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Picasso Turns 7!

May 25, 2024 By 0
Today, May 25th, our Picasso turns 7 years old! He’s a wonderful kid, he’s funny, and he’s very thoughtful. He’s a great addition to our family and a wonderful blessing! We love you, kiddo! Happy 7th birthday ~ hope it’s a great year for you!

He was born with very dark hair
The dark hair stayed for the first few months…
And then the dark hair fell out and grew back in much lighter. And yes, these 3 are all pictures of Picasso.
Couldn’t resist this picture! This is why he’s “Picasso”!

Happy birthday ~ and MANY more!

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Filed Under: birthday

Highlights

May 19, 2024 By 0
We’ve spent 3 consecutive days traveling to/from therapy. The center we go to is about an hour from our home, so it’s almost 2 hours in the car, every time we go. I just thought I’d share a few highlights with you - conversational and otherwise.Monday - left at 7:45 am to get down there by 9am. I figured we’d have plenty of time and would be about 7-10 minutes early, which is “right on time”. WRONG. Apparently there was an early-morning tractor trailer accident that poured hot asphalt onto a highway that runs down near the therapy center. That one accident ended up effecting traffic on every other highway around, and since we travel there by highway, we were slow-going. However, we did get there, with about 2 minutes to spare. It was interesting to note that one major accident could tie up so many different roads miles away from the accident.It has rained all week. ALL WEEK. I’m not complaining because I genuinely don’t mind the rain, but I’m beginning to dislike traveling in the rain. It has provided some interesting commentary. Take Tuesday, for example:

Picasso: It’s raining harder; turn the wipers faster. (I increase the speed of the wipers for about 30 seconds. Rain begins to slow.) WAIT! Now it’s not raining as much, turn them back down because I can see.
Me: Okay. (Adjust the wipers again.)
Picasso: I can see just fine from back here, turn them off.
Me: I’m glad you can see, but it’s still raining some, so if I turn them off, I won’t be able to see very well.
Picasso: Don’t your eyes work as well as mine do?
Me: My eyes work just fine, thank you. I just have been driving a little longer than you have, and I know I still need the wipers on. (Mind you, he’s 6 years old…)
Picasso: Since it’s raining, I can’t hear the music as well. Please turn up the Charlie Brown Christmas music.
(Yes, that’s right: It’s May, it’s raining - on & off - it’s in the 60s and 70s, and we’re listening to Christmas music - Picasso’s request.) Wait - it’s POURING! Turn on the wipers!
Me: Can you hear it now? Can you see ok? Didn’t you bring a coloring book to work on?

On Wednesday, we had Mozart with us. I must say - we’ve had opportunities to leave Mozart & our Princess with others so they don’t have to make the long trip. But on Wednesday, Mozart came along. More Christmas music. Discussion on Transformers between the 2 boys, and again, backseat driving. We had a nice change on the way home, and got to listen to different music. I must say - I don’t mind the Christmas music, but another option is nice from time to time!

Wednesday night - the boys have a few tests that they have to take each quarter, for their homeschool program, to make sure they’re learning their math & reading lessons well. I was doing a reading lesson with Picasso last night. We got to a section that he always does well on, and I was watching (to make sure he didn’t start guessing or playing with the computer). I noticed that the test would ask him to identify a certain word. He has no trouble with this as his reading/comprehension/decoding skills are really solid. I watched as he chose the correct word, but he was saying a different word. After clicking on the correct option the next question asked him to identify the word he’d just said on the last screen. I thought it was odd, but this continued. I realized he’s memorized this part of the test. Standardized test + memorized answers + my kid knows the correct location of the word = not such a great test…? The test no longer measures his reading/decoding ability when he has memorized the next word and the correct placement of the word. Should be interesting to hear from his teacher as to what she recommends.

So it’s Thursday and we’re about to walk out the door for yet another drive to therapy. The sun is currently shining!! Here’s hoping for a nice drive, complete with some good music (maybe even some *different* music!) and maybe not so much backseat driving! Wish me luck!

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Filed Under: special needs therapy

Where I’ve Been

May 17, 2024 By 0
In case you’ve been wondering where I’ve been and why things have been a little quiet, I’m catching up here! Meetings have taken up a good bit of my time, but they’ve been productive and there have been a lot of positive things happening!I’ve also had to tackle paperwork for our son. I’ve officially finished the packet of paper for a developmental pediatrician to see him. I called 2 different developmental pediatricians on the same day - one that is in the same network as our pediatrician, one that is not. I was hoping that the in-network developmental pediatrician would send us their packet first and we could get started on that. However, I have yet to receive that from them. So I have filled out and sent in the one for the developmental pediatrician that’s associated with a different network. I’ve heard great things about them, though, so I’m not worried - just hoping that we get in moderately soon, to see them. It’s about a 9-month process to call, have the paperwork sent, fill out & send back the paperwork, have it reviewed, get a call back from the pediatrician’s office to schedule an appointment and then actually get in to the appointment. I think we’re about 7 weeks into the process, so I’m not thinking we’ll get in real soon, but hopeful that it will be before Christmas!This week and next, our son has a 2-week occupational therapy intensive. That means he goes every day, Monday - Saturday. He also continues to have his Speech therapy and Social Skills training during these weeks, as well. In having him evaluated, I could have had a company that comes to our house or has very local offices. However, Tim & I chose to have him continue going to the therapy center he had already been at for a year. That center is almost an hour from our home, but it’s worth the drive because Picasso feels comfortable and confident there. Just yesterday, I was talking with one of his therapists and she was describing a very detailed story that he had told her. As I listened, I was so grateful - 6 months ago, he was able to tell us a small piece of the story, but nothing like what he told her yesterday. I think that speech issues have been a huge hindrance for him - his mind is always way ahead of his mouth, and getting words out was a complicated struggle for him. I viewed “Speech Therapy” as helping with letter sounds, which he definitely needs, but came to realize it was so much more than that. Our son gets help with receptive language - how to understand language (and the importance of using social cues; back up a step - needing to realize that there are social cues that need to be recognized), how to give more information, along with how to be understood (making sounds appropriately). We’re not seeing much of a carry-over of his new skills at home yet, but we are seeing just a little. The part we are seeing is absolutely thrilling!

