It's a milestone I've been waiting for and praying for for years. Jumping--a skill I've seen two year olds do, and yet Kiddo turned six and still wasn't jumping. Years of physical therapy, of trying to help Kiddo get the motor planning down by prompting him "bend your knees, and 1, 2, 3 jump! Feet together!!"
At the beach one evening (pics of our beach vacation coming soon!!), Hubster built a sand castle and told Kiddo to jump on it. We expected Kiddo to do his usual bend of knees and then one foot forward and then the other, but Hubster and I just stared in shock as we watched him bend his knees and jump with his feet together. Hubster asked me "Did he really just jump?"
I told him "I think so, let's see if he can do it again." I grabbed my camera and told Kiddo to jump. And he did!!
Hope you enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed seeing our son master this major milestone. :D
the much anticipated speech videos are here. Enjoy!!
First up, Little Brother: Age 3 1/2
Please don't mind the mess, we had just moved the weekend before and hadn't finished organizing the kids' room.
Currently he's getting speech twice a week through the county and has made quite a bit of progress.
Kiddo: Age 5 1/2
Kiddo's speech and language has really flourished since he started at his new school that is designed for children with special needs with peer models. They learn the preschool curriculum with focus on speech and language skills as well as social skills. His articulation has improved somewhat from last year's video (I was watching it this morning), but the major difference, which you'll see, is how much more he is talking and how much less prompting he needs to talk. He will initiate conversations and ask a few questions, skills he did not have last year. And he never really interacted verbally with peers, but now he is. They don't often understand him, but he has lots of friends at school and church, and that makes me happy. He also is starting to order his own food at restaurants, and most of the time the servers understand him, which makes me so proud. We are so blessed to have found his school, his amazing teacher and the therapists who work with him.
The year in review is one of my most tedious and time consuming posts to write, but I absolutely love it because it's just so encouraging to look back on where the kiddos were a year ago, and all my posts along the way show how much progress they've made and the adventures we've been on. And so, without any further ado, our 2015 in review, plus a current progress report, because I haven't posted one in a while.
January: I posted speech videos of the kiddos so we could see where they started the year at. After viewing them, Kiddo was saying two word phrases and Little Brother was saying lots of words like "yeah!" "no" and animals and their sounds. No two word phrases yet.
February: Kiddo started asking questions (whoo hoo!) Little Brother started jumping and Kiddo started contributing to bedtime prayers.
March: We visited with family and had a grand time with all the cousins and family members on Hubster's side. It's the first time Kiddo was really able to communicate some thoughts with peers, and was awesome to see them having a blast together, especially because two of those cousins live across the world in Australia and we miss them, and seeing all of the family together. It was a great time for all of us.
Kiddo with his cousins who were all born in 2010. :)
April: Kiddo started talking in three word phrases and we finally found him a good physical therapist who taught him really quickly how to alternate his feet on stairs. Little Brother got a speech evaluation, where he was diagnosed with severe speech delay, possible mild apraxia, and qualified for speech services through school when he turned three.
June: We celebrated Kiddo's 5th birthday, which was incredible, because it was the first year he was excited about any holiday or celebration, and the first year he was able to tell us how he wanted to celebrate it. We catered to his every desire (this year at least, haha) and had a b-day party at Chuck E Cheese with a Minion cake and friends from church.
July: We made it back to George Washington University for a three day intensive with the amazing Jodi Kumar. Kiddo worked hard on his F and D sounds and learned a few new phrases. I also got to see how much progress Kiddo has made gross motor wise by going to this fun place. I got Kiddo's OT reevaluation (17 months after starting OT) and found the results both discouraging and filled with progress.
August: We celebrated Little Brother's third birthday amidst our move across the state where Kiddo could go to an amazing new school and he is FLOURISHING there. Worth the move, just for that.
October: Kiddo gave me a very special b-day present of singing to me the Happy Birthday song. Kiddo started asking "What's this?" And the kiddos had a blast trick or treating for Halloween as Woody and Buzz Lightyear.
