Yes, sounds like a National Enquirer headline, but it's true. Since increasing Cha-cha's tv watching, he has added many new words and phrases to his vocabulary...
Tee-tee= TV
Ca Doz = Car Dogs AKA Turbo Dogs
mote ca = Remote Control
fa=fast forward
staw=stop
NO!= No, that's not Turbo Dogs!
cha= Change the channel to Turbo Dogs
mo doz= more Turbo Dogs
Aaaah!=It's a commercial in between Turbo Dogs. Fix it now!
Yes, not only are we now obsessed with TV, but we are obsessed with Turbo Dogs. :)
Friday, November 11, 2011
Monday, November 7, 2011
A step forward, a step back and drawing the line...
Cha-cha is working so hard in his therapy and day to day life trying his best to talk more. He is doing a lot of copying what we say and trying to answer more questions when we ask them. At school, he is talking more than he ever has - even joking around telling his teacher that only Daddy and Bee-bee sleep at home and that Mommy sleeps in the car.
The difficulty we've been having lately is understanding what he's saying. With the increase of vocabulary and words, the ability for us to understand his intelligibility has decreased. Thankfully for now, his frustration hasn't increased, or we'd really be in trouble. It's just that sometimes, my super powers for reading minds fails me. Cha-cha will say something and I just look at him and nod my head in agreement, hoping that I'm doing the right gesture. School and his speech therapists are also noticing this. Thankfully, he's a laid back kid, who doesn't seem too bothered by it - but it's frustrating for everyone involved.
An area we've made progress on the past week is Cha-cha's sleeping. Since August when we took the crib away, Cha-cha's been sleeping in our bed or falling asleep while hubby has been driving around. It's been exhausting, and hubby and I came to our breaking point and made him cry it out last week. It sucked, but last night he actually didn't even protest when we put him in his bed and shut the door. Tonight was easy too - he only came to his door once to open it.
Something I'm struggling with is dealing with a child with CAS and SPD. Don't get me wrong, we could be dealing with a host of different issues and we have a very healthy boy on our hands...but the looks from others when he's laying on the ground, the comments of him not talking or "when is he going to get better?" - it hurts. Maybe people aren't staring, maybe they're admiring my children - but sometimes, when my sh*tty committee is working overtime, any stare or gaze in the direction of my children feels like a pity look. Hubby usually tells people he's shy; my way of dealing with it is to talk about the CAS and SPD, however I usually get blank stares or the questioning of, "Oh, he'll talk and be normal...right?" I think when I'm feeling upset about it all, I may need to use hubby's "shy" route.
Lately, we don't know if Cha-cha's refusal to put on shoes or wear a winter coat is from his SPD - it could be, but at the same time, I think this 32 month old is playing us. He'll put on a coat for a bribe or for his teachers at school, but for us - he refuses, then he will go outside and lay on the ground and say his word for "cold" and look at you with a disapproving look. You want to scream and yell - but it doesn't make the situation any better, so I tell him that it was his choice not to wear a coat and move on. However that moving on thing is hard - especially when you have a 38lb, 40 inch 32 month old that refuses to walk. Have I mentioned that we have a giant for a son who also has low tone? So when you carry him, he is dead weight. He doesn't wrap his arms around you or shift his legs around your hip - he just hangs. I've resorted to the stroller - but again, he's so tall, he can put his feel on the wheels and stop the stroller from moving, which leads to a pop-a-wheelie ride on the back wheels. Graco and Chicco need to start making strollers for giant kids.
It's a frustrating thing, having a child with special needs - no matter what the disability is...it's hard as a parent to know what's the disability and what's the personality. How much of all of this is being two years old? How much do you need to take with a grain of salt, and how much should you really pick your battles? You never want to say, "Forget it," because that would be turning your back on your child - but at the same time, you don't want to spoil them and ruin them for life because you gave into him not to wear his coat. Then again, who's life has been ruined for not wearing a coat? All the time, I question myself with, how much can he really do vs. what can't he do? Do you make the excuse that he can't, or push him because you want him to do it just like the other "neurotypical" children? However, you have to remember and accept that he's not neurotypical. You have to redefine what is "normal" and if you have previous children who are neurotypical, you have to rewrite that definition...and you will probably second guess yourself a million times. ;)
The difficulty we've been having lately is understanding what he's saying. With the increase of vocabulary and words, the ability for us to understand his intelligibility has decreased. Thankfully for now, his frustration hasn't increased, or we'd really be in trouble. It's just that sometimes, my super powers for reading minds fails me. Cha-cha will say something and I just look at him and nod my head in agreement, hoping that I'm doing the right gesture. School and his speech therapists are also noticing this. Thankfully, he's a laid back kid, who doesn't seem too bothered by it - but it's frustrating for everyone involved.
