in it while I do things in the kitchen. He will entertain himself with toys for a good 20 minutes or so, and I’ll pull him up to the kitchen counter with me while I eat lunch. He looks like such a big boy sitting in it!
Parker celebrated his first Halloween this week, and of course, he had an outfit dedicated to this occasion. He also had no fewer than 3 “My 1st Halloween” bibs, courtesy of Grandma Libby. With all the drool he has been producing, we actually did make use of all 3 over the course of the day.
Lately Parker has wanted NOTHING to do with laying down. He is a BIG boy, and wants to sit up like one. Unfortunately he can’t do it on his own yet, which is what Mommy and his Bumbo seat are for.
As I was going through my photos, I realized that I only have a handful of Parker and I together. Mostly I just have a million of him all by himself. These aren’t the best quality since I took them myself, but I like them because Parker looks so darn cute :)
Last but not least, here’s a quick video I took of Parker reacting to me singing his favorite song, “A Bushel and a Peck”. I have sung tons and tons of songs to him, but this is the one that always makes him smile and cheers him up when he’s crying. If we are in the car and he gets fussy, I play the version I recorded on my iPhone over the speakers and he instantly calms down.
by Rachel | Resources & Tips
The inspiration for the song “Halloween Stew” goes back over twenty years to my elementary school days. My music teacher introduced us to “Witches’ Brew” by Hap Palmer, and it has stuck in my head ever since. I first adapted his original song a few years ago, here’s a video I made of my version.
Recently I decided to revamp it again, but this time around I opted for an alphabet theme. It’s a great opportunity to help my students practice identifying letters of the alphabet and naming objects that start with those letters. Of course, I had to create a visual to go with the song; the illustration gives you an idea of what it looks like.
I recorded this year’s version on the fly and included only the letters A through D, while the visual aide goes up to the letter H. It’s intended to be more of a starter resource for you to take and adapt on your own or with your students. The mp3, lead sheet and visual aide is available to members of Listen & Learn Plus! for download.
Get immediate access to this, plus over 100 other songs, lead sheets, visual aides, and valuable resources for only $9.99 per month…learn more about becoming a member or just subscribe below. You won’t be disappointed!
by Rachel | Family Life
Check out this little monkey! We weren’t sure how Parker would like being dressed up in his first Halloween costume, but he didn’t seem to mind one bit…not even the headpiece or giant feet.
He was a good sport for our photo shoot, and will have a couple more opportunities to wear his costume before the week is over: to the Halloween party at baby group on Wednesday, and on the big day Thursday when we take him “trick-or-treating” to some of our friends’ and families’ houses. I’ve never been a fan of Halloween, but I have to admit it’s fun dressing up an adorable baby!
by Rachel | Family Life
Remember last week when I went on and on about how well Parker was sleeping through the night? I totally jinxed myself by writing about it, because the very next night, we were up at least 4 times. The next couple of nights weren’t great, but there was a little improvement over the course of the week. I’m still waiting for that full night’s sleep, though…
We’re pretty convinced that the sleep troubles — as well as the crazy amounts of drool, fussiness, and desire to put EVERYTHING into his mouth — can be attributed to teething. But for the most part, he’s still our happy little guy, full of smiles and giggles.
Nothing too exciting happened this week; it was SO cold that we spent most of it at home, staying warm and cozy. We did go on a couple of walks before the the temps really dropped. I try to get as much use out of the Ergo as possible, because there is nothing better than having Parker snuggled up against me :)
We found out at baby group on Wednesday that Parker is finally up to 13 pounds! 13 pounds, 2 ounces to be exact. I’m not sure about his length since his last checkup, but it seems like he’s grown another 6 inches. This kid is sooooo long. His 3 month pants are starting to look a little short, but he still has a ways to go as far as filling them out.
We ended week 19 with a little pre-Halloween photo shoot of Parker in his costume. I wasn’t sure how he’d do wearing it, but he seemed to enjoy “monkeying around” in it. Pics to come!
by Rachel | Resources & Tips
It’s been awhile since I’ve been this excited about a music therapy resource. When Lisa Barnett of Songs to Grow On first contacted me about her new songbook, I was intrigued…but it wasn’t until I received my copy in the mail that I realized just how useful it would be in my practice.
My House is an interactive songbook designed for children with autism which lets them share their stories about where they live, who they live with and the special things and people that are important in their lives. The book has spaces on each page to add a photo and corresponding label, giving children and their families the creative license to choose which elements of “their house” will be featured.
I didn’t waste any time putting the songbook to use, and I had just the student in mind to try it out with for the first time. Knowing that I have a super busy schedule between taking care of my baby and working full time, Lisa generously sent me an already assembled version of the book — all I had to do was add photos provided by my student’s family.
My student, her mom and I had so much fun singing about “her house” for the first time last week! Each page allowed an opportunity for her to name the person/room/item in the photo, and then find the word to match. After we labeled each photo with the correct word, we went back through and sang the song together.
The song itself, which Lisa wrote and recorded professionally, is singable and super catchy — my client was still singing it after we were finished. You can listen to it here.
Again, I have to tell you just how impressed I am with this new resource. The book is beautifully designed in a sturdy binder, the pages are in protective plastic sleeves, and the word menu comes laminated with plenty of velcro to attach word labels. My students have a tendency to be hard on my materials, but I don’t have to worry about them damaging this one!
I’ll be writing more about my experiences with using My House in my music therapy sessions, but I wanted to share it with you right away so that you can check it out for yourselves.
