Today she took her first steps and had her first taste of ice cream and homemade carrot cake. She loved the birthday treats, as well as eating the wrapping paper from her gifts.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Happy 1st Birthday Havilah!!
Today she took her first steps and had her first taste of ice cream and homemade carrot cake. She loved the birthday treats, as well as eating the wrapping paper from her gifts.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
yellow
I have two sickies around here. John and Havilah both have colds (requiring us to stay at home for three days now...ugh), and are on antibiotics for various infections.
On a happier note: after months of almost no new words, John has added a few to his repertoire. "No no" (said like "uh oh"), "No," "Do" ("go"), "baby," "b" (blue), "een" (green), and "yeah mama" (significant because he is putting the two old words together). He can also make the "s" sound and even slipped in a "sh" today. We've also added signs for "open," "soymilk," "I'm thirsty," "more," and others I can't think of now.
Do these sound like tiny steps? For John, they're huge because he is finally making progress. There are still many new sounds to learn (most notably g, k, z, r, th). But we're moving. Most importantly, John is trying to communicate more than he ever has before. When I ask him questions, he tries to answer. He tells me "stories" about what's going on.
Ok, I know you care about more than just John speaking. I'll try to vary things up a bit....
The kids are both getting ready for birthdays! We already began the festivities with a birthday package from auntie Elizabeth and uncle Jason. Check out the wild animals in our living room!
We'll celebrate more on the 27th (Hava's b-day) with gifts, balloons, and--of course!--a yellow cake.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
two thoughts
I realize that I have been heavy on one "m" (mothering) while neglecting the other side of myself--and of this blog--musing, thinking, reflecting, being still.
In a small effort to right that wrong, here are two thoughts I have been thinking on throughout the past few weeks. The first is a verse from a postcard I received, which now resides on the side of the refrigerator. The second is an excerpt from an excellent little book entitled Gift from the Sea, by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.
2 Open the gates to all who are righteous;
allow the faithful to enter.
3 You will keep in perfect peace
all who trust in you,
all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
4 Trust in the Lord always,
for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.
--Isaiah 26:2-4
"I want to give and take from my children and husband, to share with friends and community, to carry out my obligations to man and to the world, as a woman, as an artist, as a citizen.
"But I want first of all--in fact, as an end to these other desires--to be at peace with myself. I want a singleness of eye, a purity of intention, a central core to my life that will enable me to carry out these obligations and activities as well as I can. I want, in fact--to borrow from the language of the saints--to live "in grace" as much of the time as possible. I am not using this term in a strictly theological sense. By grace I mean an inner harmony, essentially spiritual, which can be translated into outward harmony. I am seeking perhaps what Socrates asked for in the prayer from the Phaedrus when he said, 'May the outward and inward man be at one.' I would like to achieve a state of inner spiritual grace from which I could function and give as I was meant to in the eye of God."Saturday, August 16, 2008
pictures from Portland -- part 3
"What about this leaf, Mimi? Can I eat this one?"
Friday, August 15, 2008
update on John
John's speech therapy with Jamie ended last week. We were so thankful to find a new speech therapy office that did not have a wait list. John visited "Ms. Tamara" today and she seems to be bright, firm, and yet sensitive. Tamara will see John twice a week at her office. She also suggested that John receive Occupational Therapy (OT) in addition to the Speech Therapy (ST) because many children who are having trouble putting sounds into syllables and then into words (think me-ow, or Ha-va), do better at ST after a session of brain warming OT. Since John has a few sensory sensitivities, is a bit delayed in motor skills such as dressing and undressing himself, and has a few big fears (e.g. dogs!), some OT could do him quite a bit of good.
When I met the occupational therapist, Carlina ("my mom made up my name and I love it!"), I really wanted her to work with John. Let's just put it this way: Havilah was climbing all over everything in the waiting room and was now in a prickly perch. Carlina pranced over and picked Hava up and Havilah didn't complain. In fact, she looked at the pictures on the walls with Carlina. Ok, this woman has a gift.
Carlina also brings her big golden retriever to work every day. He's a therapy dog--helping kids overcome their fear of dogs! That would be good for us (and all of our poor family members who have to lock up their dogs and cats when John comes for a visit).
I also couldn't help but agree with Carlina's assessment "oh, he is so cute! What a sweet boy! I'm so glad I get to play with him!" Yes, yes, I told her; he is such a sweet boy (in spite of those preschool peers).
I asked Tamara about getting a formal diagnosis for John. She highly recommended it, since her approach to ST will be different depending on what his delay/disorder is diagnosed as. Since he has many characteristics of apraxia--but because apraxia is rare and fairly serious--it would be good to have some answers. Unfortunately, only developmental psychologists are qualified to diagnose speech disorders. Tamara and Carlina recommended a "wonderful" doctor to see and he does seem to be thorough and very good at what he does. (Too bad he charges $1/20 seconds and it takes over 8 hours for all of the tests and reports!) I'll follow up on other diagnosing options on Monday, but I really want to get this taken care of soon. The more answers we have--and the sooner we have them--the better we can help John.
In the meantime, I am so thankful to have a small team of helpers. John's preschool teacher, Ms. Martin, and his preschool helpers, Ms. Kim and Ms. Nancy, seem to be gifted for working with special needs three-year-olds (and believe me, some of these children truly are special needs because of down syndrome, serious behavior issues, etc.). And now we have Tamara and Carlina to work one-on-one with John. I've also started John on ProEFA, a lovely lemon-flavored fish oil that is supposed to help speech delayed brains begin to connect the dots. And I would be wrong not to mention that our parents and siblings have been huge supporters. They listen to us talk about speech therapy, and John's behavior related to talking, and how he's working on this and that, and all the other boring-to-everyone-else things we need to talk to someone about because sometimes we (or at least I) feel alone in this boat.
Seriously, this is such a tiny issue in comparison to the things other parents face. Just this week I read in the newspaper about a three-year-old who has forty epileptic seizures every day. And about a twenty-year-old girl who just had conjoined twins here in Phoenix (she has two other children too!). So in the real world, John's speech is a small issue. But in our little world, it's big. It's big because we want John to be able to pursue whatever he wants in life. It's big because he's never been able to say his name, his sister's name, or tell me where he hurts. It's big because someday I want to hear all about what's going on at school. It's big because asking someone to play with you is much more effective then hitting them to get their attention. It's big because John wants to talk, he really does.
I'm SO thankful to have resources, preschool, therapists, loving family and friends, and at least a few people who bear with me in these long posts. There is hope...even if it feels far off.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
pictures from Portland -- part 2
To begin, the pictures:
Saturday, August 9, 2008
pictures from Portland -- part 1
My parents, Shawna, Jonathan, and the Honeycutt four took a trip to the Gorge, including a picnic lunch and the amazing Multnomah Falls.