November: November I didn't post much, because Kiddo had an allergic reaction at school, where they administered him an epi-pen and then we took him to the ER. We kept him out of school for a few weeks until we could get allergy testing done to see what was going on. Kiddo is fine and dandy, but it was a stressful time. For Thanksgiving, my in-laws came to visit, and they helped build a ball pit for our kiddos to play in (great for the sensory issues!) and also my amazing mother-in-law made the kiddos weighted blankets (also great for sensory issues!) which the kiddos love, and Kiddo calls a "Nana hug all night long."
December: Kiddos were uber excited about Christmas, counting down until the days, adding new words and phrases to their vocabularies. It was the best Christmas ever, just because of the kids' excitement and how well they can express themselves now. My parents watched the kiddos for us for a few days so Hubster and I could have a much needed few days to ourselves, which we enjoyed at a nearby beach. It rained most of the time, but the view from our hotel was great, as was being able to sleep in and eat wherever we wanted and watch a few movies.
Little Brother now asks "Why?" and is being potty trained. He says lots of 3-4 word phrases now. He can sing his ABCs though he leaves out G, N, and W every. single. time. He LOVES to draw and color and is such a rough and tumble kid but oh so snuggly too.
Kiddo is learning how to pedal a bicycle and singing songs and has so much to say. He loves school and has lots of friends and even a girlfriend at school. I asked him what he and his girlfriend do at school. He told me "Play. Learn. Hold hands." He loves showing us how much stronger he is getting, and helping (he's great at putting away the silverware from the dishwasher and helping me with the laundry).
There were lots of ups and downs, stressful yet joyous times, and of course, lots of progress and victories. This year, 2015, was the year we began to feel like the kiddos are really flourishing, and I cannot wait to see what is in store for us in 2016. :)
For some reason, saying goodbye to all of Kiddo's amazing therapists has been harder than I imagined. Maybe because they've become such an integral part of our lives. Maybe because they see how hard Kiddo works and they work just as hard with him. Maybe because they offer a lifeline when you feel you are drowning in all that apraxia and hypotonia and dyspraxia and sensory processing entails. Maybe because it took me a while to find each of them before they came into our lives. A good therapist, one who really gets your child and actually knows how to work with them and push them to succeed, well they are hard to find, but once you do find them, you learn to not let them go, even if it means paying out of pocket to see them. But letting them go is exactly what I've had to do in the last few months.
I'm kicking myself for not getting a pic of Kiddo with his school speech therapist, Ms. R, who we said goodbye to at the end of the school year. She worked with Kiddo since he was three. She taught Kiddo how to play board games and use words and phrases he had never attempted before. She is his only school therapist that has attended every single one of IEP meetings. She learned I was a Christian and was so excited, sharing with me Bible verses to pray over Kiddo, and even praying over him a few times after his session with her. She was the one who told me about the school that Kiddo is now in, and is thriving in. She wrote a letter to that school, stating why she recommended he needed to be a student there, and they accepted him because of that letter. She went above and beyond what she needed to do to help Kiddo succeed and will not be forgotten.
Next, we said goodbye to Ms. M, Kiddo's private speech therapist. We've only been working with her since January, but this sweet lady reinforced everything we learned at Nancy Kaufman's clinic: she rocks the Kaufman Protocol and Kaufman cards and all that other stuff. And she also reinforced what we learned at CHAMP by using PROMPT cues with him. She always raved about how sweet and cooperative he was, how hard of a worker he was, how much progress he was making, which always encouraged this mama's heart.
I was stunned when I learned last month that Ms. B, Kiddo's amazing private OT was leaving for Nashville. What?!? We were willing to drive an hour back to this clinic to keep working with her when we moved, and then she up and leaves for Nashville? Ah, but I wish her nothing but the best, as that is what she has given Kiddo. I learned so many things from her in the 17 months we've seen her, and Kiddo just as much. Kiddo is climbing now because of Ms. B. He is more confident in himself and his skills now. More regulated, as she likes to call it. She affectionately called him "My Little Turkey." Why, I'll never know. She was quirky and sweet and passionate about what she did, and it was evident to all. She was the one who told me we needed to evaluate Little Brother, because of some of his behavior issues she saw, and because of that eval we learned he has some sensory issues too and began OT for him early. We paid out of pocket for Kiddo to see Ms. B, but it was truly worth every penny.
