The other day, our SLP was trying to come up with how many words/approximations Little Man has...so far we have:
1. /da-da/
2. /ma-ma/
3. /bee-bee/ Big Sister
4. /nah-nah/ Nana
5. /pa-pa/ Papa
6. /paw/ Paul
7. /gu/ go
8. /no/
9. /tee/ or /tee-tee/ TV
10. /ugh/ up
11. /peez/ please *with asl sign
12. /pee/ pee
13. /h/ help
14. /ruck/ truck
15. /lala/ or /wawa/ water
16. /mu/ more *with asl sign
17. /mu/ milk *with asl sign
18. /pu/ pull
19. /bu-bye/ *with asl sign
20. /eye/ ipad/itouch *with his own sign
21. /me/ me/mine/give me *with asl sign
So I think we're at 21, however names aren't suppose to count - so we have 15. At the beginning of the summer we had 7 (without names). So Little Man has almost doubled his vocabulary in 8 weeks - which is fantastic! The not so great news is that by the age of two, most children should have at least 50 words (no names) and put two words together (we don't have that yet, even when prompted). Lots of work ahead of us!
Friday, August 12, 2011
Fantastic Friday...yeah, right!
This week hasn't been so "Fantastic"...granted, we're all safe, healthy, and somewhat sane...but little things have added up to be more of a "Frustrating" Friday.
My anxiety is creeping up...going back to work always stirs things up...moving into a brand new building, changing grade levels, and not being able to go in early to set up my classroom will definitely set it off. Thankfully from my trusty sidekick of sleeping pills, I've been able to get three nights of awesome sleep. I hope that the construction on the new building will finish soon so I can get in and set up.
Big girl is doing well - she had a good week, however she will tell you that we didn't do anything fun. She is suffering from typical 5 1/2 year old ready to go back to school syndrome. ;) This is from the same girl, who on Sunday, swung on a trapeze. Yup, hubby's idea and she loved it. Something tells me that she may request trapeze lessons instead of dance lessons this fall.
Not a great picture, but yes, that is Big Girl swinging on the Trapeze!
Little Man is doing ok - this week's therapy sessions were sort of duds. We are realizing that 8am sessions aren't good for him and our other session was a meeting of his SLP, Developmental Specialist and an OT to figure out an action plan to help him. There were some ideas tossed around, many of which we are already doing at home. Something I'm not too excited about is the change over from his Developmental Specialist being his contact person to the SLP. I had to open my mouth and assert myself more by telling the SLP that she needs to push him more - he is way more capable of producing sounds with the Dev. Spec. than he is the SLP. I feel bad telling someone how to do their job, but as a teacher, I know this - if you don't set a level of expectations, the student will not rise to the occasion. If the bar is set low, you will get low; set the bar high, and you will be amazed.
I spent 3 hours of my "free" time this week on the phone trying to get outside speech services for little man. No one has after school times, and if you want them, then you're on a waiting list that is 6 months long. No thank you. We finally were able to get him in with a clinical fellow who is working under a SLP who specializes in Apraxia - not exactly what I wanted for him, but since he will be followed by the specialist as well, it was the best option. The good thing is that they have Saturday appointments, so I won't be rushing around another night after work for therapy.
Other than that, we did have a good day at the beach the other day - Little Man even got into the water and enjoyed the waves. Yesterday we visited my mom up at her beach house and we swam in the pool, went for a hike and played at the rock playground.
Big Girl relaxing after swimming in the pool.
Rock Playground
Nana-Bee playing in the Rock Playground
This morning was tough - an hour and a half of non-stop crying, whining, whimpering or hysteria from Little Man - simply because we couldn't understand what he wanted. Hubby gave him his iced tea (decaff) in a sippy and it became a nightmare - sippy was throw into the sink, new sippy came out and then was thrown. Hubby held LM up to each cabinet to see what it was that he wanted, then he settled on eating Starbursts for breakfast. I took the bag away and gave him 3 - then those were thrown. Curious George came on, cries for it to go off ensued, hugs were demanded, then I was pushed away. Cries for Daddy as he went off to work, hugs demanded again. I put Curious George on again and despite cries for it to be turned off (by both kids), it has stayed on and entertained LM (who is now watching and eating Sunday, August 7, 2011
Little Successes
Apraxia is so complex and when you mix it with Little Man's self regulation diagnosis, it's even trickier and more complex. He works his tail off in therapy and every day to get us to understand him and to become engaged in communication with us.
