catch up

I was so determined to keep this blog going and up to date....oops!
We have had a busy busy month.
We took a 10 day trip to FL, continued working with the case worker and ST for Brady, managed play dates with pre-school and other errands of necessity, dealt with a few illnesses and recently toured a farm with Llamas and Great Pyrenees rescue dogs.  It has been a full month. 

Josey graduates from pre-school on Thursday the 27th.  From what I understand there will be graduate caps and tassels....and probably tears.  I am not sad so much that she is graduating but amazed to see her growing before my very eyes.  She is such a sweet thoughtful girl who can also be headstrong and difficult.  I love her fierce independence, or try to anyway since I hope it will serve her well as she gets older and has to be strong enough to maintain her values despite peer pressure.  I know I may sound a little silly but we all know that happens way earlier these days...She starts Kindergarten in the fall and she is thrilled.  She is still the craftiest little thing and almost always makes stuff for friends and family before herself.  I love that about her.

Lucey is growing into a little bit of an attitude.  She is a middle child through and through.  She works to make sure that she gets attention and is heard.  Trust me on that one...she IS heard.  *wink wink*  She loves animals, as do the other kiddos, and when we toured the farm last week she was excited to see the goats, llamas and dogs.  If I could have bottled her giggle and squeals of delight while she played with them I would have.  She is a joy, when she wants to be.  Fits are her latest "thing" and they never cease to frustrate me.  She is loud I tell ya....L-O-U-D! 

Brady is coming along in leaps and bounds.  He is picking up new words here and there.  I think that the GF/CF diet is helping him quite a bit, seems to anyway.   We are meeting with an OT next week to discuss some sensory issues he seems to have, we'll see how that goes.  He was right in there with the girls feeding the goats last week.  Petting the llamas and chasing cats.  He enjoys being outside and is in love with a tractor I bought at a garage sale a year or so ago.  Too bad it does not currently run....we are looking for a new battery for it.  Otherwise he enjoys riding the bajillion other toys we have.  He likes to water the plants too. 
Here is a list of words for him currently.  I will copy and paste his old list and use an asterisk(*) to note new words.  Parentheses( ) indicate how he actually says the word.  I am not sure that this is terribly important except that some words are much more clear these days so I think I like these phonetic notes to compare to later.  Also of note is that some of these words are used and noted during ST or work with the CW but not necessarily used on a day to day basis.
mom
daddy
sissy
no
uppy (ut-ee)
shoes (sooes)
fish (feesh)
drink
night (nigh)
bye (die)
baby
eat
cheese(he does not use this one anymore since he does not get cheese)
more(he is trying so hard to enunciate this word anymore.  it is precious)
please (pease)
cookie* (oo-kie)
butt*
moon* (oon)
bubble*
apple*
car* (ar)
me* ( while pointing to his chest.  it is adorable!)
Oscar* (us-ar) This is our dog's name.
boat*
pillow* (i-ow) Basically pillow without the "p" and the "ll".  He is extremely attached to a pillow.
banana* (na-a)
uh-oh*
bug* (ug) 
sit* (zit)
I think that is it.  I am pretty sure.  His speech is still pretty limited.  He is trying. We will look at his progress again in August and then October and decide what more the AEA can do with/for him at that time.  The two basic choices will be either speech groups, which meet 3 times a month for about half an hour, or 3yo pre-school which would meet Mon-Thurs for 3 hours daily.  We go to the University of Iowa on June 8 for his evaluation with the CDD down there.  Until then we are still working weekly with the case worker or ST on alternating weeks.  He is a very affectionate little guy when he wants to be too.  Every night before going to bed he tells us all "nigh" and gives hugs.

That has us all caught up I am pretty sure.  Later I will upload some pictures to share with you all of our vacation and the farm tour.

Dude...really?!

So this morning I made some cookies for the kiddos.  It was a Jamie Oliver recipe, I will share it on my blog later, and it chilled in the fridge overnight then got cut up and baked this am.  It was a cf/gf recipe and they were pretty yummy.  I made the kids wait until later because obviously I would not let them have cookies for breakfast.

The twins loved them.  Josey too.  I thought they were pretty darn good as well.  anyhow....per instructions from the ST and the CW I obviously make sure that I tell Brady what it is and really draw the word out.

this afternoon after nap he got up...pointed to the table(where the cookies were) and said, "ooo-kee".  Really?!  Seriously?!  I think that is the "longest" word so far that he has spit out.  I cannot help but wonder how much the gf/cf diet is helping him.  He totally said cookie. 

will I ever stop crying with new words from him?  : )

That darn pillow

Ok...so Brady has a pillow and 2 dogs that are "must haves" in his world. He needs them to sleep and when we leave the house. He carts the pillow around everywhere throughout the day. I decided to wash it the other day, I thought it would be done before naptime. It wasn't! SO with much fussing and fretting he did finally fall asleep. I felt like crap.