It’s funny - I have always known there were issues, despite what doctors were saying. But I didn’t realize how much our son was lacking language because he did communicate some. As I hear him beginning to communicate more, I realize how much we are behind - and that’s ok for now because we’re starting to get help. I’m excited for the days ahead, though, when we’re able to hear him spontaneously tell stories at home like he does with his speech therapist - even stories like yesterday’s story:
“The bad guy didn’t put his hands up when the police told him to, so the police trapped him and took him to jail but he broke out a million times so they finally put him in a jail with ‘indestructible metal’ (our son’s words!) - the same kind Wolverine has between his knuckles. He couldn’t get out of that jail so he had to have a truck come and crash into the jail to set him free.” (I think there’s a story line very similar to that in the movie “Cars”.)

Good things are happening - and we’re excited! With any luck, this will be a little more regular again now that the Blogger site is up and running correctly and I’ve reached the summit of Mt. PaperWork.

Hope you are all well! Enjoy the day - and if you’re local, or battling the wet weather as we are here, stay dry!!

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Filed Under: parenting, special needs therapy

Monday!

May 3, 2024 By 0
So this has been an unusual Monday - not in terms of schedule or things to do, but more in terms of my attitude. I don’t usually wake up and dread Mondays. I try to be grateful for a new day, even if it is the beginning of a long week.I don’t know exactly why, but I woke up ready and prepared and even excited for the week and month ahead! Current events have everyone feeling patriotic and grateful for the job our men & women in uniform do on a daily basis. My grandfather was in the Air Force - I guess it’s called “Career Air Force” where he stayed in until he retired (sorry, not really up on my military lingo). There are a lot of great things to be said for him and for his service. We also have many friends who serve and who have served, and we are grateful for them. Politics aside, these people make it possible for me to be safely at home with those I hold dear. Hard not to be grateful for that!

Air Force Memorial, near the Pentagon

But I’m not really one whose attitude hinges on current events. Honestly, I hardly ever watch the news. Thinking about my Air Force grandfather reminded me that today would have been my other grandfather’s birthday. He was a great man as well! He was a leader and role model for many young men. He was a good father and a wonderful grandfather!

My mom’s parents

But my attitude this morning wasn’t even really one of reminiscence. It was just genuinely a good attitude on a Monday! Our little guy’s therapy schedule has made Mondays a juggling act, and we’ve had to call in the reinforcements (aka Grandma & Granddad) to help transport Mozart to piano, and our Princess to school while I take Picasso to therapy. That makes me really grateful that we are close to people who can help - life is definitely easier with help. (Proud mom moment - the piano teacher tells me the sky’s the limit for Mozart! I am so unbelievably proud of his abilities and his work to refine his abilities!)

Mozart, practicing!

My attitude didn’t diminish despite some opposition and some sibling rivalry (the kids’ sibling rivalry, not mine - I love my brother!). The week ahead, and even the entire month ahead are full of possibilities and I think that’s really what spurred on my good attitude. The boys will be done school in mid-June, but both are on track to be mostly done by the end of this month (benefit of homeschooling: work at your own pace). So we’re really in the home stretch with regards to school (yay!).

We have some fun events planned in the next few weeks, and some free time and that has been tough to come by lately. Picasso will turn 7 in just a few weeks, and what a change there’s been in his life! Not sure if it’s the speech therapy, or the social skills, but everyone who has a “leader/teacher” role in his life has commented on his great behavior at least once these past weeks since those therapies have started. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a great reward for the hour-drive to therapy each time (and hour-drive home).

Picasso & one of his therapists. (She’s a good sport!)

Picasso has his first 2-week therapy intensive this month. That means we’ll be traveling to/from therapy 6 days a week, for 2 weeks. I know it will be good for him, but it makes me a little uneasy, thinking about the schedule that I need to work on for those weeks. Even so, I know the benefits will far outweigh the hassle of schedule-making and travel for those 2 weeks. I’m a little concerned for him, as it will be overwhelming. But I’m not borrowing worry - nothing I can do about it, so we’ll just see how he deals with it as we go along. He’s surprising me with his ability to be a little more flexible (yay!) and his hard work!

Also ahead - some writing time for me. I love to write - even if it’s just to inform you that I’m having a great Monday! It’s nice to have focused and structured opportunities to write and to get my thoughts on paper. I enjoy writing, but I’m finding I enjoy the editing as well (I know…strange, just like my I-Love-Monday-Attitude).

Happy Monday! I hope you’ve had a wonderful day! Count your blessings; smell the roses; savor the moment!

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Filed Under: gratitude and appreciation, special needs therapy, support our troops