When Hubby comes home from work, he always asks us about our day...often I will remark about the kids' behaviors and Big Girl will show off something exciting or rattle off a bunch of stuff...but Little Man will give big hugs and smiles and then I will comment on something we did so Hubby can ask him direct question about his day, and LM can respond with a smile or a nod.
A few times in the recent weeks, LM has become creative in showing hubby what he experienced over the day. The other day we had a huge downpour in the afternoon and the sun was out, which meant an instant rainbow! So I carried Little Man outside and called for Big Girl to come out - and we saw this huge, bright rainbow. Later when Hubby came home, we were telling him about therapy, cheer camp, and our trip to the store, Little Man found a drawing of a rainbow in Big Girl's room, ran to hubby and pointed to it and then out the window and yelled, "Me!"
It is so hard sometimes to understand what Little Man wants, yet at other times, common sense just has to prevail. I either find myself simply "knowing" what he wants by slight gestures, or consoling him when I don't with, "I'm so sorry you are frustrated and can't tell me.". Granted, I think I am able to understand it most of the time, so now I'm able to add "Mind Reader" to my resume. ;)
This weekend, we got rid of a ton of stuff...so much that I felt bad, so we went to Toys R Us to get a new toy. Big Girl got some big kid legos and I was looking for the Little People Airport LM played with at a friend's house. Well, they didn't have an airport, but there was a small construction car ramp by Little People that he seemed to like, so we went with that. Well, later that day when Hubby came home and saw the new toys, Little Man picked up the box and pointed to a picture of another ramp set and pointed to hubby and then himself and cried, "Me!" Yup, as you can guess, he wanted that ramp and the same motions and "Me!" carried on throughout the evening. It's interesting, because Big Girl can ask and ask and ask for everything (and we don't always get it for her), but it was the first time Little Man has asked for something for himself. We have toy catalogs and advertisements out, but he has never made that connection...until now. So of course, after our washout of a yardsale, we celebrated his new found assertiveness for wanting something, and got it for him...and we all played with it after his nap. Later on tonight, he pointed to his new toy and then to himself, and then to his mouth which had a smile and said, "Me!". My instincts tell me he was telling me that he was happy. :). Yup, don't need to be a mind reader for that! :)
When Hubby comes home from work, he always asks us about our day...often I will remark about the kids' behaviors and Big Girl will show off something exciting or rattle off a bunch of stuff...but Little Man will give big hugs and smiles and then I will comment on something we did so Hubby can ask him direct question about his day, and LM can respond with a smile or a nod.
A few times in the recent weeks, LM has become creative in showing hubby what he experienced over the day. The other day we had a huge downpour in the afternoon and the sun was out, which meant an instant rainbow! So I carried Little Man outside and called for Big Girl to come out - and we saw this huge, bright rainbow. Later when Hubby came home, we were telling him about therapy, cheer camp, and our trip to the store, Little Man found a drawing of a rainbow in Big Girl's room, ran to hubby and pointed to it and then out the window and yelled, "Me!"
It is so hard sometimes to understand what Little Man wants, yet at other times, common sense just has to prevail. I either find myself simply "knowing" what he wants by slight gestures, or consoling him when I don't with, "I'm so sorry you are frustrated and can't tell me.". Granted, I think I am able to understand it most of the time, so now I'm able to add "Mind Reader" to my resume. ;)
This weekend, we got rid of a ton of stuff...so much that I felt bad, so we went to Toys R Us to get a new toy. Big Girl got some big kid legos and I was looking for the Little People Airport LM played with at a friend's house. Well, they didn't have an airport, but there was a small construction car ramp by Little People that he seemed to like, so we went with that. Well, later that day when Hubby came home and saw the new toys, Little Man picked up the box and pointed to a picture of another ramp set and pointed to hubby and then himself and cried, "Me!" Yup, as you can guess, he wanted that ramp and the same motions and "Me!" carried on throughout the evening. It's interesting, because Big Girl can ask and ask and ask for everything (and we don't always get it for her), but it was the first time Little Man has asked for something for himself. We have toy catalogs and advertisements out, but he has never made that connection...until now. So of course, after our washout of a yardsale, we celebrated his new found assertiveness for wanting something, and got it for him...and we all played with it after his nap. Later on tonight, he pointed to his new toy and then to himself, and then to his mouth which had a smile and said, "Me!". My instincts tell me he was telling me that he was happy. :). Yup, don't need to be a mind reader for that! :)
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Fantastic Friday *a day late
We had a good week, super busy, but good!
We spent last weekend getting much needed errands and things done around the house. We decided to have a yard sale on Sunday, as we have a ton of kid crap that we need to get rid of...I'm actually excited for that! Sunday we went to the zoo and the kids had fun walking around and seeing the animals...little man even sat still for us to sit and watch the Birds of Prey show and he seemed to enjoy it.