And last but certainly not least, and the hardest of all to say "see ya later" to, our amazing speech therapist through Early Intervention, Ms. Blessing. It's not her real name, but it should be, as that is what she has been in our lives. She's the one who was bold enough to confirm my suspicion Kiddo had apraxia, though therapists are supposed to wait until age three to diagnose. The one who expanded Kiddo's vocabulary from two sounds (uh and ow) to two-three word phrases. The one who worked with and loved on both my children, who watched them grow (she met Little Brother when he was 2 months old, Kiddo at age 2 1/2), and built up their language. She gave me insight and ideas and education and hope when I felt lost and overwhelmed. She let me record sessions of Kiddo working with her for the application to CHAMP Camp and to Nancy Kaufman. She continued working with us even after Kiddo aged out of Early Intervention, before we knew Little Brother would need her as a a therapist as well. She was truly invested in helping them and helping me to succeed. She was our Nancy Kaufman in our little corner of the world. She will always hold a very special place in my heart.
I'm thankful to each and every one of these ladies for all their hard work and effort and love to produce such sweet apples of gold in my children.
Kiddo has been in occupational therapy with the greatest OT ever (in my very biased opinion) since March of 2014. In the 17 months he's been in therapy, we've made lots of progress. Lots. I mean, he's walking up and down stairs alternating feet now. His run is a lot less of a waddle and much faster. His balance and core strength have improved significantly. He now attempts to color pictures rather than just scribbling all over paper, he can write the letters of his first name, and can draw circles and squares and a happy face. His sensory issues have become less and less problematic. He can kick a ball now, and can throw with a lot more accuracy, and can even catch a thrown ball about every other time. He's now fully potty trained and can dress himself (except he needs help with shirts).
Kings of the beaver dam! 17 months ago, Kiddo wouldn't have even attempted to climb it. :)
A few weeks ago his OT reevaluated him, and I got the report on Wednesday. At first, all I see are the percentiles. His locomotion (gross motor skills like walking, running, stairs, jumping, hopping, etc) is at the 5th percentile. Meaning 95 percent of his peers can perform better than him in this area. I see it every time we go to a playground or a play place, but seeing it in writing is not fun. His object manipulation (catching, throwing, kicking, etc) is at 25th, not so terrible. Nor is his hand eye coordination, his highest at 50th percentile. (Maybe there's a chance he won't be terrible at sports like his mama?) His grasping (fine motor skills like writing, cutting, etc) is at the 5th percentile. And his stationary skills (balance, posture, core strength) is at the 2nd percentile.
I'm feeling defeated.
Next, I see the month equivalency. He is 63 months old, but his stationary skills are like that of a 33 month old. His locomotion 29. His object manipulation 46. His hand eye coordination 52. His grasping skills 37. Did I mention he is 63 months old?
Forget defeat. Now I'm just discouraged. Can he not be ahead or equivalent with his peers in any of these areas? How long is it going to take him to catch up? Should we be doing more therapy? Should I be focusing on these areas more than I do his speech and language?
But, I have to see the positive in everything or else the defeat and discouragement and the questioning can be paralyzing. So, when we got home I pulled out his huge binder filled with all his evals and I found the one from his first eval in March of 2014. I had to see how much progress he has made in 17 months. And I crunched some numbers I desperately needed to see the positive, and I found it. In 17 months of weekly private OT, twice a month OT and PT from school, and me working with him he has made:
Stationary skills: 15 months of progress. Not bad, Kiddo. Not bad at all.
Locomotion: 7 months. Really?
Object manipulation: 19 months. Yay!
Grasping: a whopping 24 months. Go Kiddo!!
Hand eye coordination: 14 months.
Ah, much more encouraging. Though the locomotion is still not as much as I would like, he's made two years worth of progress in 17 months on his fine motor skills. He's making progress in every area. While his peers may be making progress too and that's why his percentiles are still really low, he is making steady progress and gaining new skills.
I can't wait to see his next evaluation, because I KNOW those numbers are going to be even higher. Once he masters jumping and pedaling a bicycle those locomotion numbers are going to go way up. And we will master them soon, I can feel it.
Plus, these stupid evals don't take into account how dang smart he is. His teacher has told me multiple times "He is so smart." Yep, I know it. He's been reading for a while now and loves science.
So anyway, take that stupid apraxia!! We are surely and steadily beating you!!
