CDD

Today I took Esias to the Center for Disabilities and Development to get a better assessment of his speech and oral delays.  After getting mixed reviews from some parents, I was a bit nervous.  The staff completely changed my mind, they were all great!  Esias started out being seen by the nurse for vitals, then she printed off every set of vitals he'd ever had at the Univ. Hosp. and gave them to me to take home.  Which might not seem like much, but to me, it was amazing to see how far he's come in 2.5 years!  Very fun to have that on paper.  Next a doctor called a "developmental pediatrician" came in and gave him the most complete examination I have ever seen.  She checked every inch of him and noted even small things like toes that overlap, size, shape and color of birthmarks, etc.  She was looking at anything that could point to a genetic issue.  She noticed a heart murmur that had never been diagnosed.  She spent a long time talking to me about his history and why we were there.  It was so refreshing to not feel rushed, to feel listened to, and to be heard!  Then after a bit we went to see a social worker who also listened and took thorough notes about him and his story.  After that, we saw speech pathology.  She was great!  She said that we are not getting him enough therapy through the school and diagnosed him with a couple different disorders (phonological and another one I can't remember).  She said she wanted to try really hard to make a case for our insurance to cover his therapy since his delay is so great.  Then we saw an audiologist and found out that his hearing is great.  We had never been able to get a hearing test and since he did not have a newborn hearing screening, we thought we'd better rule it out. 

Esias did great, considering I pulled him out of bed early to get him in by 7:45am and he did not to leave his beloved daddy!  The appointments lasted until noon and he was wiped when we got home.  But he did so well!  Once he realized there were no pokes, he was very pleased!

My kids are funny.

I just have to document some of the funny things that are said around here.  I admit, I am not as good at recording them as I once was, three kids will do that to a person.

The other day Dan and Eden were going to see "Hugo" at the theatre, so I told Elly that we would try to find a babysitter for Esias and I would take her to the movies.  I said, "It'll be you and me, mano y mano."  She said, "What about Esias?  If we can't find a babysitter?"  I said, "Well, it will you and me, and Esias."  She replied, "Mano y mano...y mano."

*****


Right before Christmas I was having quite a time with vertigo.  Elly typically doesn't pay much attention to my spinning epidsodes.  At this time, Brynn was over and we were getting all our kids into the car but Elly is my slow poke and she was still in the house with just Brynn and I.  I sat down and was having a doozy of vertigo, where my eyes move back and forth really quickly (called nystagmus).  Elly looked and me, looked at Brynn, and said, "Wow...I look at things fast but I don't look at things that fast!"