I decided to make him a cover for this pillow. My thinking was that then I could just wash the cover and he would always have the pillow this way. it would just be "naked" sometimes. So I sit down at naptime and sew him a pillow cover with some Lightening McQueen fabric I had. dude....Lightening McQueen! Brady loves him. The pillow gets dry and the cover gets made. When he gets up from nap he immediately gets up and starts looking for his pillow. I hand it to him in the new awesome cover. He takes the pillow out of the cover and hugs it like there is no tomorrow. I try putting the pillow in the cover again, thinking he just may not "get it", and he again immediately pulls it out and tosses it aside. Apparently he is not keen on the cover. oh well.

So last night before bed we have his pillow and a moose he likes but cannot find the two dogs. Cannot.find.them.anywhere.at.all. Looked down the stairs, in the drawers, in all the rooms and even in the closet. They are completely MIA. We go to look in the van and then it hits me. We had the windows open all day because it was so beautiful outside and one of our screens is pulled loose in the corner. I look to the right of the door right under window with said screen...and yep. There is a small pile of toys with two little stuffed dogs right there. Stinkers had been tossing toys out the window. No telling who actually did it.

Yesterday Brady's eye started getting goopy and nasty so this morning we marched into the doc office to get it checked. Sure enough...pink eye. So far he is doing ok with it. He even let me put the eye drops in. I hope that good run of luck continues. lol

We got home and sat down to do his flash cards. I took a couple of short videos. I did this partly to keep up with his progress and also because I want to show clearly to others what he sounds like. I like to think when I blog that someone might get something from what I write. Maybe just a laugh, maybe an idea and maybe someone struggling with something similar can find solace in not being "alone" with it. Our quest for help came from me reading a blog that I could relate to that has led to a kinship with another momma that has been invaluable to my sanity. Perhaps I can be that for someone else.

Anyhow...here are a couple of videos of our flash cards this morning. He is turning to Josey to show her the card and "tell" her what is on it. You will note that almost all of his "words" sound the same. Also note that he gets a little "woof" in after choosing the dog. You will also notice Josey hamming it up in the back. Lucey was beside me so she is mostly out of frame...not by her choice I assure you.





I am doing what L told me to with him. Offer the pictures up for him to choose. Then regardless of what he chooses push the correct one forward and then congratulate him. Positive reinforcement no matter what. I get that when a kid has words for things and is choosing not to use them you need to work at "making" the kid to use those words. Brady however has no real words at this point in time so he has to just do the best he can and we reward that.

Farts, Poots and nl-o

so first of all...this is about all the kids not just the B-man so I am trying to remember that. :)

Josey is ALL about body parts and functions these days and it is making me insane. literally, completely and totally insane. She is right now chasing her brother and sister down the hall calling herself "Naked the Clown". I shit you not.

She farts, and they are farts(trust me) and laughs. Literally laughs and then most times will sheepishly grin and say " 'scuse me". yeah...I am not sure it still counts if you laugh after you rip one off. She talks about poop. She scratches her butt. She belches like there is no tomorrow as well. Brady and Lucey think she is hi-larious. I think she is a 35 yo hairy man in a wife beater hidden in a precious little 5 yo body.

Lucey is all about the "toots" and "poots" too. Hers however is an obsession I will take since this can only lead to good potty places as she becomes more aware of herself. She tells me when she toots and poots(poop). and will wrinkle her little nose up at it.

So Brady worked with L yesterday. We got a little bucket with a lid and some flash cards to work with. We have him identify the item, mostly by choosing it right now, and then he gets to put it into the bucket through a little slot on the lid. this is awesome fun for him and for Lucey. Josey even gets into it as well.

He said a few things during his session too. She wrote them down for us....words he said or that she caught him trying to say while holding an appropriate picture up were:
duck-"du"
hi
please-"peas"
truck-"uh"
car-"ah"
spoon-"uh"
eat-"eeh"
mom
no
I listed the word and then the sound he makes when he tried to say it. I will make a list of words he uses here soon to add to this. She pointed out that we need to encourage the vocalisations regardless of how they sound. I am working on making sure I don't correct him but guide him and just continue to label the hell out of things. We are also working on the functions of things with these cards.

I was sitting with him and Lucey looking at books and Lucey pointed out "Mel-mo", Elmo, and B immediately looked and said "nl-o" which was his two syllable sound for Elmo. Seriously...I was thrilled. It truly is the little things.

Another goal we have, besides his speech, is that he will understand language and start following 2 step directions. Also showing understanding of concepts such as one, one more, all, big and little. Those types of things.

ok...going to go get dinner heated up. the natives are hungry and need to be fed.

the game plan

So we are going to wait to get Brady evaluated. The EI people will need to look at his progress come June so we will go ahead and schedule testing at the University for that time frame just in case we still need to have him looked at.

For the next month we have appts. scheduled once a week to work with him. Case worker and SLP trading weeks. Tomorrow is the case worker, L. I will be glad to see her and again get some more tips and ideas for working with him.