Kiddo can climb any mountain he puts his mind to. :)
So, the last day has come and gone. It started with a receptive language test, and I wrote down every area where he struggled, for us to focus on later. These include things like:
Prepositions: in back of, behind, in front of
Sequential order: first, then, last, etc
Understanding not/doesn't
Pronouns: his/hers, and he/she/they
Most/least
Identifying words by their beginning letter sound
Rhyming
Same/different
Together/apart
Whew. I'll get a formal report of the language test in a few days, but it's just so interesting to me how he does so well with academic stuff (he aced the colors, numbers, shapes, letters, sight words, and even adjectives like biggest, smallest, longest, etc) but struggles so much with basic language.
He then worked on his goals of saying words that start with D and F. He's doing so well! I was given a report that states that in the first session he had 10% accuracy of his words beginning with D, and 0% accuracy of the words beginning with F. By the end of the second day, with cueing, he was getting 73% accuracy of D words and 90% accuracy of F words. Whoo hoo, go Kiddo! I'll get a report in a few days of today's progress, so I'm looking forward to seeing the results of his overall progress.
He had lots of fun with the clinicians today, but his favorite game was collecting Angry Birds after saying his words to put on a parachute. After he had collected them all, he got to make them fly, which he was so excited about, he started doing his marching dance while they were playing with the parachute. :)
By the end, even though he was tired, he was counting with four and five both starting with an F sound, and Jodi and I, who were sitting in the observation room, were clapping and cheering together, haha. Awesome, proud moment for both of us.
The exhausted Kiddo with Jodi (in blue) and his clinicians Michele, Erica and Courtney
Honestly, I had this moment during one of the sessions where I felt so overwhelmed and lost and I put my head down on the little table and wanted to cry. To think that we're spending three days, three sessions a day, working on two sounds that he's been working on in therapy already for a while, and will need more practice on for a while, well sometimes it just doesn't seem fair. He still has so far to go. And I was thinking that he's getting as much therapy in these three days as he does privately in three months. How long is this going to take for him to talk like his peers? But whenever I feel that way, I try to think of the positive and how far he has come. He's made 90% progress on his F sound in two days, imagine what it will be after three? These ladies know what they're doing and I see the results.
In fact, in the elevator as we were going up to our hotel room a man asked him how old he was. Kiddo said proudly "Five!" (with the F sound, whoo hoo!) And the man laughed. "Five?" he said. "Before you know it, you'll be twenty!" And Kiddo giggled at that.
And as if that didn't make me proud enough, when we made it back to our hotel, he proudly declared "I'm back!" a phrase they had been working on with him in day two.
I am so proud of all the hard work he and Jodi and the clinicians did. I love CHAMP, but even moreso, do I love my little Champ who always amazes me with how hard he works to learn what comes so easily to others. He inspires me.
I have to start with a collage comparison of Kiddo age 3, and Kiddo age 5 exploring George Washington University campus before going to CHAMP. Melts my heart, how fast children grow, and to realize that Kiddo was only a month or two older than Little Brother is now when he went to CHAMP the first time, well that seems crazy to me.
Kiddo, age 3. July 2013
Kiddo, age 5. July 2015
So anyway, we made it to mini-CHAMP (meaning it's a three day intensive, rather than a full week of CHAMP Camp). I gave the awesome Jodi Kumar a hug, and then she and her clinicians whisked him off for an evaluation. After the evaluation, we decided our goals would be to work on words with D and F sounds, as well as a list of words Hubster and I wanted him to say more clearly, including:
Kiddo and Little Brother's names
Computer
I'm hungry
I'm thirsty
Banana
Cereal
Dinner
Like/don't like
He has three sessions a day, so for the next two sessions they played lots of fun games working on those goals and some simple phrases, and Kiddo said "Fish" properly several times. I was so proud I was clapping in the observation room, haha. He also is saying "four" and "five" much clearer which also makes me proud.
Kiddo working on the F sound. Jodi's on the left, clinician on the right.
Kiddo was so excited to ride the train and he was so cooperative during his sessions today, I was thrilled. Jodi was commenting on how much personality he has now (he kept giving her hugs while she was working with him and she had to teach him the phrase "I want a hug" before he could get one, haha) and how much progress he's made since he was last there. :)
Tonight Hubster and I are taking Kiddo to see the Minion Movie which will be a total surprise to him. My in-laws are generously watching Little Brother for a few days so I can focus on soaking in as much as possible during the mini-CHAMP, which I am extremely grateful for.
