From Ghetto to Ghetto Fabulous

Here are some pictures of my newly redecorated kitchen...

Ghetto

Ghetto Fabulous

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Ghetto

Ghetto Fabulous

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Ghetto

Ghetto Fabulous

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Ghetto

Ghetto Fabulous

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Ghetto

Ghetto Fabulous

Are you there God? It's me, Cakerwakers.

I know that many of you are religious, but I am not. I grew up in a household where we did not talk about God. It was implied that God existed, but we never really discussed it or went to church or even prayed.

As an adult, I feel oddly out of the loop on the topic of religion. I have absolutely no knowledge of biblical stories. I don't fully understand the difference between Catholics and Baptists and Protestants. It is not that I don't believe in God, I am just not sure what I believe. When times are really tough, I do find myself praying to God. But I find this disturbing, because I never pray when times are good.

My husband, on the other hand, was raised Catholic. All of his years in Catholic school have taught him to despise religion. He is self-described atheist. He is skeptical of all religions, and believes the bible was created to control people.

Despite all of this, I am drawn to a religious preschool in our area. It is within walking distance of our house. Porgie would be attending school with other kids in our community. And I have heard nothing but positive things from other parents. When I told John that I was thinking about enrolling her in a religious preschool, I expected him to be strongly against the idea. But to my surprise, he seemed indifferent on the subject.

So, yesterday I scheduled an appointment to meet with a teacher at the preschool. Today, I am feeling oddly nervous about the upcoming meet and greet. I feel like I need to study up on the Methodist religion, which is strange because I have no intentions of joining their church. I am also nervous about Porgie learning bible stories. Will it bother her that we don't talk about religion at home?

This is all very confusing.

All we've got are grunts and giggles

I hate to write this post. I know that I am being a worry wart, but I can't shake the feeling that something is wrong. Izzy isn't talking. AT ALL. The kid just has no interest in speaking. He says "ma ma" on a regular basis, but that is it. Also, he doesn't babble very often. To communicate, he simply points and grunts.

However, he has excellent receptive language skills. He knows tons of phrases and can respond in the appropriate way. He can accurately identify a couch, a table, a stove, a book, a door, etc. He can follow simple one step commands like "shut the door" or "put your milk on the table." He can shake his head yes or no to respond to a question. But he can't talk.

I think the thing that disturbs me most is that Porgie was saying a slew of words at 15 months. And reading your blogs doesn't help the situation either. When I read a post about your baby talking or see a video of your baby babbling, I get a little teary eyed. Why isn't my baby saying anything?

At Izzy's 15 month appointment, we discussed his problems at great length. The doctor informed me that boys talk later than girls and that second children also tend to talk later. He also discussed the possibility of Izzy having a hearing problem. But in the end, he recommended giving him a little more time. If my little guy doesn't make leaps and bounds in the next 6 months, he will be referred for an evaluation by Early Intervention Services.

The doctor also gave recommendations to encourage Izzy to talk...
1) Talk to him more (I talk to my children constantly!).
2) Read to him more (I read approximately 592 books per day!).
Thanks doctor! Your advice was so helpful!

I really need to stop thinking about this topic. And I definitely need to stop googling it.