Several people have asked for a Landree update. I finally have a chance to write one! I survived another April 15th! Yay!!
Landree is doing great. And yes…she is definitely talking. She says lots of words we do understand & also jabbers
lots of words we don’t understand. Some words are crystal clear & others I have no idea. She knows exactly what she’s saying though. When she tries to tell us something we don’t understand, it may sound like jibber jabber to us, but she
repeats that same jibber jabber. They’re words to her. She calls me mommy when she’s being sweet & mom when she wants something but “Deborah” when she’s being a toot. I’m working on that one. It’s hard to keep
from laughing sometimes when she does that but I know I have to. She’s pretty well on track with “typical” kids her age when it comes to understanding language. She understands EVERYTHING & will follow directions. She’s a little
delayed when it comes to expressive language. She can understand a lot more than she can say.
Landree still goes to therapeutic horse riding lessons once a week. She loves it & rode in the Special Olympics a couple weeks ago. We’re working on
her verbal commands for the horse. She nodded to the judge just like she was supposed to & did give a verbal command to the horse to walk. I’m not exactly sure what the word she said was but she did say something. She also told the horse “whoa”
with a little help from us. She makes the “shh” noise to back her horse up when we practice at home but she hasn’t actually said it in the arena yet. We’ve been practicing though!
She turns three in August and will age out of the
Early Childhood Intervention Program. I can’t believe it’s already been three years! We met with the principal & superintendent at the school where Landree’s big brother goes. I know it’s early to be thinking about her starting
school but we had to get that part settled before we can take the next step. She needs to be tested to see what direction to take after she ages out of ECI. She got accepted and we’re proud to say Landree is a future panther just like her brother &
cousins!! That’s all we know for now until she’s tested sometime in May.
Our girl is still a big fan of music. We play her favorite songs & she sings & dances around the living room. She even moves her head around to show emotion when
she hits the really big notes! The bigger the audience the more she "performs"! Right now her favorite songs are “Let it Go” from frozen, “Four, Five Seconds”, “Midnight Rider”, “Uptown Funk” (I know…that
song just ruined my chances at parent of the year I’m sure.) and her newest favorite is “Redneck Girl.” Before you decide we’re terrible parents I have to tell you she also loves Randy Travis Gospel! She has a wide range in her taste
in music. She also has learned to blow into her harmonica & actually get it to make a noise. That took her a little while to master but now she plays like a champ. That’s one of the beauties of going to cowboy church. Every Sunday she carries her
purse, which always has the essentials.....a horse and a harmonica!