Progress Report

*Little Brother*

Sensory:  We got Little Brother evaluated by an OT for sensory processing disorder.  He has it.  Sigh.  His sensory issues are related to vestibular movement, especially when going from sedentary to movement oriented tasks or vice versa.  For example, after he's been sitting for a while, if he stands up and starts running, sometimes he'll fall forward and land on his belly.  It's not like he gets hurt from it, he just gets back up and keeps going.  This also explains why he pauses for a few seconds after he's gone down a slide (it's because he still feels like he's moving.)   I was told by the therapist that he's very impulsive, which is a thing you see in kiddos with sensory processing issues and behavior regulation.  So basically, we're teaching him how to handle being told no (currently his reaction is major temper tantrum and trying to do whatever we told him he couldn't do) to help him become more stable emotionally.  I feel like all we're doing is seeing more temper tantrums and my patience is so very thin right now.  I had no idea that impulsivity was sensory related, I thought it was more personality based.  He also has extremely poor visual tracking.  So, now he and Kiddo get OT at the same time and I love both of their OTs.

Speech: Words and phrases are coming!  This little guy has so much to say.  I've had one therapist say she's sure he has apraxia, and two who think it's just a severe delay.  The more I hear new words, and an improvement of old words, the more convinced I am it's just a severe delay, or if he does have apraxia it's definitely mild and nowhere near as severe as Kiddo's.

New words and phrases:
Ok (said all. the. time.  Especially when being disciplined, though within minutes he's doing again what he was doing before)
All clean
Stomp stomp roar (when he stomps his little feet, than hands out as he pretends to be a dinosaur)
appy juice (apple juice.  Sounds so much like he's saying happy juice I jokingly called it that for a while.  But once he started asking for it all the time, we got rid of it all.  No more happy juice, bud.)
Oh no!
Aww man
Pete Cat (his fav book, Pete the Cat)
Teetee on (Tv on.  When he wants to watch TV)
Kitty cat
Ocdoput (octopus)
Doo doo doo (what the rooster says)
Hew pwee (help please)
Moowee (movie)
Pa pie ee chit (french fries and chicken.  his fav thing to eat)
Zitza (pizza)
Chut (church)
Amen! (after our prayers)
Wet  (especially when playing in the pool or bath)
Mama baby (when pointing out a mother and her baby, especially in books)
I know (his response when we tell him "I love you."


*Kiddo*

Speech: Kiddo is totally blowing me away with all the new words and phrases and sentences (yes, for real, sentences!).  Every time he's done with a speech therapy session his speech therapist raves about how much he is saying and that she is understanding what he saysand how much clearer he is.  Other people are beginning to understand him too, so I don't need to translate for him all the time. I wish I had kept a list of all the new words or phrases, but here's the most impressive ones I can remember off the top of my head:


I love you Mommy.  (My all time favorite phrase.  Took me 5 years to be able to hear it).
Big Hero 6 good movie!
Touch Mommy nose.
Microbot (from Big Hero 6)
Bug fly.  Daddy do this. (demonstrates swiping motion Hubster made to shoo a fly away)
I want to play Angry Birds please. (What?  7 words?  With correct grammar?  I'm blown away.)
Right there (when answering the question where something is.  Before he would just point).
Oh, I get it (when told some new information.  He totally got this phrase from me and whenever I hear him say it I just can't help but grin)
Play Lego Game Daddy (when telling me he played the Lego Game Movie with Hubster on the playstation)
Later?  (whenever I tell him he can't do something now).

A few conversations:

Me: Wake up, we're at Chick-fil-A!
Sleepy Kiddo: Eat play?
Me: Yeah.   Sound like fun?
Kiddo: Yes.  Sleep later.

As we drove past Chuck E Cheese:
Kiddo: Chuck E Cheese!
Hubster: Yeah, we went there for your birthday.
Kiddo.  Yes.  Minion cake.
Hubster: It was a cool minion cake.
Kiddo: Yes.  Cake all gone.

