Benscoter Family: April 2013

April 1st brought the beginning of our road trip from Georgia to Massachusetts. My ever-willing mother-in-law was again up for a road trip with her family (thank goodness!). It was a long day but we made it to Harrisonburg, Virginia with enough time to swim in the pool and have a nice dinner. April 2nd we drove all the way to Bristol, CT and had such a great time spending the evening with my Aunt Monique, Uncle Scott, and cousin Olivia. They are always so much fun! We left Bristol in the morning of April 3rd and dropped Nana off at the Providence airport just prior to making to our final destination of Cape Cod.

April 5th was a long day at Boston Children's Hospital where Tyler had a chest x-ray, echo, EKG, and lab work done. Long story short-- he did GREAT! His cardiologist was very happy with all of his test results and said he did not need to see Tyler again until August...yahoo! He also gave us his blessing for us to spending the summer in Oklahoma while Joe does his C-17 training! To make the day even more exciting, Tyler cut his second tooth! April 7th was another big day since Tyler said "Da da" for the first time AND Sophia went pee pee on the potty for the first time (oh, the small things in life..)! She has since lost interest in using the potty so we have not made much progress in that area.

April 10th was another very important day because it was the day Tyler met Cheryl. Cheryl is the feeding specialist who has challenged me to think differently about food and has helped Tyler learn to eat. Well, I guess I should define "eat" since it is certainly not the kind of eating most of us do. Tyler is currently learning pre-feeding skills which just means he is getting comfortable with the sight, smell, feel, and if we're lucky the taste of food. My job is to provide him with "foodie experiences" three times a day in which I present very flavorful, exciting foods that are either pureed or are meltable solids (i.e. pretzels, cookies, crackers blended to dust). Tyler's oral motor skills are delayed given his inexperience with food but he seems to be making progress quickly. It has been a very positive and rewarding experience to work with such an amazing professional. I cannot speak highly enough of Cheryl...she is truly amazing and her work is very important to us!

April 14th was McKenzie's baptism which was a very special and beautiful day. McKenzie was baptized after the 10 o'clock mass at St. Joan of Arch church with a fun reception at the O'Reilly's home following the ceremony. On April 16th Joe began his three day water survival training in Florida. It all went well and he was back in Clovis out-processing from Cannon AFB shortly thereafter. We were both glad he had one less training to complete before our move to McGuire late this summer. On April 18th Tyler, my Mom, and I went to Boston Children's Hospital for an appointment with Tyler's GI doctor. All went well with that appointment but there were several policemen around the city and at the hospital. We later found out that Michelle Obama was at the hospital while we were there to visit some of the children that were injured in the Boston Marathon bombings. On April 27th Evan, Ava, Sophia, and I went to Boston to see Sesame Street Live! We all had such a great time! The girls were so adorable...they were both totally captivated by the show.

April 30th was a great day for Joe in that he finally left Clovis, NM and drove to Altus, OK for his next and final training before we move to New Jersey! It was also a great day for all of us on Cape Cod since my Grandma, Aunt Chris, cousin Kara, and her kids Alexys, Kiary, and Jeriko came to visit! We had so much fun spending time with them!

Sophia update: Sophia is cracking us up with her ability to speak better each day. She loves saying things like, "Oh, come on!" "I love this song, you love it Mommy?""Mommy holding Tyler, Sophia holding baby too!" "Elmo have orange nose, Super Grover have pink nose!" She can now count up to thirteen and then just starts spouting off the other teen numbers in random order. She has also learned several new words such as hummus and fire hydrant. Lastly, we have been teaching her that her birthday is on December 1st...it is so cute when she says it.

Tyler update: He is doing much better with rolling all around on the floor and (I think) he is realizing that he can roll as a way of transportation. He is tolerates being on hands and knees much more and is learning how to transition from all fours to sitting. He seems to really want to move around on the floor now but just doesn't have the coordination or know-how yet to get himself going. I hope with a little bit more practice we will be making more progress!