An area we've made progress on the past week is Cha-cha's sleeping. Since August when we took the crib away, Cha-cha's been sleeping in our bed or falling asleep while hubby has been driving around. It's been exhausting, and hubby and I came to our breaking point and made him cry it out last week. It sucked, but last night he actually didn't even protest when we put him in his bed and shut the door. Tonight was easy too - he only came to his door once to open it.
Something I'm struggling with is dealing with a child with CAS and SPD. Don't get me wrong, we could be dealing with a host of different issues and we have a very healthy boy on our hands...but the looks from others when he's laying on the ground, the comments of him not talking or "when is he going to get better?" - it hurts. Maybe people aren't staring, maybe they're admiring my children - but sometimes, when my sh*tty committee is working overtime, any stare or gaze in the direction of my children feels like a pity look. Hubby usually tells people he's shy; my way of dealing with it is to talk about the CAS and SPD, however I usually get blank stares or the questioning of, "Oh, he'll talk and be normal...right?" I think when I'm feeling upset about it all, I may need to use hubby's "shy" route.
Lately, we don't know if Cha-cha's refusal to put on shoes or wear a winter coat is from his SPD - it could be, but at the same time, I think this 32 month old is playing us. He'll put on a coat for a bribe or for his teachers at school, but for us - he refuses, then he will go outside and lay on the ground and say his word for "cold" and look at you with a disapproving look. You want to scream and yell - but it doesn't make the situation any better, so I tell him that it was his choice not to wear a coat and move on. However that moving on thing is hard - especially when you have a 38lb, 40 inch 32 month old that refuses to walk. Have I mentioned that we have a giant for a son who also has low tone? So when you carry him, he is dead weight. He doesn't wrap his arms around you or shift his legs around your hip - he just hangs. I've resorted to the stroller - but again, he's so tall, he can put his feel on the wheels and stop the stroller from moving, which leads to a pop-a-wheelie ride on the back wheels. Graco and Chicco need to start making strollers for giant kids.
It's a frustrating thing, having a child with special needs - no matter what the disability is...it's hard as a parent to know what's the disability and what's the personality. How much of all of this is being two years old? How much do you need to take with a grain of salt, and how much should you really pick your battles? You never want to say, "Forget it," because that would be turning your back on your child - but at the same time, you don't want to spoil them and ruin them for life because you gave into him not to wear his coat. Then again, who's life has been ruined for not wearing a coat? All the time, I question myself with, how much can he really do vs. what can't he do? Do you make the excuse that he can't, or push him because you want him to do it just like the other "neurotypical" children? However, you have to remember and accept that he's not neurotypical. You have to redefine what is "normal" and if you have previous children who are neurotypical, you have to rewrite that definition...and you will probably second guess yourself a million times. ;)
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Cha-cha Cooking
One of Cha-cha's favorite things to do is to cook. He loves helping pour the ingredients in and mixing it up with the hand held mixer. This morning, he was doing a lot of talking - a lot of it is very difficult to understand. At one point, I don't know what he's saying, but he sure is trying hard to explain himself. :)
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Trick or Treat
It's that time of year - Halloween! I have been busy making Bee-bee's Rapunzel costume - all that is left is to hot glue gun flowers to her long braid. She can't wait to wear it to school and show it off - she is even more excited to wear it to Cha-cha's therapy appointment before we go and show Miss E her outfit.
Cha-cha, well, being excited about Halloween is difficult when you don't understand what's going on. We have asked him and showed him pictures of costumes - I've taken him into Target and stores and he turns his nose to everything. Last year we tortured him and put him in this big fluffy dog outfit and he hated it about 50% of the time he had it on. He refused to put it on at school and he ended up wearing a fire fighter dress up outfit. This year, somehow, we got him to say yes to a garbage man, but any time you ask him, he says no. So I made up two t-shirts and I'm praying he will put one of them on tomorrow at his preschool/daycare. One is a yellow shirt with a zig-zag like Charlie Brown and the other is a green shirt with a "WM" on the back like a garbage man.