And a funny story:  Kiddo's speech therapist and I are working on the "F" sound with him.  We tell him "Teeth on your lips" and demonstrate.  I did that with him, when we were counting, "four, five" and Kiddo starts giggling.  I asked him "What's so funny?"  He says, "Mommy, teeth dirty."  I had a piece of seasoning stuck between my teeth. ;)

Random stuff: He now can put his shoes on all by himself on the correct foot.  He can alternate his feet on the stairs effortlessly if he has a railing or a hand to hold.  He is no longer having issues with getting his hair washed and is a lot less concerned with getting water in his face.  In fact, in the kiddie pool he went down a slide face first. :)


In the Upcoming Weeks:

We'll be heading up to the DC area next week to visit with family and friends in the area, and to have three days of speech at a Mini CHAMP at George Washington University's Speech and Hearing Center July 13-15.  This is where he went two summers ago to work with Jodi Kumar for CHAMP Camp.  At the time, he had just turned three, had about 20 word approximations, and mainly communicated using sign language.  He left with the k and g sounds and about 10 new words and the phrase "I want ___" which was huge progress for us and really helped me know how to work with him better to get faster progress then we were seeing before CHAMP.  The progress he's made in two years has been pretty incredible, and every speech intensive we've done (CHAMP Camp in 2013 and Nancy Kaufman's 4 day speech intensive in 2014) have been so great for really boosting his speech and progress.  Our goals at the mini speech intensive will be working on his d, n, and f sounds.  I'll keep you posted on how he does, and can't wait to see family and friends again. :)

Scriptures and Prayers for my Children

I've prayed more prayers for my boys than I could even count. Sometimes they're a quick, "Oh, God, give Kiddo focus during speech today," or "Heavenly Father, bring peace to Little Brother's heart right now," when he's in the middle of a temper tantrum.  Sometimes they are prayers about therapies to start or discontinue, or about good behavior and awesome results at an evaluation or a speech intensive.  Sometimes it's a quick "Help them come to know you Father."

I've also prayed desperate prayers.  Prayers for Little Brother's life, when at 17 weeks pregnant with him I needed to have my appendix removed pronto and the surgeon said so matter-of-factly, "of course there's a risk you will lose the fetus in surgery."  (Side note, I hate that term 'fetus'.  It's a baby folks.  In this case, my baby.  End side note).  Hubster and I, family and friends and members of our church prayed and prayed that God would spare us both.  And obviously, He did.  I call Little Brother "my little miracle."

I've prayed desperate prayers for healing.  We've brought Kiddo to the altar at church numerous times, had our pastors lay hands on his head and pray for his hearing, his speech, his complete and miraculous healing.  Hubster and I pray for both kiddos and their speech and their healing.  We have friends and family and members of our church praying for them too.

But a year or so ago, I started turning to Scripture to find passages to pray.  And a few of those are what I want to share here.

Kiddo's First Sentence

My mother made some banana bread and I gave some to the kids with their dinner.  They wrinkled their noses at it, but I told them it tasted like banana cake.  That got their attention, so they both grabbed their piece and took a big bite.

Little Brother devoured it.

Kiddo took a bite, made a face, spit it out, and left the table.

I told him he needed to go back and finish his dinner.  That even if he didn't like the banana bread, he needed to finish his chicken and blueberries.

Kiddo replied, "No, I want banana cake go away."

Kiddo Turns 5!

Kiddo is 5!!  I really am so proud of this kiddo, and how far he has come in his speech.  This is the first year he has ever been able to express how he wanted to celebrate his special day, and so we excitedly honored each and every one of his requests.  Check out this video of him sharing his b-day plans:

Party Time!!

Kiddo had a blast at Chuck E Cheese eating pizza and cake, unwrapping his presents, playing games, getting tickets, picking out his prizes, etc.  Some of his friends from church were there, as well as my parents and sister, and of course, Mommy, Daddy and Little Brother.  :)

My mother (the beautiful lady pictured below) made the minion cake.  It was so cute, and Kiddo was so excited to see it!  When it came time to eat it, he stabbed it with a fork and ate it like a popsicle.  Little Brother did the same thing, and ended up with blue frosting all over his face, shirt, and pants.

Kiddo's already mentioned Little Brother's upcoming birthday a few times. :)