Much needed break today...

No therapy today.  She had a meeting so we canceled today's session and will resume next week.  I've decided to give it one more week with her.  If Kai is still resistant to her (since he is feeling better now) I am going to request someone new. 

In other news - he learned a new word!  He loves to say "on".  And he says it perfectly!

So, now the words that he says regularly are -
Mama
Dada
Gog (dog)
Guck (truck)
On
Off
Uh oh
Uh uh (like uh huh)
Nigh Nigh (either night night (blankie) or night night (bedtime))
Nana
Papa
Dat (that)

Not too bad!

100% hearing and...

Sorry its been so long! 

Last week Kai had his hearing test.  He scored really really well!  They put us in this lil sound room, and played noises and waited for his response - and he responded to all of them!  So, when it appears that he is ignoring us, he is, in fact, just ignoring us!

Last weeks session didn't go so well.  I'm not sure if it was the impending flu that he was about to get (the next day) or just in general.  He was resistant to Lisa and what she wanted to do. 

He also had a follow up with the ENT - he was and is very pleased with his process.  Both surgeries were very much needed.

Kai had another session yesterday, and again, he was resistant.  I really am not sure what is going on with it, but I am feeling frustrated.  He seems to be stuck at a standstill. Lisa comes over, and does the exact.same.thing every time.  Maybe he is bored?  I don't know.  But that brings me to a complaint about the Early On program... the lady we have is really great - but, she is the furthest thing from punctual I have ever met.  She told me from the getgo, that she would call if she was ever more than 10 minutes late... yeah, she is always 10 minutes late and never calls.  Oh, and she calls Kai "Kyle"... even after hearing me call him Kai.  I don't know... just frustrating.

Speaking of Kai - he had the worst flu and other this past weekend... poor bubber is down to 25 lbs.  Such a skinny minnie now!  He is feeling better now, which is good...

Amazing.

In the one week since Kai had his surgery, he has come so far.

He has been saying "Mama", "Dada" (awww, its great to hear that finally!), "NighNigh" (when he wants his blankie, or is saying good night), and he says "Daaaa" when he sees Maddie, and truck... no words for Rylee yet...

Its crazy how far he has come... and such a blessing.    His balance seems much better since the surgery too... he doesn't seem to fall hardly at all anymore, and has mastered jumping.  He has not had any runny noses, or any sickness for that matter - however, he has the most horrible breath ever (from the adenoids being taken out).

He didn't have his therapy this week due to spring break... and he is off next week too... I honestly don't know if the therapy will continue for a full year... His goal is 10 words... and he has 5 down already!  (in just one week!)

Anyway, we are praising God for this progress - its amazing to see!

Update

Kai did sooo good today!

I was allowed to go with him into the operating room, and be with him while he went under.  However, they made me leave before he was asleep... that kinda bothered me... poor bubber was still looking around...

Anyway... about 45 minutes later the doctor came in and said that his adenoids were really large, and he had alot of fluid behind his ears - so it was good that we got the surgery done. 

While he was in recovery they called me back cause he was having a really hard time coming out of the anestheisa.  He was fading in and out, and holding his breath, so his oxygen levels kept dropping... He had a few more episodes of this, but eventually he came out and just fell sound asleep. 

and he slept...
slept during lunch with my dad (yumm... thanks!)
slept the way to the pharmacy...
slept AT the pharmacy...
and then slept for the next 4 hours.

I finally had to wake him up so he could have something to drink...  Then he slept some more!

All in all, he did great!  Can't wait to see what happens with his speech now!

Tomorrow is the big day!

Kai (and Ry) had another great session today.  You can just tell that Kai is just not feeling himself... the plan for today kinda went out the window, so we had to improv a little bit.

Lisa said its a good thing we are gettiing the ears done.  She is concerned with how much (or how little) he is hearing.  He mimics SO well, and will only follow direction once he either sees someone do it, or is shown HOW to do it.

The appointment is tomorrow at 9am... we have to be there at 8am.  I am starting to feel a little nervous for him, but I just pray that everything will go smoothly.

Here is a cute pic of Ry and Kai listening to Lisa... you can see them (mostly Kai) sitting on their "spots".  Don't mind the hat - he likes it! 

Sicky!

Kai had another great session on Wednesday.  Lisa is taking notes about what he can and cannot do.  Since she has been around for about 4 weeks, he has really warmed up to her, and is doing things that he was not willing to do with the first two ladies.  I'm not sure what that means in regards to his milestones (that he was behind on), but we shall see.   I do know that the kid has mastered jumping (a 2 year skill!), and imitation. 

He was sick... again, this week.  Poor lil  bubber!  I just cannot wait for the day that he is not sick... and not sick for a few weeks or months! 

The big day is this Thursday... I am sure I am going to be pretty nervous the day of, but right now I am pretty relaxed about it.

A reason for everything...

Kai had a great session today with Lisa!  They praticed jumping again, and also sang a few songs.  His new word of the day is "duck".