The first time I read the above statement, I felt grief and worry wash over me. That was closer to the number of words my four year old had in his vocabulary, than the number of questions he asked. In fact, he didn't ask any questions, even though we tried to teach him the sign language for what, where, why and how are you. I mourned knowing not only what Kiddo was thinking about, but what he wondered about, what he wanted to know but had no way of communicating to me. And I worried that even though he did only have 400-500 words, shouldn't some of those be questions? I mean, I work with toddlers in the church nursery who are asking "What's dat?" a bazillion times, and I'm sure they have less than 400 words in their vocabularies.
I remember asking speech therapists about it, and they would tell me just keep modeling asking questions, especially "What's that?" and "Where's ___?" because those are generally the first questions a toddler learns to ask. One even told me to not even attempt teaching "Why?" until after he had learned to ask at least four other questions, as that's what happened in typical development. But no matter how much I modeled, how many times we would go through flash cards I made which included phrases like "What's that?" he never asked any questions.
Flash forward to today, Kiddo now asks three specific questions. He probably only asks one or two questions a day. Nowhere near the 437 number, but I'll take it. We're making progress and that's what matters to me.
His very first question was "Why?" The first time he asked it, was when he asked me if he could "pay Lego game?" (play Lego Movie video game). I told him no. Clear as a bell he said "Why?" I answered without a thought, just told him because he always played the Lego game with Daddy, and maybe when Daddy got home from work he might play the Lego game with him. It wasn't until after Kiddo went off to play something else that I realized he had asked a question. And I immediately informed Hubster of it, I was so proud. This has become his most frequent question, that I hear at least daily, especially when he's been told to do something or told to wait for something.
Kiddo has asked twice "What dis?" Once regarding my curling iron, another time about a beaded doll from Africa at my parents' house. He does tend to repeat words we use with a question mark on the end as if to ask "What's that?" and we'll explain it to him. For example, we use the words 'shopping cart', but he overheard someone commenting about the kiddos sitting in the buggy, and Kiddo turned to me and said "Buggy?"
And he asks on occasion, "Where are you?" Usually this is in relation to an item, moreso than a person. For example, I'll ask him "Where is your cup?" and he'll go around the house, his hands around his mouth as he calls out "Cuuuuuup, wha ah you?" But sometimes, I hear him calling for me. "Mommy, wha ah you?"
I find all of these questions interesting, because I never worked with him on these questions specifically. I know he's heard them, but they weren't the ones we modeled over and over, the ones we had written on flash cards for him to practice saying along with the words he was working on. He still doesn't ask those questions. It reminds me that he is developing at his pace and in his own way and it's ok. I now have a better idea of the things he wonders about, and I'm so proud that he figured out how to ask the questions that matter to him on his own.
Little Brother: Wow, time outs are doing wonders for this kid. We've had lots of problems with disobedience, and though we tried several different discipline tactics nothing worked, until we discovered calling time outs "stuck" did the trick. This kid does not like being stuck, in fact, "tuck" was one of his first words. A minute or two "being stuck" for every act of disobedience/unkindness has made him much more compliant, and done wonders for my stress and frustration level, haha. Now he follows directions much better, and is no longer hitting or biting poor Kiddo. The throwing toys at Kiddo still happens, but is getting less frequent.
Not much to report when it comes to his speech, but wow, this kid is great at jumping. :)
Kiddo: Hubster and I are amazed every day at the progress we see and hear. Some of Kiddos words and phrases and SENTENCES, are getting longer, more complex, and clearer! Other people are starting to be able to understand some of the things he says without me having to translate, who hoo!
Some of his newest phrases and funny things:
Every night during bedtime prayers, I say "Thank you God for ____" and he fills in the blank. He always starts it off by saying "Eesus!" Sometimes he's thankful for Mommy and Daddy, sometimes brother, always his own name, and sometimes random things like books, eyes, church, etc. This kid melts my heart with his prayers.