Big Girl's Accomplishments- This week, Big Girl went to a 4 day cheer camp through our city's rec department. She loved it last year, and I think she did enjoy herself this year, but she was disappointed that she wasn't chosen to be a "flyer" (the girl on top of a stunt). She was chosen to be the holder...I had to break it to her that at 5.5 years old and 49 inches, she most likely never be a flyer because she is so tall. Don't get me wrong, she is a very slender girl, but she has extremely long legs and torso and is typically a head taller than her peers. So after a few tears, she went back to camp and held her head high and did a fantasic job holding the stunt...her partner and her held the other girl the highest out of all the groups. And after all that, big girl then showed me her "award" she was given...
Yup, Most Dedicated!
Little Man's Accomplishments- little man worked hard in therapy this week, he even got so mad/frustrated at one point he yelled at his therapist, "more pull!" when she went to put the stretchy ball away. Nana-Bee came over to watch the end of his session and was very impressed with how hard he is working...then after his last session for the week, Nana-Bee took little man for his first overnight up to the beach house she is staying at for the summer. It was a big deal for all of us. Of course he did wonderful, however he didn't go to sleep until 11:30pm...but he was content, played with his play dough, trucks, and enjoyed the long hikes on the trails near the house. Big Girl and I went up the next day and he was exhausted, but very happy. My mom said for the most part she could understand what he wanted/needed by his gesturing and pointing and a few vocalizations. He learned to say "Nah-nah" and she said that he would say it constantly if he needed or wanted her. :) When we got there, we swam at the pool, Little Man took a nap and after dinner we went for a walk in the trails and climbed a few trees...
And as we were walking, little man held my hand and I took this:
I hope he always wants to hold my hand!
Have a great week!
We spent last weekend getting much needed errands and things done around the house. We decided to have a yard sale on Sunday, as we have a ton of kid crap that we need to get rid of...I'm actually excited for that! Sunday we went to the zoo and the kids had fun walking around and seeing the animals...little man even sat still for us to sit and watch the Birds of Prey show and he seemed to enjoy it.
Big Girl's Accomplishments- This week, Big Girl went to a 4 day cheer camp through our city's rec department. She loved it last year, and I think she did enjoy herself this year, but she was disappointed that she wasn't chosen to be a "flyer" (the girl on top of a stunt). She was chosen to be the holder...I had to break it to her that at 5.5 years old and 49 inches, she most likely never be a flyer because she is so tall. Don't get me wrong, she is a very slender girl, but she has extremely long legs and torso and is typically a head taller than her peers. So after a few tears, she went back to camp and held her head high and did a fantasic job holding the stunt...her partner and her held the other girl the highest out of all the groups. And after all that, big girl then showed me her "award" she was given...
Yup, Most Dedicated!
Little Man's Accomplishments- little man worked hard in therapy this week, he even got so mad/frustrated at one point he yelled at his therapist, "more pull!" when she went to put the stretchy ball away. Nana-Bee came over to watch the end of his session and was very impressed with how hard he is working...then after his last session for the week, Nana-Bee took little man for his first overnight up to the beach house she is staying at for the summer. It was a big deal for all of us. Of course he did wonderful, however he didn't go to sleep until 11:30pm...but he was content, played with his play dough, trucks, and enjoyed the long hikes on the trails near the house. Big Girl and I went up the next day and he was exhausted, but very happy. My mom said for the most part she could understand what he wanted/needed by his gesturing and pointing and a few vocalizations. He learned to say "Nah-nah" and she said that he would say it constantly if he needed or wanted her. :) When we got there, we swam at the pool, Little Man took a nap and after dinner we went for a walk in the trails and climbed a few trees...
And as we were walking, little man held my hand and I took this:
I hope he always wants to hold my hand!
Have a great week!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
What is your favorite color?
Such a simple question that children often get asked ( just after their name, age, if they have siblings, or favorite food) - but if you have verbal apraxia, you may not be able to answer any of those questions or you may not be able to pronounce the words; even though in your head you know what the answer is.
Lately, I've been wondering what LM's favorite color is...I've watched him when I give him sippy cups, does he prefer the green or the blue? The other day, I took him to LLBean to pick out a backpack for daycare (because the pictures on the computer screen were too small) and he chose the red snake back pack. At therapy the other day, he chose the purple construction paper. During his play dough play last week, he chose the yellow play dough. I took him to Lowes to look at paint colors for his new room, and he chose sh*t brown and lime green (yeah, not happening!). During the past few days, we've given him the choice of what freeze pop he wants...so far we have 2 pinks, 3 blues, a green and a yellow.
