Random

Oh my, I haven't been keeping up on the blog like I planned to do this week. Oh well, there's always tomorrow, right? There's nothing major to report, but I've still got some fun stuff to share! First and foremost, Chloe has slept well for three nights in a row! That's a trend, people! Woo hoo! The dark circles under my eyes have receded from my chin to my lips, and I'm hoping to be back to feeling almost normal soon! Yay! This means the slight changes we made in her seizure meds and tummy meds are helping.... She's more comfortable and able to sleep at night. Well, she still wakes up 3-4 times a night, but that's our normal, so we are HAPPY!!!

On that happy note, are you ready for some cuteness? You got it!

We went to dinner and boutique shopping with my parents the other night, and check out the CUTE glasses we found for Chloe to pose in! Oh she is just so cute. I heart her!

I went to lunch with my pal, Jamie, one day this week. I had to snag some pix of her cute kiddos and then I had to share them with all of you because they were just TOO CUTE to keep to myself!

Mason & Sadie

Mason & Avery

See what I mean? You're welcome :O)

Oh, and I'm reading the BEST book right now! I highly recommend it. It's told from a dog's perspective -- this dog is hilarious, obsessed with opposable thumbs and incredibly insightful. You will laugh, you will cry, you will think deeply about life and relationships. Sigh. I love it! Almost as much as the FREE kindle app on my phone where I read it.

Speaking of phone apps, I had to share how excited I am about the app we are using for Chloe - Tap to Talk. This app is perfect for special needs children, and probably many special needs adults. It is FREE (I'm truly infatuated free apps right now, can you tell?) It works as a very basic communication tool -- which is PERFECT for her right now! There are categories like food, play, emotions, etc. I go into the categories, then if I think she's hungry, I ask her to point at the picture of what she wants. When she taps a picture, a voice says, "I want an apple, please," or whatever it was that she chose. She has already gotten better at accurate pointing and decision making since we started using this app just a week ago.... There's room for improvement for sure, but I'm so proud of her and thrilled to see what the future brings! Her inability to communicate is without question the most challenging issue for both of us, so to find a tool that will help in that area makes me just want to, well... raise the roof! (Mock if you must, but I'm just a roof-raisin' kind o' gal, ok?) We hope to get her the non-Apple version of an iPad for her birthday (I'm anti-Apple right now. Don't get me started.) In the meantime, we're going to keep honing her skills on this little guy so she'll be ready to roll with a more advanced augmentative communication app in a few months.

Here are Chloe's other favorite apps. I thought I'd share them because they meet the double F requirements: Free and Fabulous! They aren't specifically geared to special needs children.... I'm sure these apps would appeal to most kiddos Chloe's age.


The Talking Huggable app is probably her favorite one. He giggles when you tickle him. He gives high five. He farts rainbows. Really, does it get any better than that? Not for Chloe.

Talkable Huggable does have some competition with the Kids Piano Lite app. No accuracy required.... Chloe just smacks the screen and the little duck plays music! Fab!

Some other apps she enjoys are KidozTV, Yo Gabba Gabba! Songs, Happy Flash Cards, and Sesame Street Songs. With the help of these little guys, Chloe is always entertained!

She just loves short videos, especially ones with music, so we also like to search for fun things on You Tube. This is a song I found the other day and Chloe. LOVED. it! I love it too, so we play it several times a day. Chloe just kicks and squeals every time she hears it! I dare you not to love this video and to not laugh when the bird family starts dancing in their nest.

And good luck getting that tune out of your head.... Yeah, it's not gonna happen. haha - You're welcome!