I was talking to her about Kai's surgery and she was so happy that we are being so proactive with him.  Its funny to hear someone say that, cause all I/we are doing is what is best for our son... why wouldn't we do it?  Yes, its expensive (we do have insurance, but have to pay it out of pocket), and we are having to make sacrifices to make it happen, but when it comes to your kids, its not really a sacrifice at all. 

She was saw Kai doing one of his "normal-for-him-kooky-things" like hanging upside down from the couch... she explained to me that there is a reason he does that - to releave some of the pressure from the fluid behind his ears.  When he asks daddy and papa to do the flippy do thing they do, its cause it helps him feel better (see dad - its for his own good!  haha). 

The surgery will hopefully also help him be less cranky... don't get me wrong, he is a happy kid, but he has his moments.  He has been dealing with this annoyance in his ears for months - that is bound to make him crabby!  It should also help his sleep (he wakes about 3 times a night... all I have to do is pick him up for 3.3 seconds, give him a kiss, and restart his CD).  And it should also help, in general, his balance.  He has a tendancy to fall alot and run into things... Poor kiddo!  Only two more weeks!

In 17 days...

Kai is going to have a whole new lease on life!

The school is going to be checking his hearing, but we decided to also take him to a ENT to check for fluid in his ears. 

I brought him in today, and turns out - he has fluid in both ears.  The doctor explained that it is like he is hearing with his head underwater - you can only imagine how that would be.   He is also having his adenoids taken out too.  He has been such a sickly lil kid in his 19 months.. he never seems to get a break! 

I'm nervous to get this done, but also excited.  He can only speak what he can hear - and in just the 4 weeks that he has been in speech therapy he has come so far - so I can only imagine how he is going to take off now!

So... keep us in your prayers on March 31st!

Big progress!

Here is a list of what Kai has been saying consistantly -

Off (pronounced aff) - when he wants his coat off or something
Oh Oh - He says this when something is wrong... like the TV is off or something... haha
More (pronounced moar) - when he is out of milk or food..
Nana/Papa/Mama - nuff said...

And... the other day, Brad came home and Kai prepared himself on the floor for the lil flippy trick that him and my dad do... anyway... Brad did it, and then Kai said "One moar"... so sweet...

Today's session...

Rylee went over to play with Reagan today, so it was just Kai and I.   You can tell that he feel much more comfortable with Rylee there... he was just not himself today... but that could be because he is teething (all four eye teeth) and has a runny nose, and has had a fever on and off since Sunday. 

So... he has been really trying lately.  He's been saying "Oh oh" alot, and has been doing a really really good job at imitating. 

Today he worked on his jumping again.  He was having alot of fun using his Sand Trooper (storm trooper?) to jump from spot to spot.  He likes to throw the ball, rather than push it. 

Today his big word was "stuck" - he said it "kuk". 

And he brought me my shoes, and said "Mama!".... It was sooo cute!

Can I change something about this blog?

At the very bottom of the first post are these words - I cannot wait to see how he changes.

I cannot wait to see how he changes.

That is not what I want. 

I do not want him to change.  Never... not at all.

I love that sweet lil boy just how he is.  In every way.  He is an amazing boy.  So happy... so caring... so funny!  I just wanted to clarify that.   We have been blessed with Kai.  We have been blessed with everything that he is. 

And everything that he is, is perfect.

Well, if Rylee can!

That seemed to be the theme of Wednesday's session... If Rylee can, then I can!

First off, Rylee has a insane memory...  It had been two weeks since she had last seen Lisa, and right when she walked in, Rylee asked if they could paint again.  How cute!

We started out with a fun task - jumping!  Once Kai saw that Rylee was doing it, it was fine for him to try!  He couldn't do all three in a row, but his feet were clearing the ground - so that was good!

The we worked on his oral skills - eeeee, oooooo, ahhhhh, aaaaaaaaa... There was one that he was just not going to try... but once again, once Rylee tried it, then he was all about it! 

He is doing really really well at imitating others.  Its SOOO cute. 

We sang a few songs, and also worked on building towers with blocks... He had a lot of fun with doing that and then knocking them down. 

In other news - his sleep has gone from good, to - what in the world is going on??? Between the night terrors, and screaming at bedtime, and waking a ton... I don't even know what is going on!  I *hope* that its just molars... cause dang... I really really want to sleep! 

I think it will be nice that Rylee will only be there every other week... Its good for her to help and encourage him, but I think its also good for Kai to do things without sissy there... They love each other... that's for sure!

Random Thoughts...

I've been thinking lately about the first child having issues vs. the second child, and what happened in our case.
Rylee was far from delayed.  I am pretty sure that she knew all of her body parts at 12 months.  She didn't say too much early on, but I know that she woke up one morning talking, and hasn't stopped since.  Its hard to keep track, but I believe she is up to 8-10 word sentences.  However, it did take her 30 months to figure out how to use a spoon correctly.  Ha... figure that one out?

