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!

Wonderful (and delayed) update!

On Tuesday Little Man had his FINAL occupational therapy session! You heard me right! He has been improving in leaps and bounds. He is mastering a fork and spoon (a little early, but that's normal with sensory kids) and is eating so much more. But not only that, he's also able to deal with touching some things. I was so excited to see him holding and eating a banana! He still has some issues - he HATES getting his face wiped - but it's now in the "quirky" range instead of the "Oh my God he's not eating and is going to starve" range. :) Our wonderful occupational therapist felt comfortable discharging him and said to feel welcome to call if anything came up. I'm so proud of my Little Man!!!

I am so frustrated with my daughter

The Girl was horrible in the store today. She was difficult at home before we left so I had a little talk with her before we went into Walmart.

"Stay with Mama."

"Listen and Do what Mama says."

Guess how that went? I just need some way to communicate with her. I feel like I go over the same things over and over and over and she just doesn't get it. I get so frustrated with her. And now when I tell her to do something she has started yelling at me or trying to hit me. Really??? Her first appointment with the therapist was last week. We just discussed her behavior. Next week we have another appointment and I hope she will give us a direction to go in!

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!

Awesome progress!

Occupational therapy really helps! With Little Man's sensory issues we would NEVER have seen this a few months ago! I never thought I would be so happy to see my kid a mess! :D

My peanut

It was Little Man's 18 month well check today. Yes, already! He weighed in at 20 lbs 4 oz and 32 inches long. Such a little guy! His only words are "Hi" and "kitty" but we are already getting help from the speech therapist, nutritionist and occupational therapist so the pediatrician said he looked excellent.

I did get a chance to discuss The Girl's behavior issues with her too. She said she had no problem giving me a referral, but unfortunately she had just found out today that the therapist she usually refers to is moving out of the area, so we have to figure out who would be the best person for The Girl to see. If it's not one thing it's another!

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!