A while ago, I brought this up to hubby and he said, "I don't even know what my favorite color is!". I guess LM is like his daddy for this one! I bet it doesn't matter for LM either.
Lately, I've been wondering what LM's favorite color is...I've watched him when I give him sippy cups, does he prefer the green or the blue? The other day, I took him to LLBean to pick out a backpack for daycare (because the pictures on the computer screen were too small) and he chose the red snake back pack. At therapy the other day, he chose the purple construction paper. During his play dough play last week, he chose the yellow play dough. I took him to Lowes to look at paint colors for his new room, and he chose sh*t brown and lime green (yeah, not happening!). During the past few days, we've given him the choice of what freeze pop he wants...so far we have 2 pinks, 3 blues, a green and a yellow.
A while ago, I brought this up to hubby and he said, "I don't even know what my favorite color is!". I guess LM is like his daddy for this one! I bet it doesn't matter for LM either.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Fantastic Friday #2
A look at the positive things from our week!
On Saturday, we celebrated my dad's 65th birthday with a pig roast...Little Man's comment as soon as he saw the pig turning - "Uh-oh!" It was 95 degrees out and our kids enjoyed playing on the slip and slide - here are a few pics my aunt took (and I had fun editing them in instagram):
The only picture I know of with just my dad and my siblings. I remember one from Easter in 1st grade, but I think it was just the girls in that one. My mom even had t-shirts made up with my dad's picture for the occasion!
Slip and slide fun!
My Little Man
Her new smile was a big hit!
I love her eyes in this one!
He loved the whipped cream frosting on the cake!
My mom, being an artist and an art teacher, invited the kids and I to the Museum of Fine Arts with a former teacher of hers. I was a little leery of taking both kids there - Big Girl has gone on many occasions - her first visit being when she was about 15 months old - I think she is one of the few 15 month olds who could point out who Napoleon was in a picture and say his name. ;) I have to say, both kids behaved wonderfully - it was one of those days when I had to say to myself, "See, you're doing an awesome job! Look how well they are behaving!" I did resort to the stroller with Little Man and I let him out for periods of time when he wouldn't be able to destroy million dollar glass pieces, but he was very content and even napped towards the end of our visit. Big Girl talked nonstop, which is no surprise. My mom's friend found her hysterical and couldn't believe how one 5 1/2 year old could talk about art for almost 2 1/2 hours. I have to say, I was pretty impressed too.
Talking art with Nana
Hanging with Buddy - Buddy loves him so much and often seeks Little Man out for cuddles
He was loving the play dough this week!
Something I enjoyed watching this week is the way our two kids interact with each other. Big Girl is definitely a help around here in helping Little Man learn new things. I spent 15 minutes trying to get him to use his new motorized toothbrush (for sensory therapy reasons) and Big Girl just walked right in there and within a minute, she had him using it in his own mouth. She never forgets to prompt him to say her name or to use words that we know he knows. She congratulates every single milestone he does - she is his biggest cheerleader. This week, she said to me, "Mom, I don't know if I should be learning my kindergarten stuff or speech pathology stuff to help Little Man. What do you think is more important?" I told her that everyone appreciates her help - however learning her K stuff was more important right now.
Shaving cream car wash!
So it has been a good week...next week we are even busier - Cheer Camp for Big Girl and Little Man will have his first overnight by himself up at the beach with my mom. I'm a little nervous for him to go without one of us or Big Girl - but I know it will be good for him and my mom to spend time together. :)
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Summer is Not What it Use to Be
I love being home with my kiddos for the summer - it's a time for us to reconnect and to do the fun things like going to the beach, playing with our toys for hours on end, and our biggest decision is what are we going to have for lunch today. In the past, there were times for me to craft and read for my own pleasure, while doing things with my kids.
Lately, with Little Man's diagnosis, our summer isn't so much as carefree as I would like it to be. Our outings have to be cross checked with my Google Calendar to make sure I don't double book. My leisure summer reading, has turned into reading about Childhood Apraxia of Speech or finding out new activities we can do to help Little Man come out of his shell a little more. In my mother's guilt, I feel bad for Big Girl - she has to sit through or find ways to entertain herself during Little Man's therapy. I have scheduled some summer recreation activities for her to partake in, but making sure we can get her there and pick her up is a whole other can of worms (thankfully I have a good friend willing to pick her up from Cheer Camp next week so I don't have to cancel therapy for LM).