We explained Trick or Treating to him and tried to get him to say "Trick or Treat"...right now he either refuses to say it or will say, "reet" and walk away. I'm pretty sure he'll "get it" when we are out there getting candy, but for now, I don't know how much he understands about all of it. Who knows - is he afraid of having to say something to get the candy? He still doesn't say "Thank you" out loud - he signs it. So it will look like the garbage man is blowing kisses...which is sort of funny. Thankfully, we are very friendly with our neighbors and they all know Cha-cha and will love him regardless if he's wearing a costume or not.
Today a coworker gave me the idea of having him hold up a sign that says, "Thank you!" I don't know if he'll last more than a half dozen houses, but if he does, I think I'll make one and bring it along.
Cha-cha, well, being excited about Halloween is difficult when you don't understand what's going on. We have asked him and showed him pictures of costumes - I've taken him into Target and stores and he turns his nose to everything. Last year we tortured him and put him in this big fluffy dog outfit and he hated it about 50% of the time he had it on. He refused to put it on at school and he ended up wearing a fire fighter dress up outfit. This year, somehow, we got him to say yes to a garbage man, but any time you ask him, he says no. So I made up two t-shirts and I'm praying he will put one of them on tomorrow at his preschool/daycare. One is a yellow shirt with a zig-zag like Charlie Brown and the other is a green shirt with a "WM" on the back like a garbage man.
We explained Trick or Treating to him and tried to get him to say "Trick or Treat"...right now he either refuses to say it or will say, "reet" and walk away. I'm pretty sure he'll "get it" when we are out there getting candy, but for now, I don't know how much he understands about all of it. Who knows - is he afraid of having to say something to get the candy? He still doesn't say "Thank you" out loud - he signs it. So it will look like the garbage man is blowing kisses...which is sort of funny. Thankfully, we are very friendly with our neighbors and they all know Cha-cha and will love him regardless if he's wearing a costume or not.
Today a coworker gave me the idea of having him hold up a sign that says, "Thank you!" I don't know if he'll last more than a half dozen houses, but if he does, I think I'll make one and bring it along.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Sick Days
When my cell phone or my classroom phone goes off, I always cringe until I see the caller ID...if the daycare number shows up, my heart beats a little faster, my palms start to sweat and my stomach instantly goes upside down. Hearing the "Hi, it's so and so from Sprouts..." can make me stop dead in my tracks. Being a classroom teacher, it is painful for me to get coverage and leave my class, knowing not only do I have my own two children, but a class full of students who are also depending on me.
When Cha-cha is sick, it means an instant doctor's visit. Not only can he not verbalize how he is feeling, but he feels no minimal pain. Scratches, fevers, ear infections that are deemed, "The WORST raging ear infection I've ever seen!" feels like nothing to our little guy (Yes, I have heard that ear infection line at least 3 times out of his 6 double ear infections). Once with a 104.6 fever, he was running around the nurse's station at our local emergency room and the doctor came out and said, "That's not right, he should be lethargic with that fever." Yes, my Cha-cha is not your typical child.
Today I got that call - actually, I got about 3 calls because my cell phone was not getting reception in our new school's computer lab...my phone voicemail went off, I listened to my message, called and got disconnected, the school secretary then called the lab and finally they got a hold of me in the lab...granted it took a total of 3 minutes, but knowing they were calling because Cha-cha wasn't feeling well, felt like an eternity. Of course in the midst of this, I'm suppose to be co-teaching a lesson on the Pilgrims to 38 students...According to his teacher, Cha-cha had a 101.6 fever and just seemed "off." Thankfully, it was the end of the day and I just had to dismiss my kiddos and make the frantic phone calls before getting him. Who can watch him tomorrow as I venture off on a field trip with my other 18 kiddos? Can I get a doctor's appointment before picking Bee-bee up and contaminating her in the waiting room office? Luckily, I only had about 4 students left in the classroom as they were waiting for buses when I got a hold of my dad and secured care for him for tomorrow. One of my students said to me, "Wow, he must be really sick Mrs. K. That was really nice of you to find someone to watch him tomorrow so you can come with us on the field trip." Yeah, how can you not love your job when your students appreciate the hard work you put in.
Thankfully, Cha-cha's fever is just a virus - he's well hydrated, happy, running around, eating, and annoying his sister. I felt like an idiot bring him in, but the doctor told me I did the right thing. When a kid can't verbalize, he told me I'm better off bringing him in and having him evaluated than just waiting around and not knowing. I have to say, it stinks having to bring him in for every little thing - but how else are we going to know what's wrong? He can only say so much.