He demanded "pee butta jeyee! (peanut butter and jelly sandwich) one day for lunch, and I kept telling him to wait, as I was busy doing something else. After three times of this he comes up to me, holds up one hand, says "One pee butta" holds up the other hand "One jeyee!" and then claps his hands together. Hubster and I just laughed. Yes Kiddo, I know how to make a PB&J, but thanks for the reminder. ;)
He plays hide n seek now! He tells us who should count (usually he's the counter, occasionally I get the privilege of counting). When it's his turn he covers his eyes, but peeks a tiny bit, counts to ten and then says "Readee naw!" and comes looking for us, and when he finds us, he tells us where we are, which has been great for teaching him prepositions, and just pure fun to interact with him in a new/social way. If it's my turn to count, well I must admit, he's a terrible hider (hint: his favorite spot is face against the wall, in plain sight) and if I ask Little Brother "Where's Kiddo?" Kiddo'll jump out and say "Boo!" Gotta teach him that just because he can't see us doesn't mean we can't see him, but we are thrilled at how quickly he caught on to the game and how often he requests to play "Dida Seech!"
He is really into science. He is fascinated by the whole digestion process (we hear "eat, tummy, poo poo!) a lot. He loves dinosaurs, weather, space, etc. The Magic School Bus has become his new favorite TV show, which reminds me of my own childhood.
He calls Hubster's school (Hubster's currently going to grad school) Robot School, because one time Hubster said he goes to school to learn about robots and computers and Kiddo latched onto the robot idea.
While in speech therapy, Ms. Blessing had him playing "Don't Spill the Beans". For each word he said five times correctly, he got the bean. Then Ms. Blessing decided to work on sounds, rather than words. "Say pa!" she said. "No pa, no pa!" Kiddo insisted, "No pa, bean!" Yes Kiddo, you are right, it is not a pa, it is a bean.
He is starting to say hi to other people when they say hi to him! This is huge peeps. He plays well with other kids, but has never really interacted with them verbally, but now he tells them hi. :)
He tries so hard to bribe me to read "boo boch!" (two books) instead of just one before bed. One time he pulled out a copy of "One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish" and pointed to the number two. "Boo ish! Boo boch!" he insisted. Such a smarty pants.
He's started tattling on Little Brother. He'll come up to me while I'm in the kitchen or doing laundry, or whatever. "Botha do doy!" (Brother throw toy!) etc. Or, he'll take matters into his own hands and tell Little Brother what to do. "Botha no dutch!" (no touch!) or "Botha no do doy!"
As for gross motor, we're starting to make a little bit of progress on pedaling a bicycle, whoo hoo! He needs a little push to get going, and then can pedal for about three or four cycles before he loses the momentum. He can go the length of our driveway no problem since it's on a very slight incline, but can't pedal it back up. Definitely needs more strength before he can do it, but I think he has the motor planning down for it, which is huge. Steering, though, is a different beast. Steering requires lots of motor planning, which his brain has no ability to process when it's working so hard on pedaling. But I'm hopeful that he'll be strong enough to be riding his bike over the summer. :)
His core is definitely getting stronger, as evidenced by this photo. I was doing laundry, and came out to find he had taken all the cushions off the couch and was hanging out like this. "Mommy, cook!" (Mommy look!) He held this position for at least 5 minutes. :)
Hopefully I'll have lots of other progress to report next month, when both kiddos get to spend two weeks visiting with their cousins! I can't wait. :)
Wow, hard to believe 2014 is almost over and we're ready to embrace 2015. Last year I wrote a blog post, Oh the Difference a Year Makes, and it was a great experience for me, to remember how much Kiddo progressed, and the obstacles we faced in 2013. At the beginning of 2013 he had three words, and by December he had about 300! So, to see the journey of 2014 with it's victories and setbacks, I present:
2014 in review:
January: Kiddo started preschool, which he loved. He was FINALLY able to climb up those play places they have at McDonald, Chick-fil-A, Burger King, etc. And, according to the speech videos I posted in January, he was using a few phrases, specifically his attempt at "excuse me" after burping and saying "Ready, set, go!"
