My son rocks!

One year ago (July 15, 2010 to be exact), Chandler was evaluated because of delays and lack of weight gain. He was diagnosed with a speech delay (he was 17 months old and speaking at a 10 month old level), and sensory issues which made it difficult for him to eat. He wouldn't pick up food and would freak out if anything got on his hands. He was under the 3rd percentile on the growth charts, only 19 lbs at 17 months old! We started off with occupational therapy once a month, a psychologist every other week, the nutritionist once a month and a speech therapist every week. That's a lot of appointments!

By November Chandler had improved well enough the the OT felt comfortable discharging him, with the psychologist and nutritionist still monitoring him while I still did some at home therapies. In May 2011 the psychologist said he would always have his little quirks (not a surprise, he is my child!), but she was done with his therapy. By now the nutritionist was only coming once every other month. Chandler was slowly scooting up in weight and was starting to consistently reaching her goals for him each visit. His weight-for-length wasn't really increasing, but that's because he was shooting up in height at the same time! But we adored his nutritionist and loved for her to come. He was continuing with speech therapy once a week and we were really seeing improvement there too.

On July 12, 2011 Chandler's speech therapist cam and did a new evaluation since we had seen so much improvement. A normal score is anywhere from 85-115. When we started he was scoring 75. He scored 106 and 111 on the two different sections! What an improvement! He is DONE with Speech Therapy!

On July 14, 2011 his nutritionist came and his coordinator joined her for our yearly review. He was 50% for height and nearly 10% for weight! We signed the paperwork for him to be discharged from the program and he is finished with all therapies! I am so proud of him! Almost exactly one year and he went from serious delays and 4 therapists coming to work with him, to being completely finished and excelling! No one can tell me that Early Intervention doesn't work! I am so thankful for everyone who worked with us and I am so proud of my son!

Speech therapy update

Little Man's speech therapy is going great! He gets very excited when Miss Gloria gets here, it's time when everyone is focused on him and just plays. He's had a month of speech therapy so far and is saying "Mama", "Da-ee" (Daddy), "tee" (kitty) and "boo" (book) consistently at home after having zero words a month ago. During speech therapy he has said "mo" (more), "bag", "bubu" (bubbles), and has signed "more". We're very proud of him!

Oh for the love of ...

I just want to get back into bed and start this day over.

#1 being woken up by The Girl jumping on my bed equals a grumpy mama.

#2 the speech therapist is coming today for Little Man's first session and my house is a mess.

#3 When I tried to take a shower I came out to something on Little Man's face. Turns out The Girl went in my bedroom (where she is not supposed to be) climbed up my dresser (where she is not supposed to touch) and took my nail polish. She then got it on her dress, her brother, my bedroom carpet, Little Man's toys and spilled the rest of it on the kitchen floor. Can I please refer you back to #2?

I spent the next hour trying to clean it all up while The Girl spent that time in her room. Does anyone have tips to get nail polish out of carpet? The nail polish remover is not cutting it ...

A lot has been going on ...

Well, Unlabeled Daddy found a new job (hurray!) and has already gotten a raise (double yeah!!). So things are starting to look better for us financially. We're not caught up, but it's looking better!

Little Man is still not talking and is 17 months now (today actually). Since he spent time in the NICU he is considered high risk for delays and he has had regular developmental appointments in the nearest city which is an hour away from us. At least it was only every 4 months! They referred us to the local Developmental Agency for evaluation. It was agreed he was delayed and is talking at a 10 month level. The speech therapist will be coming on Friday to do a more in depth evaluation and we will go from there. We also talked about his food issues. He is a little peanut, not even 20 lbs yet and he just won't eat! He won't even try "new" food. We have to jump through hoops to get him to eat anything. For instance, he will not eat grilled cheese sandwiches cut into quarters, but if you cut it in bit size pieces he will. They think it might be a sensory issue, so we are now waiting on an Occupational Therapist to evaluate him.

THEN, while the were evaluating Little Man, Princess Red Chief was acting like a wild child. We started discussing her and they agreed that she and I could use some help. They are referring her to a therapist that specializes in 3-5 year old children. Hopefully, she will be able to work with Princess and I. I adore my daughter. She is funny and loving and sweet and loves to help, BUT we end up going over the same things over and over and over and she still gets upset at me when I discipline her over it. It's like she just thinks I'm being mean and that she didn't do anything wrong even though I just told her not to do it. :::sigh::: God, give me patience. I sometimes feel like I spend the whole day yelling at her and it breaks my heart.

I guess I just needed to get this out and I will try to keep this updated with all our new therapy adventures!