My FB status this afternoon was, "Days when my kids are sick make me hate being a working parent." There is nothing more than wanting to be with your child and care for your child when they are not feeling well. Knowing that I have responsibilities elsewhere, makes it extremely difficult. Hopefully, knowing that tomorrow 18 students will have a great experience because I'm with them will make that feeling go away - even for a little while. Thankfully, we have some great people in our life who can help us out in times like these and care for our kiddos like they are their own and make working while our kid is sick a little more bearable.
When Cha-cha is sick, it means an instant doctor's visit. Not only can he not verbalize how he is feeling, but he feels no minimal pain. Scratches, fevers, ear infections that are deemed, "The WORST raging ear infection I've ever seen!" feels like nothing to our little guy (Yes, I have heard that ear infection line at least 3 times out of his 6 double ear infections). Once with a 104.6 fever, he was running around the nurse's station at our local emergency room and the doctor came out and said, "That's not right, he should be lethargic with that fever." Yes, my Cha-cha is not your typical child.
Today I got that call - actually, I got about 3 calls because my cell phone was not getting reception in our new school's computer lab...my phone voicemail went off, I listened to my message, called and got disconnected, the school secretary then called the lab and finally they got a hold of me in the lab...granted it took a total of 3 minutes, but knowing they were calling because Cha-cha wasn't feeling well, felt like an eternity. Of course in the midst of this, I'm suppose to be co-teaching a lesson on the Pilgrims to 38 students...According to his teacher, Cha-cha had a 101.6 fever and just seemed "off." Thankfully, it was the end of the day and I just had to dismiss my kiddos and make the frantic phone calls before getting him. Who can watch him tomorrow as I venture off on a field trip with my other 18 kiddos? Can I get a doctor's appointment before picking Bee-bee up and contaminating her in the waiting room office? Luckily, I only had about 4 students left in the classroom as they were waiting for buses when I got a hold of my dad and secured care for him for tomorrow. One of my students said to me, "Wow, he must be really sick Mrs. K. That was really nice of you to find someone to watch him tomorrow so you can come with us on the field trip." Yeah, how can you not love your job when your students appreciate the hard work you put in.
Thankfully, Cha-cha's fever is just a virus - he's well hydrated, happy, running around, eating, and annoying his sister. I felt like an idiot bring him in, but the doctor told me I did the right thing. When a kid can't verbalize, he told me I'm better off bringing him in and having him evaluated than just waiting around and not knowing. I have to say, it stinks having to bring him in for every little thing - but how else are we going to know what's wrong? He can only say so much.
My FB status this afternoon was, "Days when my kids are sick make me hate being a working parent." There is nothing more than wanting to be with your child and care for your child when they are not feeling well. Knowing that I have responsibilities elsewhere, makes it extremely difficult. Hopefully, knowing that tomorrow 18 students will have a great experience because I'm with them will make that feeling go away - even for a little while. Thankfully, we have some great people in our life who can help us out in times like these and care for our kiddos like they are their own and make working while our kid is sick a little more bearable.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
No longer "Non-verbal"
It is safe to say that Cha-cha is no longer "non-verbal."
I got so use to saying that over and over when strangers would say hello to him or when someone would ask him his name or why he didn't make a sound.
On his evaluation on June 27th, he had 7 words/approximations. SEVEN.
Today, he has said his version of farm, giraffe, outside, and paint. He has so many words that it's hard to count (I'm guessing around 60). We still are extremely limited on two word utterances, but the fact that he doesn't stop making noise compaired to 5 months ago when he wouldn't let us know he was awake in his crib for up to an hour - this is amazing.
He still speaks under his breath - unsure if he is correct or not. He holds back in large groups - especially at school. We've seen an increasing amount of ticks and strange facial movements when he's trying to recall a word you want him to say. That is what Apraxia is - a motor planning disability.
But he is talking...and even at 10:30pm when he won't go to sleep, and he pops up and says his famous, "Allo!" (Hello) - you can't help but smile and laugh - because back on June 27th, the couldn't even say Ma-ma...and now that's all I hear.
And it is music to our ears. :)
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Christopher Columbus from a Kindergartener's Point of View
Bee-bee drew this picture in art class:
I told her that I loved her ship and she said, "We're learning about a long, long time ago - 1982! This guy was trying to find India from Libya. One of his ships was called the Santa Maria. That's what I drew. It's a sunset. The art teacher told us that we had to draw an island on it, can you find it?"
Later on, she told me that Christopher Columbus came here for the following reasons, "To get gold. Gold and food."
And that folks is why we have Monday off.
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