February: In February we had two setbacks and a huge victory. Setback one: Our attempt at therapeutic riding was a bust, as Kiddo refused to get on the pony. Kinda defeats the purpose of going to therapeutic riding if all you're going to do is feed and pet the pony and not, well, ride it. Setback two: we attempted a gluten free diet, but something in the gluten free foods was causing him diarrhea and the pediatrician recommended we stop. And the major victory? Kiddo was potty trained in three days!! I thought it was going to take longer than that, just because most skills take a long time to master with apraxia and I've read of apraxic children not being potty trained until 4 or 5, but at age 3 1/2 he was fully potty trained, (night time trained too!) in just three days. Best victory ever. :)
March: Both kiddos started to use more words. And Kiddo was evaluated by a new occupational therapist, who turned out to be a major Godsend. He has made so much progress working with her and she has been such a blessing to us.
April: After going to several audiologists and ENTs in our area and not getting the answers I wanted regarding the pressure in Kiddo's middle ears, the increased frequency of ear infections, and whether or not he should be wearing his hearing aid, I took him to a well respected hearing clinic in the city an hour and a half away from us. Finally got answers--tubes needed to go in pronto to relieve the pressure and to remove the fluid that had been causing the ear infections. Kiddo also started using three and even four word phrases.
May: Kiddo got his ear tubes in, and within no time we were noticing he was understanding more of what we were saying. Yeah, uh better hearing helps with that. We also learned that though he still has a severe hearing loss in his right ear, it was not recommended he wear his hearing aid anymore. Research indicates it's best to let the brain learn to compensate for the loss by relying on the good ear and not a hearing aid in the impaired ear. We also celebrated the second annual Apraxia Awareness Day.
June: Kiddo turned four, whoo hoo!!! And another setback, one I found devastating: we were supposed to go work with Jodi Kumar, awesome speech language pathologist at George Washington University Speech and Hearing Center. She is the creator of CHAMP Camp, where we had taken Kiddo last summer and seen great results. We had the hotel booked and everything, but Jodi had an accident while playing volleyball that required surgery the week she was supposed to work with Kiddo. I was glad to hear she was ok, but I was so disappointed that we wouldn't be working with her. We went to the DC area anyway, to spend time with family for Kiddo's birthday and I made it a goal to work on those OT skills in play places and playgrounds while we were there.
July: July was pretty relaxing as we had a lot less therapy appointments. I went to CASANA, a conference for parents and speech therapists about working with kiddos with apraxia. Learned a whole lot and got to meet some cool people, hang out with an apraxia mom friend I'd met at CHAMP Camp last summer, and I also got to meet Nancy Kaufman. We also started Verbal Behavior Therapy, which I feel like Kiddo made LOTS of progress in, but that therapist was sadly only able to work with us for two months and we cannot find another one anywhere near us.
August: Little Brother turned two! Both Kiddos made some progress with their speech: Little Brother was saying about 20 words, and Kiddo lots of two and three word phrases. Kiddo was also participating in mini conversations, which always makes me smile. We also went on an AMAZING family beach trip that was such a blessing to experience.
A selfie with both of my little blessings. :)
September: The new school year started, which meant more therapies through the school system. We elected to not put Kiddo in a preschool this year, so that I could work with him myself, and we could use the money we were putting toward preschool toward the OT that we were seeing so much progress in instead. But, this meant I had twice as many therapies to drive him too, and to chase Little Brother around their waiting rooms while Kiddo is in therapy, as opposed to just dropping him off at school where he got the therapies. Life got real busy, real fast.
December: More slow and steady progress. Kiddo's using verbs in his phrases now, like cry, work, clean, sleep, play, eat, and drink. Some funny conversations. A Christmas with my family, filled with excitement, in which the kiddos were able to tell us what they got. Kiddo could read to us who the presents were to and who they were from. He got a balance board to work on those gross motor skills and both kiddos got a ridiculous amount of other goodies to keep them plenty busy.
Honestly, sometimes I get overwhelmed with how far we still have to go. Just a few days ago, I was crying to Hubster because Kiddo had only mastered four of the fifteen goals I set for him for this year. The biggest one I had for him, 'Jumping', I want to see him do so badly, and we're not there yet. But, he mastered the second goal I had for him, 'Potty Trained', in a record three days, whoo hoo! He mastered my goal of him speaking in phrases, whoo hoo! He now goes up and down slides like a champ, which wasn't even one of the goals I set for him, but is so awesome to see. And while he hasn't mastered 11 goals, he's definitely made progress in them. Hopefully we'll master them in 2015.