Recently on an Apraxia board I follow - the discussion of how to do it all came up - the debate of the working mom vs. the SAHM mom and what works for each family. It appears to me that many of the mothers are SAHMs, but then again, it is quite possible that the working mother doesn't have time to check or frequent these boards. ;) They are super informative, however reading it all makes me overwhelmed...I go back to work in a month. Big girl starts Kindergarten in a month. I will be leaving my house at 7am and coming home at 4/4:30pm every day - throw in all these therapies and appointments - how are we going to manage? Can I really sign Big Girl up for dance with all of these things going on? With LM giving up his naps and starting daycare again where he is pretty much made to nap - how are we going to be able to get him asleep by 8pm so I can get some actual work and things around the house done? Then I see the progress that LM has made in the month I've been home and I wonder - is it because I'm home and actively working on his communication skills he's made this progress? Is it the Omega supplements I'm trying working? Is it because he has more personal attention since he's not at daycare? Or is it all starting to click for him because he's maturing? I'm extremely grateful and thankful for his progress, but my fear is that it will slow down or he will regress when I go back to work. When I say progress, I'm talking we have gone from 4 words/approximations to 12 words/approximations in roughly 6 weeks. I'm glad where I have a job where I have my summers "off" (even though I had to say no to extra work and class opportunities to earn more credits).
Don't get me wrong - we have had fun this summer too - we've done our fair share of swimming (I can get over 50 approximations from LM in a 30 minute period when we're swimming in the pool!), visiting friends and family, going to the beach, etc...today was the first time in a long time where we just stayed home (after BG's yoga class) and played with our toys. I guess in "growing up" and becoming a wife and a mother, I miss the time for myself. I feel guilty taking that time for me - like I should be doing something else. I definitely felt good last night going to my Aunt's house and having a few drinks - for 3 hours I didn't have to worry about putting kids to bed, researching more stuff on Apraxia, setting up LM's communication device/itouch, or reading books on how to help my child. I just need to figure out how to do that more often. ;)
Lately, with Little Man's diagnosis, our summer isn't so much as carefree as I would like it to be. Our outings have to be cross checked with my Google Calendar to make sure I don't double book. My leisure summer reading, has turned into reading about Childhood Apraxia of Speech or finding out new activities we can do to help Little Man come out of his shell a little more. In my mother's guilt, I feel bad for Big Girl - she has to sit through or find ways to entertain herself during Little Man's therapy. I have scheduled some summer recreation activities for her to partake in, but making sure we can get her there and pick her up is a whole other can of worms (thankfully I have a good friend willing to pick her up from Cheer Camp next week so I don't have to cancel therapy for LM).
Recently on an Apraxia board I follow - the discussion of how to do it all came up - the debate of the working mom vs. the SAHM mom and what works for each family. It appears to me that many of the mothers are SAHMs, but then again, it is quite possible that the working mother doesn't have time to check or frequent these boards. ;) They are super informative, however reading it all makes me overwhelmed...I go back to work in a month. Big girl starts Kindergarten in a month. I will be leaving my house at 7am and coming home at 4/4:30pm every day - throw in all these therapies and appointments - how are we going to manage? Can I really sign Big Girl up for dance with all of these things going on? With LM giving up his naps and starting daycare again where he is pretty much made to nap - how are we going to be able to get him asleep by 8pm so I can get some actual work and things around the house done? Then I see the progress that LM has made in the month I've been home and I wonder - is it because I'm home and actively working on his communication skills he's made this progress? Is it the Omega supplements I'm trying working? Is it because he has more personal attention since he's not at daycare? Or is it all starting to click for him because he's maturing? I'm extremely grateful and thankful for his progress, but my fear is that it will slow down or he will regress when I go back to work. When I say progress, I'm talking we have gone from 4 words/approximations to 12 words/approximations in roughly 6 weeks. I'm glad where I have a job where I have my summers "off" (even though I had to say no to extra work and class opportunities to earn more credits).
Don't get me wrong - we have had fun this summer too - we've done our fair share of swimming (I can get over 50 approximations from LM in a 30 minute period when we're swimming in the pool!), visiting friends and family, going to the beach, etc...today was the first time in a long time where we just stayed home (after BG's yoga class) and played with our toys. I guess in "growing up" and becoming a wife and a mother, I miss the time for myself. I feel guilty taking that time for me - like I should be doing something else. I definitely felt good last night going to my Aunt's house and having a few drinks - for 3 hours I didn't have to worry about putting kids to bed, researching more stuff on Apraxia, setting up LM's communication device/itouch, or reading books on how to help my child. I just need to figure out how to do that more often. ;)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)