He was trying to say Elmo earlier. It was adorable. Lucey of course loves "melmo" herself and has been saying that forever so he was repeating her when she would say it. But he was pointing at him so I am gonna count it as a try. :)

I have also been sitting with him and doing some flash cards. Just simple pictures for now. Nothing too detailed because I don't want to complicate things for him. showing them to him, naming them and then trying to have him point them out to me when I have them grouped into threes. I am trying to mimic some of the stuff that I have seen the workers do when they are here.

Josey had gymnastics this morning. It is her second session and she really is doing well. I just love to watch her. The teacher told her today that she was doing so well maybe she could just teach the class for her. Josey could not have smiled any bigger. She came running over to tell me all about it. She was bursting she was so proud of herself.

After that we went to a new playgroup for Multiples. It was fun to have 4 sets of twins in one room with older siblings and one pregnant mom too. There was one set of older twins, L and B, another set of 2 yo and 10 week old babies. Oh so cute. loved them. Brady was all about sitting beside one of the little babies. She was smiling at Brady. it was so precious.

ok....everyone is in bed. it is quiet and I am hungry because I think I have yet to eat dinner so I am going to go find a snack and enjoy Dinner Impossible on Food Network.

ahhh...my children

this post is from a previous blog, posted yesterday(March3,2010)
more on that in another March 4 post to come

I am a mom therefore I worry. or something like that.
I love my children. all three of them. they are the joy and the frustration of my days. They are my job.

Josey will be starting Kindergarten next fall. I am not sure why I use capital letters on Kindergarten except that it feels like that…it feels all proper and important. And big. Really really big. It has been a fast 5 years. She is doing well. Loving preschool and the friends she makes there. I just got a reminder call from the University where she had her cranio surgery at 4 months old and it is time for a re-check. in the earlier days I was calling to schedule these appts. and this time I was a little surprised. She is doing so well that some days you can almost forget she ever had her skull reconstructed so young. Almost…quite a bit happened around that time and although she is healed and well I can seldom talk about the surgery without crying. Not all out sobbing or anything. Just tears of a mom who feels incredibly lucky to have come through something like that with her kiddo intact and healthy. Sometimes I wonder if all that oxygen her brain was exposed to did something to it…like accelerate growth. She is smarter than I am I think on some days.

Lucey…techinically our second born since she was the first twin out of the gate. She is only a minute older than her brother but I am fairly certain that will be a detail she will not let him forget as they get older. She is talking all.the.time. these days. She ask about things. Lets us know when she “toots” or “poops”(for the most part). She loves to play with her big sister. She still sleeps with a paci, known as “paa-ie”, but knows when she gets up she needs to hand it over. Lucey eats just about anything and everything. No exaggeration…no lie. She is an awesome eater. She loves our boxer Oscar and lays with him while he is sleeping. The cat is also intriguing to her, she loves the sounds he makes when she pulls his tail. *small chuckle* We are working on teaching nice touches.

Brady…my youngest and only boy. ahh Brady. I was so scared to have a little boy. I did not think I would know what to do with him. I am here to tell you that little guy came out holding my heart in his hands. I love my girls but there is just something different about a boy and a mom. He is all over this house these days. He is active and moving. He LOVES cars. LOVES them. The movie, the toys…anything with wheels. He has a couple larger ones that he leans on and just pushes all over the house. Full of energy and love.

It is him I am worried about right now. It is Brady that consumes my thoughts and fears right now. He is not talking. Please understand when I say not talking I mean it literally. I don’t mean that he is hard to understand or that he is not talking as much as other kids. I don’t mean that he does not want to talk and so is choosing to be silent or that he gets everything handed to him so he does not have to talk. He really does not seem to be able to form words.

I called Early Intervention in our area 2 weeks ago. We met with them for the first time last Tuesday, Feb 23. The case worker was very nice and spent about an hour and a half here that morning. She did some developmental tests with him to see where he was at, she did say she would score him another time as well to make sure to get a more complete view of him. He scored very low in communication skills; at 27 months he scored at a 16 month level. Have you any idea how hard that is? To hear that your child is almost a year behind where he should be. He was behind in all other areas as well. He basically scored between 16 and 20 months.

A speech language pathologist, SLP, is coming this Friday, March 5, to meet with us and evaluate him as well. Where we go from there I am not real sure. She also bringing a test that will alert us to any red flags of autism spectrum disorders, ASD. again…kind of scary. I will blog more about my own thoughts on my other blog.

I am eager to meet with these professionals and move on to whatever the next steps are. I am so happy to have Brad to walk this with me. He is a wonderful person to lean on. I am grateful to be able to check things with him as well and watch him watching Brady. I know that whatever comes of all this we can walk this together. We always have been able to walk these tough roads together.

Well…smells like I need to get back to work. The girls have been playing for a little bit after getting up from nap and I believe that Lucey has made a lovely package for me in her diaper…oh the joys.