Ahh, see, perspective. Gotta keep things in perspective, and that's what this blog does for me. It reminds me that though the progress can be excruciatingly slow and the journey overwhelming and exhausting and expensive and full of worry, the progress is there and the journey worth continuing. There are victories and blessings and joys and triumphs that we cherish because of the journey. Kiddo's in a totally different place then he was last year. So with a proper perspective I can truly say, yes, 2014 was a good year indeed. And I can't wait to see what victories and progress are in store for us for 2015.
I've been wanting to potty train Kiddo for a while now, but he had a fear of sitting on the toilet and sitting on a potty seat. So until that resolved, potty training was a no go.
But recently he has started telling us when he needed to "go poo poo" and so we would take him to his potty chair and he would do his business, we'd clap and cheer and give him candy and he'd do his proud potty dance. (Which really is a march with clapping or with arms flailing about).
So, I decided to bite the bullet and do the bare bottomed three day potty training thing. Starting Wednesday after he got home from preschool we started. I figured that'd give us 3 1/2 days before church on Sunday and we could see what results we'd have in that time of just focusing on potty training.
Well folks, it's been remarkable the progress we've made in a year. Feel free to relive the struggles, the progress, the busyness, and the victories with me as we go month by month through 2013.
January: Kiddo had only three "words" ('ow', 'uh' for up and 'uh uh' for no) but otherwise was silent. My first post was about Kiddos' journey before 2013. We also started fish oil supplementation which gave us some hyperactivity but more importantly, the beginning of him making sounds and attempting to imitate the sounds we asked of him.
February: I recorded Kiddos' first speech video of him working with our awesome speech therapist. I'll be honest, sometimes when I get really discouraged with how far he still has to go, I watch that video again and remember how far he has come. I remember how excited I was just that he was making sounds when we recorded this video. I'm posting it here so that you can celebrate with me how far he has come. :)
April: I initiated Operation Overcome Sensory Issues and began to see ah-mah-zing results. :) He is no longer bothered by the noise of vacuum cleaners or other loud noises as long as he has warning about them. He is much less bothered by wind, and will let me wash his hair without screaming as long as water stays out of his ears and eyes. Huge progress.
June: Kiddo turned three. :) We also started biomed--which really just entailed lots of research and introducing a few supplements other than fish oil.
July: Went to CHAMP Camp at George Washington University in DC, where we received the official diagnosis (severe Apraxia of Speech and a moderate receptive delay) and a week of intensive therapy with Ms. Katie and the fabulous Jodi Kumar. During that week, Kiddo went from about 20 to about 30 words and learned how to make the "k" sound. I made some awesome friendships with parents who could relate. I then got to guest post about our experience on one of my favorite apraxia blogs.
November: Finally got around to recording a video of Kiddo reading his sight words. Yep, he can read! Kiddo also started speaking in phrases which means we can now have conversations! Whoo hoo! Here's the video of him reading his words on his flashcards.
December: Kiddo now says about 300 words spontaneously, and is beginning to use two or three word phrases with prompting or spontaneously.
Overall, I'd say 2013 has been a very blessed year and can't wait to see what God has in store for us in 2014. :)
The last day of CHAMP Camp has come and gone. The parent session about sensory processing by Britt Collins, author of Sensory Parenting was absolutely fabulous. I may just have to purchase her book.
The kiddo continued working on his functional words, also saying "me" and "you" and "uh oh" during his individual session. He also said "cookie" and "candy" with prompting. :)
Then it was graduation time! They started with a slide show, and I snapped a photo of all the pics of the kiddo.
The theme of this year's CHAMP Camp was super heroes, so each of the kiddos got a cape with badges for things that they worked on/accomplished during the week. Ms. Katie shared the kiddo's badges: One for saying "me", one for saying "uh oh" spontaneously, one for working so hard in individual sessions, and one for working so hard on the phrase "I want ____".
Then, the kiddo got a medal for completing CHAMP Camp, which he is extremely proud of and didn't want me to take off. :)
Kiddo and I with Ms. Katie and the creator/director of CHAMP camp, Jodi Kumar
It was, in case you couldn't tell, a fabulous, though exhausting week. We are excited to be reunited with daddy and little brother who we missed greatly, and heading back home, to put into practice some of the things we learned in camp.
