Backpacks, Speech Therapy and a Promocode!

So I bought my little guy a backpack finally. It arrived last week and he is completely obsessed with it. And I'm really happy about that lol. It's nice to not have to carry his diapers around anymore, now he does it himself ;)! (I soooo can't wait until he's ready for potty training!)

I got him a Yo Gabba Gabba backpack, because he is completely obsessed with them. He gets so excited and shows it off to everyone that hasn't seen it yet, sometimes even if they have ;). He won't even let me carry it, he has to wear it and carry it himself! Thank you Zumiez Kids!

So we have speech therapy twice a week. Once of those days we have to go to a local library for it. This was my cool dude with his backpack on the way there yesterday!

He did well both times this week. Still no real words, and not enough sounds. But we're getting there. He's doing well learning different signs and he is so excited about the flashcards that I made him and posted about here.

The speech therapist and I were talking again yesterday about how a lot of the things he has been doing are big signs of Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS). But we still need to have our evaluation with the developmental pediatrician to see what their thoughts are. I'm waiting very (im)patiently for that appointment to come around.

Next week we have an evaluation to see if he qualifies for occupational therapy or not, because he does have some sensory issues as well as not talking yet. I really don't know if he will qualify for that or not, but that would be great to help him out more as well.

So wish us luck with all of that! If you or anyone in your family has any experience with CAS or delayed speech and sensory issues I'd love to hear from you! 
If you're looking for an easy way to keep up and follow my blog and other things I may post, I made a new Facebook fan page for my blog! Check it out here. And I've also joined Twitter! I've refused for years to join, but finally got sucked in and did that today! Follow my tweets @MaMadeCreations. 
Now....everyone do a little happy dance! ;)

I've made a promocode for my Etsy shop, offering 10% off your order. The 10% savings is good between now and September 30, 2013! When you place your order use the code MaMadeDiaries on the checkout page in order to receive your savings. For those of you that haven't seen my shop yet I make customized crochet hats, blankets and housewares items (swiffer covers, dish scrubbies, etc). I've also started doing digital invitations and party supplies. I take custom requests! So if there's something that you're looking for, but I don't have posted, or haven't made yet, just send me an e-mail or message on Facebook or Etsy and we'll try to figure something out!

• Do you have any fun plans for the upcoming weekend?
• What is your favorite craft for toddlers and kids?
• What's your child's favorite cartoon character?

Thanks for stopping by! :)

One busy mama!

I have been one very busy mama the past few weeks. And it's awesome! I've been working on orders for MaMade Creations, making Eli popsicle puzzles and flash cards, and starting my blog! And most importantly being mommy!

Eli has speech therapy twice a week right now. He'll be two next month but still doesn't say any words. He has some red flags for autism, or possibly childhood apraxia of speech. We have a few more evaluations to see if we can get an idea if he is diagnosed with either of those, or if they think he's just a late talker. These days I'm really thinking it's apraxia. The poor boy tries so hard to communicate with me, but he just can't get the words out or make the right sounds. So in addition to speech therapy I work with him throughout the day, everyday, trying to help teach him more signs and working on his sounds. He makes up his own signs too, and some of them I know, but lately he's been adding more and I just can't figure out what he's trying to say. So I decided to make him some flash cards to try and help with communication.

First of all, meet my new BEST FRIEND! I have so many pins or just ideas in my head of things that would be great laminated, so I've been thinking about getting one of these for a while. And let me tell you. IT'S AWESOME! I want to laminate everything in sight! I also got a package of binder rings so that I can hole punch the flash cards I planned to make and put them on there so we don't lose them anywhere and everywhere!

 So first, I came up with a few ideas of things I wanted to make flash cards of. Eli's favorite shows, foods he eats, foods he doesn't eat but I'm hoping he'll start to! Family and friends, and I plan to also add activities and just tons and tons of different cards as we go on. So I set out, and looked for images on our dear friend google! Once I had everything the way I wanted it I printed them out and started cutting them apart.

Eli was already excited at this point, and kept pointing to them and flapping his arms and making his excited noises. So I knew these were already going to be a success!

After I got them all cut out, I set out to laminate them all. I started with approximately 70, and still have more to go but figured that was way more than enough to start with.

At this point, Eli was over tired from refusing his nap, and was acting like I had him trapped behind the chair in baby jail or something!

Now I'm just working on cutting them all out and getting them hole punched and on the binder rings. Eli keeps showing me different ones telling me he wants things which is the whole point anyway. He asked for cookies for dinner tonight. Sorry buddy, cookies are not dinner. ;)

I am so excited to start using them! And he is as well which makes me really happy.

Tomorrow I'll post about the popsicle stick puzzles I made him, which were also a HUGE HIT!  Thanks for stopping by!