Now, what I have been thinking about, it how Kai has made me appreciate what Rylee was able to do so much more.  I feel like this sounds sooo bad.  I just feel like if she was the one that had a early childhood developmental delay, that I would have spent the first 18 months of Kai's life, freaking out over every.single.milestone. 

But, in hindsight - I did that with him anyway.  Mothers intuition?  I was concerned that he didn't roll as quickly.  He didn't laugh until 4 months.  Maybe that was just signs of things to come?  I don't know...


I think the point of this, is that I am thankful for each child and what they bring to the family, even though they are so different. 

Second Session

Kai's second session was yesterday and it went really well!
My sister offered to watch Rylee (THANK YOU!) so Kai was able to have one on one time with me and the therapist.  He did so good!

For now, since we are still in the "getting to know you" stage, a typical session is just kinda sitting on the floor playing.  For a while he passed pieces of paper back and forth between myself and Lisa.  Before we would give it to him we would say "Pa-per... you want the pa-per."...  When you work on words with him, they need to be slow and deliberate.  He had lots of fun showing off his climbing skills, and his falling skills... he has lots of skills (hehe).  He also practiced taking his shoes on and off... and has gotten pretty good at saying "Off" (sounds like af).   He has really really warmed up to Lisa... he sat on her lap at one point, and blew her a kiss when she left... so sweet.

She did notice that his right eye kind of lags when he is tracking something.  I'm not sure exactly what that means, or what we do about it... but for now we are just keeping a eye (no pun intended) on it. 


I've been trying really hard this week so keep a postive outlook on everything... I refuse to wish that he was some other way.  He is my perfect little boy... who is SO happy, all the time.  He is Kai...



---
One thing that I forgot to write....Kai LOVES to mimic talking on the phone... it is soooo cute, but once you put a real phone up to his ear, with a real person on the other end he shuts down.  I mentioned this to Lisa, and she said its because he is feeling self-concious and is becoming aware that he can't communicate.  Poor bubber... :-(

First session...

Kai had his first therapy session on Wednesday.  We have been blessed with a therapist that BOTH kids warmed right up to.  The first session was just a "getting to know you" sort of thing.  We all sat around the table and did finger painting.  We went over some paperwork and what not. 

We are still planning on getting his ears checked... the fact that he HATES swinging might have something to do with his ears... or it might just be a sensory thing. 

For reference - here are his stats...

Body Control and Movement 
Gross motor - 15 months - walks well, runs, creeps up and down stairs, climbs furniture.  Throws ball, squats and stands.
Fine motor - 11 months - Has pincer grasp, scribbles with crayon.  Throws a ball, pushes car and truck.


Thinking, Learning and Playing
8 months - Kisses and hugs doll during play.  Imitates clapping, sometimes waves good-bye.  Sometimes imitates tongue-clicking.  Likes to bang or throw toys, uncovers face, pulls string to get toy.

Speech and Language
Receptive - 8 months
Expressive - 5 months
- Does not know body parts.  His words are "oh oh", "dis" and "dat".  No other sounds or consonants. Responds to name or sound source.  Does not identify named objects.

Relating to Parents, Self and Others
11 months - Plays peek-a-boo.  Leaves mom briefly.  Performs for social attention but not for praise.

Self Help and Self Care
Eating - 19 months
Toileting - 12 months
- Dressing - takes socks and mittens off, combs hair and brushes teeth.  Uses a fork and spoon.  Uses a sippy cup.  Has paci.  Eats well, sucks from a straw.

Early Childhood Developmental Delay.

That is what Kai was diagnosed with today.

Here is a little background first. 

Kai has no words.  He only says a few, every one and a while.  These would include "oh oh", "dis" and "dat".  He does not say "Mama" or "Dada".  

I began to get worried around his 15 month appointment with his Pedi.  She didn't really seem all that concerned.  My motherly instints told me something wasn't right.  I tried to put it to the back of my mind and not worry about it until his 18 month appointment... but a few weeks before we got some advice that I will never forget - "Don't let anyone tell you its normal - Its not."  The next day I made a call to get him evualated by the local school district. 

Today two ladies came over.  They got right on the floor to do their evualation.  Kai was very very shy and would not participate in any of their activities.  They had to go by my word, since Kai was doing nothing but sitting on my lap. 

Once they started naming off months, I knew we were in for it.  "He is a solid 11 months for ____" "He is a solild 8 months for ______" Then they said "he is a solid 5 months for ____" and my heart kinda sank.  One of the ladies looked at me and said "We are really happy that you called us... as you can see, he is behind in more than just his speech". 

On the plus side, he is right on track for self help and self care (brushing his teeth, self feeding).  One of the ladies said "Well, I we found his strong area!  I think his therapist is going to have to use food as a way to win him over".  That just cracked me up because if you know anything about my dad's side of the family - they LOVE to eat!!  That kid is one of them. 


So... thats that.  He was enrolled in the Early On program, and a therapist will start coming weekly to help him along. 

I cannot wait to see how he changes.