Loud

Bud is stowing away his chicken nuggets for safe keeping as he works on fighting cavities

We had another mapping appointment yesterday.  It was a second attempt at getting new programs set up with the new ear after last week's fiasco.  Apparently, when our center upgraded their computer systems, a glitch occurred and it wiped out ALL OF THE DATA for Bud's new ear.  Our wonderful audi tried very hard to recapture the data, even calling the company to troubleshoot, but to no avail.  We had been in the office for nearly two hours in the hopes that the data would magically reappear when our audi offered us the option of scheduling another appointment the next week or punching in a few programs so that he wouldn't be without his new ear for a week.   Soooooo ... she was able to punch in a couple of programs for Bud's new ear and our hour and a half one way trip wasn't a complete waste. Besides, we were going to have to come back to pick up his new processors anyway (more about that in the next post).  The programs seemed to work fine since he didn't appear to be bothered by extra loud environmental noise which also includes his shrieking (yes, he still does that).

About that shrieking.  Dear Lord Baby Jesus, the unearthly noises that come out of that child's mouth.  I've posted about it before, and I foolishly believed that once his vocabulary got going, it would stop.  It hasn't.  And now that we have entered the terrifying toddler phase, it's louder.  No one has really been able to offer us much guidance.  At least any guidance that has worked.  We do think, as many of his specialists do, that it's simply his way of saying,  "I'm excited," or "I can hear myself shrieking," or the most popular one nowadays, "I'm pissed off!" He obviously can't say this yet, but he can certainly express it.  The confusing part is that he will do continuous shrieks just for the hell of it throughout the day.  He even has a shorter shriek he reserves just for greetings.  

What I have learned so far in his twenty months is that he is a pretty vocal kid. A pretty, loud vocal kid.  He does well in public, taking in everything around him, doesn't seem agitated, and likes to interact with people.  He can still get loud every now and then.  If I could know what he is thinking when he chooses his vocabulary and/or shrieking, it would be wonderfully helpful.  The other thing that I'm picking up on is that he tends to be more "shriekful," and irritable/overly tired the day or two after mapping appointments.  I have heard stories from parents discussing how their kids, no matter what their ages, get overly stimulated by the afternoons.  This may be happening to Bud combined with the fact that he hasn't developed his expressive language yet.

I was struck yesterday in our audi's office as the preschool's program (which still has zero openings) toddlers marched single file down the hallway in their adorable Halloween costumes complete with their implants on their little heads, at how remarkably QUIET they all were.  And CALM.  All I could think about was how Bud would have looked if he had been in that line.  First off, he would have been the kid NOT walking in line, rather, spinning around in circles or racing off in the other direction.  He also would not have been quiet.  When we're in our audi's office for mapping appointments, he likes to practice his babbling interspersed with a few loud "AAAAHHHHS."  We always have to close her door because he would be out in a flash going into other people's offices to socialize and to check out their stuff.  

Bud, as we have begun calling him since we can't continue to call him Butters when he's twenty, also has taken to food hoarding.  He has taken to placing his chicken nuggets in the seat of his high chair after lunch.  He eats one, and then promptly places the others into the high chair along with his toothbrush and sippy cup.   He has been developing a few little OCD habits with his constant organizing of his legos and kitchen crap in the drawers.  He doesn't dump everything out at once, like with his legos, he carefully picks out each lego from the bag, places it onto the floor, picks it up again, and preferably likes to hand it to me, or whoever happens to be sitting near by.  That's been a huge development lately - he loves GIVING STUFF TO ME AND/OR OTHER PEOPLE!  I'm really happy about this after we worked so hard to stop him from hurling stuff across the room.  Of course, to encourage this behavior, this also means accepting the occasional half-chewed  Cheez-it from his mouth as well.  I can deal.

Now, we work on quieting the howling demon baby without squashing his spirit.